MS Windows

Build cross-platform apps with .NET MAUI! This exciting new technology helps you create mobile and desktop apps using a common set of .NET tools.

In .NET MAUI in Action you will learn how to:

• Set up your environment for cross-platform development
• Write an interactive UI in XAML using out-of-the-box controls
• Apply the MVVM pattern to build maintainable code
• Extend your control library with custom controls
• Structure your app using common navigation paradigms
• Use common device features like GPS
• Use DevOps tools to automate deployment and testing

.NET MAUI in Action shows you how you can use the cutting-edge MAUI framework to write apps that will run on Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS platforms using your existing .NET development skills. This book reveals essential MAUI development techniques through hands-on example applications in every chapter. You’ll learn cross-platform development quickly as you start building your own rich apps, from to-do list apps, to a movie recommender app, and eventually a full-stack solution using enterprise architecture patterns. You’ll also learn how to use GitHub Actions to deploy robust, testable, and maintainable apps; and how to deliver a consistent look and feel across platforms. Throughout, you’ll use the built-in controls of .NET MAUI and learn how to develop your own custom solutions.

Elevate your practical C# and .NET skills to the next level with this new edition of Apps and Services with .NET 8.

With chapters that put a variety of technologies into practice, including Web API, gRPC, GraphQL, and SignalR, this book will give you a broader scope of knowledge than other books that often focus on only a handful of .NET technologies. You’ll dive into the new unified model for Blazor Full Stack and leverage .NET MAUI to develop mobile and desktop apps.

This new edition introduces the latest enhancements, including the seamless implementation of web services with ADO.NET SqlClient's native Ahead-of-Time (AOT) support. Popular library coverage now includes Humanizer and Noda Time. There’s also a brand-new chapter that delves into service architecture, caching, queuing, and robust background services.

By the end of this book, you’ll have a wide range of best practices and deep insights under your belt to help you build rich apps and efficient services.

What you will learn

• Familiarize yourself with a variety of technologies to implement services, such as gRPC and GraphQL
• Store and manage data locally and cloud-natively with SQL Server and Cosmos DB
• Use ADO.NET SqlClient to implement web services with native AOT publish support
• Leverage Dapper for improved performance over EF Core
• Implement popular third-party libraries such as Serilog, FluentValidation, Humanizer, and Noda Time
• Explore the new unified hosting model of Blazor Full Stack

Who this book is for

This book is for .NET developers interested in exploring more specialized libraries and implementation fundamentals behind building services and apps. You’ll need to know your way around .NET and C# quite well before you can dive in, so if you want to work your way up to this book, you can pick up Mark’s other .NET book, C# 12 and .NET 8 – Modern Cross-Platform Development Fundamentals, first.

This latest edition of the bestselling Packt series will give you a solid foundation to start building projects using modern C# and .NET with confidence.

You'll learn about object-oriented programming; writing, testing, and debugging functions; and implementing interfaces. You'll take on .NET APIs for managing and querying data, working with the fi lesystem, and serialization. As you progress, you'll explore examples of cross-platform projects you can build and deploy, such as websites and services using ASP.NET Core.

This latest edition integrates .NET 8 enhancements into its examples: type aliasing and primary constructors for concise and expressive code. You'll handle errors robustly through the new built-in guard clauses and explore a simplified implementation of caching in ASP.NET Core 8.

If that's not enough, you'll also see how native ahead-of-time (AOT) compiler publish lets web services reduce memory use and run faster. You'll work with the seamless new HTTP editor in Visual Studio 2022 to enhance the testing and debugging process. You'll even get introduced to Blazor Full Stack with its new unified hosting model for unparalleled web development flexibility.

What you will learn

• Discover C# 12's new features, including aliasing any type and primary constructors
• Try out the native AOT publish capability for ASP.NET Core 8 Minimal APIs web services
• Build rich web experiences using Blazor Full Stack, Razor Pages, and other ASP.NET Core features
• Integrate and update databases in your apps using Entity Framework Core models
• Query and manipulate data using LINQ
• Build and consume powerful services using Web API and Minimal API

Who this book is for

This book is for beginners as well as intermediate-level C# and .NET programmers who have worked with C# in the past and want to catch up with the changes made in the last few years. Prior exposure to C# or .NET is not a prerequisite. A general understanding of programming will help you to work through the book more comfortably, though the content is suitable for those completely new to programming. If you already have some C# and .NET skills and want to focus on developing practical apps, you can pick up Mark’s other .NET book, Apps and Services with .NET 8, instead.

