Description

Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 empowers you to write next-generation applications for any modern environment: mobile, web, cloud, universal Windows 10/8.x, database, and beyond. This end-to-end deep dive will help working developers squeeze maximum productivity out of Microsoft’s powerful new toolset.

The authors combine authoritative and detailed information about Microsoft’s latest IDE, with extensive insights and best practices drawn from decades of development experience. Developers will quickly get comfortable with Visual Studio 2015’s updated interface, master its new capabilities, leverage its extensive new support for open standards, and discover multiple opportunities to leverage its .NET 4.6 platform and language improvements.

By focusing entirely on Visual Studio 2015 Professional, the authors go deeper into Microsoft’s core product than ever before. You’ll find expert coverage of everything from debugging through deploying to Azure, IDE extension and automation through cross-platform mobile development. Throughout, this book’s focus is relentlessly practical: how to apply Microsoft’s tools to build better software, faster.

Detailed information on how to...

• Master Visual Studio 2015’s updated interface and key tools: Solutions, Projects, Browsers, Explorers, Editors, and Designers to improve productivity
• Develop robust cross-platform mobile apps for Windows, iOS, and Android using Apache Cordova templates for Visual Studio
• Use the new ASP.NET 5 to build modern web solutions that run on Windows, Mac, or Linux
• Develop Single Page Applications (SPAs) based on HTML5 and rich client-side JavaScript frameworks such as Knockout, AngularJS, Bootstrap, and more
• Accelerate cloud development with the Azure SDK, QuickStart templates, and Azure management portal
• Create mobile service solutions using ASP.NET Web API and WCF
• Streamline data development across multiple platforms with Entity Framework 7
• Develop modern Microsoft Office business applications
• Perform robust, automated unit testing as you code, increasing your confidence in changes and refactoring
• Extend the VS 2015 IDE and Code Editor by creating custom, productivity-enhancing solutions

New to this Edition

Since Visual Studio 2012, Microsoft has continued to refine and improve both the breadth and depth of the Visual Studio tool suite. This includes two major releases (Visual Studio 2013 released last year, and the upcoming release of Visual Studio 2014). The content and structure for this book will remain largely the same: it will focus, in depth, on how to use the Visual Studio IDE to perform a myriad of programming tasks. It will bring readers up to speed and close the gap from our last content refresh for Visual Studio 2012.
Key additions/changes to this edition would include updates to reflect core improvements with debugging, building, and refactoring, along with:
- Tighter integration with Azure
- Windows Phone 8.1 development
- Windows 8.1 development
- Hosted Visual Studio/Visual Studio online
- ASP vNext
- Single-page web apps (SPA)
- Cloud / Office Business Application projects
- CodeLens/Peek Definition
- “Monaco”
- Etc.

Table of Contents

• 1 A Quick Tour of Visual Studio 2015
• 2 The Visual Studio IDE
• 3 The .NET Languages
• 4 Solutions and Projects
• 5 Browsers and Explorers
• 6 Introducing the Editors and Designers
• 7 Working with Visual Studio’s Productivity Aids
• 8 Testing Code
• 9 Refactoring Code
• 10 Debugging Code
• 11 Deploying Code
• 12 Developing Applications in the Cloud with Windows Azure
• 13 Working with Databases
• 14 Introducing the Automation Object Model 
• 15 Extending the IDE
• 16 Extending the Code Editor
• 17 Building Modern Websites with ASP.NET 5
• 18 Using JavaScript and Client-Side Frameworks
• 19 Building and Consuming Services with Web API and WCF 
• 20 Building Windows Forms Applications 
• 21 Building WPF Applications
• 22 Developing Office Business Applications
• 23 Developing Windows Store Applications 
• 24 Creating Windows Phone Applications
• 25 Writing Cross-Platform Mobile Applications with Apache Cordova
• Index

Author

Mike Snell spends his work life helping teams build great software that exceeds the expectations of end users. He runs the Solutions division at CEI ( www.ceiamerica.com ). Mike and his team deliver architecture, consulting, and mentoring to clients looking for help with enterprise projects, commercial software, mobile applications, or cloud-based solutions. He is also a Microsoft Regional director.

Lars Powers is currently the director of application development at Newgistics, Inc. Prior to Newgistics, he held various technical management positions at 3M and spent many years with Microsoft as a platform evangelist focused on emerging technologies.