Presentation on .NET Aspire

Introduction

• Speaker: James
• Format: Presentation style, recorded session on .NET Aspire
• Aim: To provide a complete overview of building better applications with .NET Aspire
• Audience: Suitable for newcomers and those with some experience in .NET Aspire

What is .NET Aspire?

• Cloud-ready stack for building observable, production-ready distributed applications.
• Designed for various application types (backend services, mobile apps, games, etc.)

Key Features of .NET

• Single platform and language: Build various types of applications (desktop, mobile, game, AI-infused).
• Integrated tools: World-class developer tools, a large ecosystem supporting multiple operating systems.

Application Needs

• Applications need to be:
  • Observable: Gain insights into what's happening inside applications.
  • Resilient: Handle issues like flaky internet or service outages.
  • Scalable: Scale from one user to millions.
  • Manageable: Easy to manage and integrate additional services.

New Features in .NET 8

• Enhanced observability, resiliency, scalability, and manageability.
• New packages and technologies for metrics, logging, and stateful connections.
• Improved performance and container technology integration.

Complexity in Development

• Many choices and integrations can complicate the development process.
• Hundreds of options for storage, CI/CD, observability, etc., can overwhelm developers.

How .NET Aspire Simplifies Development

• Provides building blocks for cloud-native and distributed applications.
• Offers:
  • Smart defaults for health checks, resiliency, and observability.
  • A developer dashboard for insights into applications.
  • Orchestration capabilities to boot up multiple projects.
  • Service discovery to simplify backend and frontend communication.

Usage Scenarios

• Example: Building a commerce website.
  • Start small (e.g., front-end and data source) and grow into more complex architectures.
  • .NET Aspire aids in development from prototyping to full-scale applications.

Components of .NET Aspire

• Service Defaults: Best practices, health checks, telemetry, and logging configurations are automatically set up.
• Developer Dashboard: Provides insights into metrics and logs.
• Orchestration: Simplifies running multiple projects together.
• Integrations: Support for libraries like Postgres, SQL, and messaging systems.

Deployment Options

• Can deploy applications using existing methods or new tooling offered by .NET Aspire.
• Supports various environments (Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, etc.).
• Distinction between deploying applications and the .NET Aspire app host.

Adding .NET Aspire to Projects

• Visual Studio integration allows for easy addition of .NET Aspire features.
• Automatic configuration for default settings and service discovery.

Example Application: Tiny Shop

• Two main projects: Products and Store.
• Use of entity framework and REST APIs to manage products.
• Integration of .NET Aspire to simplify debugging and application management.

Demonstration

• Adding .NET Aspire to the project with service defaults and orchestrator support.
• Use of the developer dashboard for logging and insights.
• Integration of Redis for caching and performance improvements.

Troubleshooting and Resiliency

• Built-in health checks and automatic retry mechanisms for improved application robustness.
• Real-time logging and metrics provided through the dashboard.

Final Thoughts

• .NET Aspire provides a comprehensive solution for application development.
• Encourages integration and ease of use across various components.
• Open-source and continuously evolving with community engagement.

Conclusion

• Encouragement to explore .NET Aspire further and engage with the community.
• Call to action: Feedback and suggestions for future content.