Book Review: Apps and Services with .NET 8

Last Updated on March 13, 2024 by Aram

This is an in-depth review article on book: Apps and Services in .NET 8 by Mark J. Price:

A book for Intermediate .NET Developers

Presenting to you this book to boost your .NET development skills:

𝗔𝗽𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 .𝗡𝗘𝗧 𝟴
𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Build practical projects with Blazor, .NET MAUI, gRPC, GraphQL, and other enterprise technologies

By 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗝. 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲

In this book, mark is sharing his extensive knowledge and 2 decades of experience into this 700+ pages publication.

Mark starts by introducing .NET and its related technologies and how you can build robust and reliable solutions on various platforms: web, desktop, mobile, services

Emphasis on Database Knowledge

The book largely focuses on providing in-depth knowledge in databases, particularly in SQL Server.

There are 3 dedicated chapters about databases:
– Core SQL commands and queries alongside with ADO .NET
– Entity Framework Core with SQL Server
– NoSql with Azure Cosmos Db

There is a solid emphasis on the EF Core, which I agree that is the best ORM with a blazing fast performance and highly rich functions.

Using the micro-ORM Dapper is also covered in this book.

Testing and Hands-on Knowledge

You can never go wrong with xUnit as your testing tool and AAA Arrange-Act-Assert strategy, the book will guide you on how to test your entity model.

At the end of each chapter, you’ve got an extensive list of tests and exercises, make sure you implement them with each chapter.

Core and Common Concepts

One of the most important topics brilliantly simplified is multitasking and concurrency. A dedicated chapter that clarifies and solidifies your knowledge in this widely huge and important topic.

In particular I really like how Mark explains handling the access to shared resources within multi-threaded solutions.

Most of the times, in each .NET project, you will be required to include common functionalities like logging, data validation, objects mapping, images processing and more.

Libraries and Tools

All these are covered with code examples and output in a dedicated chapter as well across multiple chapters.

Going further into this extensive read, you will find the below generously covered topics:

– Localization and Globalization
– Building secure Web APIs using ASP.NET Core Minimal APIs and Auth0 Identity Provider Service
– In-memory and distributed caching
– Building resilient services with Polly
– Building message-queuing services using rabbitMQ
– Building long-running background services with worker services and Hangfire
– SignalR for Real-time applications
– GraphQL as an alternative for REST and OData to query data sources
– gRPC for (micro)services communications

Mark will take you on a flight through the vast skies of Azure exploring few of its amazingly powerful cloud services: Azure functions (serverless), Azure SignalR and Azure CosmosDb

Focus on Building Platform Specific Technologies

The book touch base on huge topics within the .NET ecosystem:

– Rich Web UI using ASP.NET Core MVC
– Modern Web Components with Blazor
– Mobile and desktop apps with MAUI

All code examples are accessible and downloadable through GitHub.

That’s the great part of having an online version of the book, which would be freely accessible once you purchase the physical copy

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is a great book for intermediates who are looking to expand their core skills in .NET and C#, while learning the latest technology updates and the wide range of options to build great solutions on different platforms using .NET

Learning and improving your knowledge is the best investment decision you can take for your personal development.

Amazon US is running a time-limited 20% discount on this book and other books by Mark, so grab the opportunity and order your copy today before the discount is over:

Get the Book

You can always follow the author on LinkedIn Mark J. Price.

And also check the publisher’s website – Packt to find more of these awesome books.

Bonus

Enjoy this 2-hours long brilliant baroque music by Arcangelo Corelli (1653 – 1713).

Enjoy the beautiful melodies of strings boldly played in the baroque style:

A great way to enrich your learning experience.

Corelli – 12 Concerti Grossi, Op.6 By Fabio Biondi Europa Galante (Orchestra)