.NET 4 Programming for Existing .NET Developers: Hands-On

What is this course about?

The .NET Framework 4 provides updates and enhancements to all of the major portions of the .NET Framework. Visual Studio 2010, which was released along with .NET 4, also includes new productivity features valuable to any .NET programmer. This course covers how many new features of .NET 3.5 and 4 can be incorporated into existing .NET applications or used with new applications to make development easier and programs more robust and maintainable. These features include parallel computing, jQuery and Silverlight. Also, features like Entity Framework 4, LINQ, PLINQ and the new language enhancements of C# and VB are covered and can be used in any .NET application.

Who will benefit from this course?

This course is valuable for experienced .NET 2 and 3 developers who would like to enhance applications with .NET 3.5 and 4 new features. C# and VB programmers and also Web developers already working with ASP.NET would find this course especially valuable. .NET 3.5 developers will likely find some concepts with which they are already familiar.

What background do I need?

ASP.NET 2 development experience is assumed. You should understand the fundamentals of ASP.NET. For example, you should know how to:

• Create ASP.NET Web sites with Visual Studio
• Control layouts and styles with master pages and themes
• Process ASP.NET Web forms
• Manage state using sessions, view state and caching

Those unfamiliar with ASP.NET 2 should consider Course 512, ASP.NET WebForms: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introductionor Course 506, Building Web Applications with ASP.NET and Ajax: Hands-On. Experience programming with either C# or VB is also assumed. Those unfamiliar with .NET programming should consider Course 502, Programming with .NET: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction

Why are .NET 3.5 features covered when the course title is ?.NET 4 Programming for Existing .NET Developers??

Each .NET version brings new features or enhances existing features. Covering .NET 4 features without going through the .NET 3.0/3.5 evolutions would be frustrating, especially for .NET 2.0 developers. Many new .NET 4 features use language enhancements that were introduced in .NET 3, like lambda expressions, infered types, or anonymous objects. It is important to have a good knowledge of those language features.

What version of Visual Studio is used in this course?

This course uses Visual Studio 2010.

I am an experienced ASP.NET developer. Would I benefit from this course?

Yes. While this course does not cover the fundamentals of ASP.NET, it covers how the new features of ASP.NET 3.5 and 4 and the .NET Framework 4 can be used to enhance existing ASP.NET Web applications. If you are an experienced ASP.NET 3 developer, you will probably find some concepts with which you are familiar. If you are an experienced ASP.NET developer who has used ASP.NET 2.0, this course is appropriate for you.

If, however, you're an ASP.NET 1.1 developer and you do not know the features of ASP.NET 2.0, you should first take either Course 512, ASP.NET WebForms: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introductionor Course 506, Building Web Applications with ASP.NET and Ajax: Hands-On.

I'm an experienced .NET developer but have not programmed in ASP.NET. Would I benefit from this course?

Yes, you will benefit from most of the course. A portion of this course covers the new features of ASP.NET. That section assumes that you understand ASP.NET 2.0 (or later) development. The majority of the course, however, covers new features of .NET 4 that would apply to any type of application development.

I've never programmed in .NET. Can I take this course?

No. This course is for experienced .NET programmers. Those with no .NET programming experience should consider Course 502, Programming with .NET: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction.

How much time is spent on each topic?

How much of the course is hands-on?

You spend approximately 40 percent of this class in hands-on exercises. You gain experience applying .NET 4 new features. Exercises, performed in either C# or VB, include:

• Enhancing ASP.NET 2 Web applications using new features of .NET 3.5 and 4
• Programming LINQ to Object queries
• Mapping object and relational data using Entity Framework and the Visual Studio ORM designer
• Creating and accessing REST services with WCF
• Incorporating jQuery for responsive Web user interfaces
• Programming with the Parallel Task Library
• Building Silverlight applications integrating WCF

I already program in C# or VB. Would this course be valuable to me?

Yes. While this course assumes prior knowledge of the basics of either C# or VB, it covers many new features of those languages that were added in versions 3.5 and 4 of .NET.

What is Entity Framework (EF)?

The Entity Framework is an object-relational mapping tool included in the .NET Framework. Microsoft has made significant investments and improvements to Entity Framework in .NET 4. Microsoft has positioned EF as the future for .NET development.

What is jQuery?

jQuery is an open source JavaScript library that makes writing JavaScript code simpler. It also simplifies calls to the server, by using JSON formated data. JSON is a data format that can be used in place of XML. jQuery has now been added to ASP.NET 4.

What is Silverlight?

Silverlight enables .NET applications to run on multiple operating systems, including Windows, OS X, Linux and Windows Mobile Phone 7. It is enabled as a plug-in that works from all modern browsers.

How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses?

The following courses further explore each of the technologies covered in this course:

• 973, Programming C# Extended Features: Hands-On ,you learn how to streamline data-centric applications with C# extended features.
• 975, Windows® Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Silverlight Introduction: Hands-On , covers how to build WPF user interfaces with Visual Studio, XAML and a .NET programming language.
• 2601, Programming WCF Web Services for .NET: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction , you learn how to make effective use of web services in .NET and employ five distinct web service frameworks.
• 506, Building Web Applications with ASP.NET and Ajax: Hands-On 

Other related courses include:

• 977, Building Web Applications with ASP.NET MVC: Hands-On 
• 502, Programming with .NET: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction 
• 419, C# Programming: Hands-On 
• 503, Visual Basic® Programming for .NET: Hands-On 
• 511, .NET Best Practices and Design Patterns: Hands-On 
• 512, ASP.NET WebForms: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction