Here’s another sample from Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform. Enjoy this excerpt that discusses base class/derived class casting rules.

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Here’s another sample from Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform. Look forward to more samples from this book and others in our .NET 3.5 line!

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We are very excited that our line of .NET 3.5 books are here and ready for our readers. Please enjoy this sample of the book Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform.

The first edition of this book was released at the 2001 Tech Ed conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Since that time, this text has been revised, tweaked, and enhanced to account for the changes found within each release of the .NET platform (1.1, 2.0, 3.0 and now 3.5).

The last version, .NET 3.0, was more of an augmentative release, essentially providing three new APIs: Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF). As you would expect, coverage of the “W’s” has been expanded a great deal in this version of the book from the previous Special Edition text.

Unlike .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5 provides dozens of new C# language features and .NET APIs. This edition of the book will walk you through all of this new material using the same readable approach as was found in previous editions. Rest assured, you’ll find detailed coverage of Language Integrated Query (LINQ), the C# 2008 language changes (automatic properties, extension methods, anonymous types, etc.) and the numerous bells and whistles of Visual Studio 2008.

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Tech Ed EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) kicked off today with a very different feel from Tech Ed US. The trance music and graffiti artists that formed the prelude set a precedent for ‘Soma’ Somasegar’s under-hyped, low-key presentational style. For all that, the keynote wasn’t short of substance.
The topics he touched on were many and varied and the audience was kept waiting until half way through for the news that they all wanted to hear: that .NET 3.5 will ship this month.

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The March CTP of ‘Orcas’ was released last night. It’s available for public download from MSDN here, although you’ll need to be signed in to your MSDN account first.

(If the link doesn’t work, it’s on the ‘Downloads’ page once you’re signed in under ‘Most recent developer downloads’.)

I’m still downloading it at the moment. From what I’ve heard it’s much more complete than previous CTPs and LINQ is now incorporated into Visual Studio for the first time.

There’s detailed highlights on the download page, so Iwon’t reproduce them here. It’ll give you something to read while you download the 700MB file.

Edit: There’s a second 160MB file – I’ve no idea what’s in there, or what it’s needed for.

Here’s a useful link for anyone getting to grips with ASP.NET AJAX. Microsoft Learning have produced a set of free resources that are available for online access here. The content is free for a year. All you need is a Windows Live ID.

The course provides you with three modules – an overview, evaluation and additional materials – that are presented in a JavaScript viewer needing the MSXML add-in (this caused some problems for innitially and IE7 doesn’t like the MSXML add-in!)

Once loaded the materials are quite interesting. If you’re looking for a rapid low-level introduction to ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 this could be just the thing to get you started.

(ASP.NET AJAX is being given greater design-time support in Visual Studio ‘Orcas’ later in the year, so check-back as these features aren’t currently mentioned).

Scott Guthrie gave a presentation to the Visual Studio User Group (VISUG) in Belgium showcasing one of the most recent VS “Orcas” builds.

I’ve held off linking to it, since there seems to be a problem with the video feed on MSDN which causes it keep crashing IE at inopportune moments. It’s better than it was a few days ago, but still not perfect. If you persevere, though the first half of the presentation is worth listening to (skip to 5:00 to jump the VISUG introductions).

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