Preface

.NET is a hugely successful framework with 20 years of legacy behind it. There are millions of developers using it to build all kinds of applications and solutions. .NET 5 is not just a mere iteration on previous versions; it also signifies the future of .NET technology, which is meant to be run on all platforms and devices with consistent capabilities and language features. .NET 5 unifies the battle-tested reliability and adaptability of .NET Framework with the open source, cross-platform, face-paced, and cloud-first philosophy of .NET Core, answering the ever-evolving needs of the modern application development landscape.

This book provides detailed coverage of all the new .NET 5 features using practical exercises for the reader to understand the tools and technologies that form the .NET 5 tech stack. It provides guidance on when and where to use the .NET 5 features and covers the best practices for architecting, developing, and deploying the applications to the cloud.

A section of the book has been dedicated to transforming the legacy applications to the latest .NET 5 platform. It discusses the scenarios in which the migration does and doesn't make sense for applications that have been built on previous .NET runtimes. The migration guide is written from both a code transformation and an architectural transformation perspective, so you'll learn about upgrading your legacy monolith applications to the cloud and microservices with minimal disruption.

While we couldn't possibly cover machine learning development in full detail in an introductory book, a bonus chapter has been included to enable .NET developers to incorporate intelligent machine learning services in their applications using the ML.NET library. By the end of this book, you will have a foundational understanding of building new and transforming existing applications using .NET 5's features and capabilities.