Understand what to do at any point in developing a clean .NET architecture

Master advanced .NET techniques with a focus on actual value delivered by working within a modular, clean architecture. Microsoft Data Platform MVP Dino Esposito explains key clean architecture concepts with a mix of pragmatism and design discipline and helps you solidify your knowledge through a real-world project. Starting with an explanation of the quest for modular software architecture continuing through the methodology of domain-driven design (DDD), Esposito emphasizes the role that modularization plays in managing complexity in software development. Breaking down the layers of an architecture that is modular and maintainable, he presents a sample project that is not simply another to-do list, but an actual tool for the reader. Ultimately, an exploration of common dilemmas for both developers and operations brings together historical developments with real solutions for today.

Microsoft Data Platform MVP Dino Esposito helps you:

• Understand the relevance of modular software architecture in the history of software
• Review domain-driven design concepts both, strategic and practical
• Apply modular analysis techniques to your development
• Make the most of layered architecture
• Make the most of layered architecture that is modular and maintainable
• Explore in detail the individual layerspresentation, application, domain and infrastructure
• Make sense of domain services to separate raw persistence from persistence-related business tasks
• Make your way through a series of C# best-practices for modeling classes from real-world entities
• Understand the benefits of microservices versus modular monoliths
• Understand the analysis of technical shortcuts and benefits of long-term technical investment
• Understand client-side, server-side and other common deployment dilemmas
• Set up your architecture, test your conclusions, and find even more help

Concurrency in .NET teaches you how to build concurrent and scalable programs in .NET using the functional paradigm. This intermediate-level guide is aimed at developers, architects, and passionate computer programmers who are interested in writing code with improved speed and effectiveness by adopting a declarative and pain-free programming style.

Entity Framework Core in Action, Second Edition is an in-depth guide to reading and writing databases with EF Core. Revised from the bestselling original edition, it’s filled with over 100 diagrams, code snippets, and examples—including building and scaling your own bookselling web application. Learn from author Jon Smith’s extensive experience working with EF Core in production, as you discover time-saving patterns and best practices for security, performance tuning, and unit testing. All of the book’s code is available on GitHub.

Dive into C# and create apps, user interfaces, games, and more using this fun and highly visual introduction to C#, .NET Core, and Visual Studio. With this completely updated guide, which covers C# 8.0 and Visual Studio 2019, beginning programmers like you will build a fully functional game in the opening chapter. Then you'll learn how to use classes and object-oriented programming, create 3D games in Unity, and query data with LINQ. And you'll do it all by solving puzzles, doing hands-on exercises, and building real-world applications. By the time you're done, you'll be a solid C# programmer--and you'll have a great time along the way!

Based on the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory, Head First C# uses a visually rich format to engage your mind rather than a text-heavy approach that puts you to sleep. Why waste your time struggling with new concepts? This multisensory learning experience is designed for the way your brain really works.

Step into the shoes of a master hacker and break into an intelligent, highly defensive Windows environment. You’ll be infiltrating the suspicious (fictional) offshoring company G & S Trust and their hostile Microsoft stronghold. While the target is fictional, the corporation’s vulnerabilities are based on real life weaknesses in today’s advanced Windows defense systems. You’ll experience all the thrills, frustrations, dead-ends, and eureka moments of the mission first-hand, while picking up practical, cutting-edge techniques for evading Microsoft’s best security systems.

The adventure starts with setting up your elite hacking infrastructure complete with virtual Windows system. After some thorough passive recon, you’ll craft a sophisticated phishing campaign to steal credentials and gain initial access. Once inside you’ll identify the security systems, scrape passwords, plant persistent backdoors, and delve deep into areas you don’t belong. Throughout your task you’ll get caught, change tack on a tee, dance around defensive monitoring systems, and disable tools from the inside. Sparc Flow’s clever insights, witty reasoning, and stealth maneuvers teach you to be patient, persevere, and adapt your skills at the drop of a hat.  You’ll learn how to:

• Identify and evade Microsoft security systems like Advanced Threat Analysis, QRadar, MDE, and AMSI
• Seek out subdomains and open ports with Censys, Python scripts, and other OSINT tools
• Scrape password hashes using Kerberoasting
• Plant camouflaged C# backdoors and payloads
• Grab victims’ credentials with more advanced techniques like reflection and domain replication

Like other titles in the How to Hack series, this book is packed with interesting tricks, ingenious tips, and links to useful resources to give you a fast-paced, hands-on guide to penetrating and bypassing Microsoft security systems.

Learn Active Directory Management in a Month of Lunches is a practical, hands-on tutorial designed for IT pros new to Active Directory. It skips the theory and concentrates on the day-to-day administration tasks you need to know to keep your network running smoothly. Just set aside an hour a day for a month — lunchtime would be perfect — and you'll be comfortable and productive with Active Directory before you know it.

Learn System Center Configuration Manager in a Month of Lunches is a super-practical guide to Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager. In this book, you'll cut to the chase and learn the administrative procedures and techniques that will keep your systems humming smoothly.

