Today we're thrilled to announce the release of ASP.NET Core 2.1.0! This is the latest release of our open-source and cross-platform web framework for .NET and it's now ready for production use. 

This document describes rules and recommendations for developing applications and class libraries using the C# Language. The goal is to define guidelines to enforce consistent style and formatting and help developers avoid common pitfalls and mistakes. Specifically, this document covers Naming Conventions, Coding Style, Language Usage, and Object Model Design. 

• We improved solution load performance by optimizing design time build.
• We've added installation progress details on Visual Studio Installer.
• You can pause your installation and resume at a later time.
• We streamlined the update process so the notification takes you directly to the Installer.
• Non-administrators can create a VS layout.
• We added a new shortcut for Edit.Duplicate in the keyboard mapping.
• We made significant improvements to the F# language and tools, particularly for .NET Core SDK projects.
• The C++ compiler optimizes your code to run faster through improved optimizations.
• C++ Mapfile generation overhead is reduced in full linking scenarios.
• Debug options are available for Embedded ARM GCC support.
• We added strong name signing on CoreCLR for the C# compiler.
• Visual Studio Tools for Xamarin has lots of new productivity updates for iOS and Android developers.
• Python no longer requires a completion DB, and Anaconda users have support for conda.
• The Performance Profiler's CPU Usage Tool can display logical call stacks for asynchronous code.
• The CPU Usage tool displays source line highlighting and async/await code with logical 'Call Stack Stitching'.
• The debugger supports thread names set via SetThreadDescription APIs in dump debugging.
• Snapshot Debugging can be started from the Debug Target dropdown for ASP.NET applications.
• We've launched the initial implementation of Navigate to decompiled sources for .NET code navigation.
• New enhancements for Configure Continuous Delivery include support for TFVC, Git authentication over SSH, and containerized projects.
• You can now click on the Continuous Delivery tile in Team Explorer to configure automated build and deployments for your application.
• Team Explorer supports Git tags and checking out pull request branches.
• Service Fabric Tooling for the 6.1 Service Fabric release is now available.
• The Windows 10 Insider Preview SDK can be installed as an optional component.
• File versions for a number of Visual Studio executables now reflect the minor release.
• Test Explorer has a hierarchy view and real time test discovery is now on by default.
• We have added support for testing Win10 IoT Core applications.
• Visual Studio Build Tools supports TypeScript and Node.js.
• ClickOnce Tools support signing application and deployment manifests with CNG certificate.
• You can access Azure resources such as Key Vault using your Visual Studio accounts. 

Summary of Notable New Features in 15.9

• You can now import and export an installation configuration file that specifies which workloads and components should be installed with an instance of Visual Studio.
• We have improved the debugging experience for NuGet packages using the new symbol package format (.snupkg).
• Step back in debugger is now available in C++ for Enterprise customers.
• C++ IntelliSense now responds to changes in the remote environment for both CMake and MSBuild projects targeting Linux.
• We have made updates to UWP Desktop Bridge framework packages and added support for ARM64 C++ Native Desktop scenarios.
• We added support for the range-v3 library with the MSVC 15.9 compiler.
• We fixed several bugs in the F# compiler and F# tools.
• Language service support for new TypeScript features for semantic file renaming and project references.
• Improved Node.js development by updating Vue.js templates and adding support for unit testing using the Jest framework.
• We added SharePoint 2019 project templates, so you can migrate existing SharePoint 2013 and 2016 projects to SharePoint 2019.
• Visual Studio Tools for Xamarin now supports Xcode 10.
• We made improvements to the Xamarin.Android build performance.
• We have added and improved features for Universal Windows Platform developers, including ARM64 support, the latest preview SDK, better debugging of Desktop Bridge applications, and XAML Designer improvements.
• Substantial improvements were made to the experience of using authenticated package feeds.
• There is now support for lock file to enable repeatable restore for PackageReference based projects.
• We have added support for the new license format for NuGet packages.
• We have introduced NuGet client policies in Visual Studio which enables you to lock down environments such that only trusted packages can be installed.
• We made the use of .NET Core within Visual Studio more predictable.

Top Issues Fixed in 15.9

• No way to change "Find All References" background color.
• "Visual C++ Resource Editor Package" load failed.
• VS2017 v15.8 Build does not start if XAML files are not manually saved first.
• Installation failed - manifest signature verification failed.
• Update 15.8.6 breaks Installer Projects.
• Scrolling up with the arrow key causes Visual Studio to page up.
• After updating to 15.8.1, data tip does not show when debugging.
• System.InvalidProgramException: Common Language Runtime detected an invalid program..
• Solution Explorer does not remain pinned after closing Visual Studio.
• Navigation bar in editor has trouble handling long method names. 

Overall, our RyuJIT investments have been focused on evolving the code base towards enabling better support for:

• Multiple code generation targets (instruction sets and operating systems),
• Improved optimizations,
• Better and more flexible code generation, and
• Open, flexible, and robust design and implementation. 

TypeScript presentation 

On 16th November 2016, Nat Friedman and James Montemagno introduced Visual Studio for Mac, the newest member of the Visual Studio family at Connect(); 2016 event. I thought let's give it a try so I installed the same and went through the project templates available in it. This blog is kind of a getting started guide to install Visual Studio For Mac. 

Complete guide for creating, managing and orchestrating microservices using .NET Core platform, C# language, Docker technology and many more. Almost 20 hours of videos along with the whole source code and lots of practical samples that can be found on GitHub. 

The Intersection of Microservices, Domain-Driven Design and Entity Framework Core
Domain-Driven Design (DDD) provides much of the strategic design guidance that we can use to determine the boundaries around and interactions between Microservices in our solutions. DDD also follows up with tactical design patterns for your business logic. In this session we'll take a look at some of these patterns and how EF Core naturally, or with some additional configuration, persists the data that your microservices depend on. 

Azure Data Studio is a multi-database, cross-platform desktop environment for data professionals using the family of on-premises and cloud data platforms on Windows, MacOS, and Linux. To learn more, visit our GitHub.