Introduction to .NET Aspire

• James recently presented on .NET Aspire at a local user group in Portland.
• Today’s session will cover everything about building better applications with .NET Aspire.

Overview of .NET Aspire

• .NET Aspire allows for building applications across various platforms using C#.
• James's experience includes:
  • Desktop Windows applications
  • Backend services
  • Games
  • Mobile applications
  • AI integration
• Key features of .NET:
  • Single platform for multiple application types.
  • Strong developer tools and ecosystem.

Importance of Application Characteristics

• All applications need to be:
  • Observable: Ability to see internal workings, log, and telemetry.
  • Resilient: Handle flaky conditions, such as poor internet or service outages.
  • Scalable: Adjust resources based on the user load, going from one user to a million.
  • Manageable: Easy to set up, scale down, and integrate new services.

New Features in .NET 8

• Built-in support for:
  • Observability.
  • Resiliency.
  • Scalability.
  • Manageability.
• Enhancements for logging, metrics, and improved performance.

Common Challenges for Developers

• Complexity with numerous choices in tools and services.
• The need for integrations across various applications, services, and databases.
• Addressing complexity with .NET Aspire as a solution.

What is .NET Aspire?

• A cloud-ready stack for building observable, production-ready, distributed applications.
• Scales based on application needs.
• Suitable for various applications including e-commerce (e.g., fitness gear store example).

Building Blocks of .NET Aspire

1. Smart Defaults: Automatically applies best practices for resilience, observability, and health checks.
2. Developer Dashboard: Centralized telemetry view for application insights.
3. Orchestration: Simplifies starting multiple services in a single project.
4. Service Discovery: Facilitates backend/frontend communication via identifiers.
5. Integrations: Supports various libraries and services for data handling, messaging, etc.

Application Architecture Example

• Starting with a simple product management application:
  • Two projects: Products (API) and Store (Blazor app).
  • Demonstrates how to streamline development workflow using .NET Aspire to manage multiple projects.

Running Applications with .NET Aspire

• Eliminates the need for multi-project setups and enhances debugging.
• Introduces service defaults for telemetry, health checks, and resilient configurations.

Introduction of Redis and Caching

• Example of adding a Redis caching layer to improve application performance.
• Integrates caching with the .NET Aspire architecture seamlessly.

Deployment Options with .NET Aspire

• Flexibility in deployment to various environments (e.g., Azure, AWS, local machines).
• Use of Azure Developer CLI (AZD) for streamlining deployment.
• Ability to generate deployment manifests for Azure Container Apps.

Conclusion

• .NET Aspire enables developers to build better applications with built-in observability, resiliency, and management tools.
• Offers flexibility in integrations and deployment strategies.

Resources

• Additional resources for learning .NET Aspire include official documentation, learning portals, and community support on GitHub.

Final Thoughts

• James encourages feedback and insights from the audience regarding their experiences with .NET Aspire and related technologies.