Learn Windows IIS in a Month of Lunches is an innovative tutorial designed for busy administrators. Even if you have no prior exposure to IIS, you can follow the crisp explanations, examples, and exercises in this concise, easy-to-read book. Just set aside one hour a day -- lunchtime would be perfect -- for a month, and you'll be managing, securing, and automating IIS administrative tasks faster than you thought possible.

Metaprogramming in .NET is designed to help readers understand the basic concepts, advantages and potential pitfalls of metaprogramming. It introduces core concepts in clear, easy-to-follow language and then it takes you on a deep dive into the tools and techniques you'll use to implement them in your .NET code. You'll explore plenty of real-world examples that reinforce key concepts. When you finish, you'll be able to build high-performance, metaprogramming-enabled software with confidence.

In Microservices in .NET, Second Edition you will learn how to:

• Build scalable microservices that are reliable in production
• Optimize microservices for continuous delivery
• Design event-based collaboration between microservices
• Deploy microservices to Kubernetes
• Set up Kubernetes in Azure

Microservices in .NET, Second Edition is a comprehensive guide to building microservice applications using the .NET stack. After a crystal-clear introduction to the microservices architectural style, it teaches you practical microservices development skills using ASP.NET. This second edition of the bestselling original has been revised with up-to-date tools for the .NET ecosystem, and more new coverage of scoping microservices and deploying to Kubernetes.

PowerShell® is both a scripting language and an administrative shell that lets you control and automate nearly every aspect of IT. In PowerShell for Sysadmins, five-time Microsoft® MVP “Adam the Automator” Bertram shows you how to use PowerShell to manage and automate your desktop and server environments so that you can head out for an early lunch.

You'll learn how to:

• Combine commands, control flow, handle errors, write scripts, run scripts remotely, and test scripts with the PowerShell testing framework, Pester
• Parse structured data like XML and JSON, work with common domains (like Active Directory, Azure, and Amazon Web Services), and create a real-world server inventory script
• Design and build a PowerShell module to demonstrate PowerShell isn’t just about ad-hoc scripts
• Use PowerShell to create a hands-off, completely automated Windows deployment
• Build an entire Active Directory forest from nothing but a Hyper-V host and a few ISO files
• Create endless Web and SQL servers with just a few lines of code!

Real-world examples throughout help bridge the gap between theory and actual system, and the author’s anecdotes keep things lively.

Stop with the expensive software and fancy consultants. Learn how to manage your own environment with PowerShell for Sysadmins and make everyone happy.

Covers Windows PowerShell v5.1

Rootkits and Bootkits will teach you how to understand and counter sophisticated, advanced threats buried deep in a machine’s boot process or UEFI firmware.

With the aid of numerous case studies and professional research from three of the world’s leading security experts, you’ll trace malware development over time from rootkits like TDL3 to present-day UEFI implants and examine how they infect a system, persist through reboot, and evade security software. As you inspect and dissect real malware, you’ll learn:

• How Windows boots—including 32-bit, 64-bit, and UEFI mode—and where to find vulnerabilities
• The details of boot process security mechanisms like Secure Boot, including an overview of Virtual Secure Mode (VSM) and Device Guard
• Reverse engineering and forensic techniques for analyzing real malware, including bootkits like Rovnix/Carberp, Gapz, TDL4, and the infamous rootkits TDL3 and Festi
• How to perform static and dynamic analysis using emulation and tools like Bochs and IDA Pro
• How to better understand the delivery stage of threats against BIOS and UEFI firmware in order to create detection capabilities
• How to use virtualization tools like VMware Workstation to reverse engineer bootkits and the Intel Chipsec tool to dig into forensic analysis

Cybercrime syndicates and malicious actors will continue to write ever more persistent and covert attacks, but the game is not lost. Explore the cutting edge of malware analysis with Rootkits and Bootkits.

Covers boot processes for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.

Rx.NET in Action teaches developers how to build event-driven applications using the Reactive Extensions (Rx) library.

The DSC Book teaches you everything you need to know to implement DSC today! You’ll learn DSC’s basic architecture, how to write configurations, and how to author your own DSC resources.

The definitive guide–fully updated for Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016

Delve inside Windows architecture and internals, and see how core components work behind the scenes. Led by a team of internals experts, this classic guide has been fully updated for Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016.

This book will help you:

* Understand the Window system architecture and its most important entities, such as processes and threads * Examine how processes manage resources and threads scheduled for execution inside processes * Observe how Windows manages virtual and physical memory

• Dig into the Windows I/O system and see how device drivers work and integrate with the rest of the system * Go inside the Windows security model to see how it manages access, auditing, and authorization, and learn about the new mechanisms in Windows 10 and Server 2016