We’re excited to share all the new features and improvements in .NET 8 Preview 4! This release is a follow-up to the Preview 3 release. You’ll continue to see many more features show up with these monthly releases. .NET 6 and 7 users will want to follow this release closely since we have focused on making it a straightforward upgrade path. 

.NET 8 Preview 3 is now available. It includes changes to build paths, workloads, Microsoft.Extensions, and containers. It also includes performance improvements in the JIT, for Arm64, and dynamic PGO. If you missed the March preview, you may want to read the Preview 2 post. 

var integerArray = new int[3];
var lastItem = integerArray[integerArray.Length - 1];

var integerList = integerArray.ToList();
integerList.Last();

var secondToLast = integerArray[integerArray.Length - 2];

var lastItem = integerArray[^1];

var words = new string[]
{
                // index from start    index from end
    "The",      // 0                   ^9
    "quick",    // 1                   ^8
    "brown",    // 2                   ^7
    "fox",      // 3                   ^6
    "jumped",   // 4                   ^5
    "over",     // 5                   ^4
    "the",      // 6                   ^3
    "lazy",     // 7                   ^2
    "dog"       // 8                   ^1
};              // 9 (or words.Length) ^0

Console.WriteLine($"The last word is {words[words.Length - 1]}");

var index = new Index(value: 1, fromEnd: true);
Index indexStruct = ^1;
var indexShortHand = ^1;

int[] a = { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 };
Console.WriteLine(a[a.Length – 2]); // will write 8 on console.
Console.WriteLine(a[^2]); // will write 8 on console.

Index i5 = 5;
Console.WriteLine(a[i5]);        //will write 5 on console.

Index i2fromEnd = ^2;
Console.WriteLine(a[i2fromEnd]); // will write 8 on console.

var numbers = Enumerable.Range(1, 10).ToArray();

var (start, end) = (1, 7); 
var length = end - start; 

// Using LINQ 
var subset1 = numbers.Skip(start).Take(length);
 
// Or using Array.Copy 
var subset2 = new int[length];
Array.Copy(numbers, start, subset2, 0, length);

var myArray = new string[] { "Item1", "Item2", "Item3", "Item4", "Item5" };

 var fromIndexToX = myArray[1..3]; // = [Item2, Item3]

var fromIndexToXFromTheEnd = myArray[1..^1]; // = [ "Item2", "Item3", "Item4" ]

var fromAnIndexToTheEnd = myArray[1..]; // = [ "Item2", "Item3", "Item4", "Item5" ]

 var fromTheStartToAnIndex = myArray[..3]; // = [ "Item1", "Item2", "Item3" ]

 var entireRange = myArray[..]; // = [ "Item1", "Item2", "Item3", "Item4", "Item5" ]

var myArray = new string[] { "Item1", "Item2", "Item3", "Item4", "Item5" };
for (int i = 1; i <= 3; i++)
{
  Console.WriteLine(myArray[i]);
}

foreach (var item in myArray[1..4]) // = [ "Item2", "Item3", "Item4" ]
{
  Console.WriteLine(item);
}

using System;
using System.Linq;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        private static readonly int[] _numbers = Enumerable.Range(1, 10).ToArray();

        static void Main()
        {
            var skip2CharactersAndTake2Characters = _numbers[2..4]; // صرفنظر کردن از دو عنصر اول و سپس انتخاب دو عنصر
            var skipFirstAndLastCharacter = _numbers[1..^1]; // صرفنظر کردن از دو عنصر اول و آخر
            var last3Characters = _numbers[^3..]; // انتخاب بازه‌ای شامل سه عنصر آخر
            var first4Characters = _numbers[0..4]; // دریافت بازه‌ای از 4 عنصر اول
            var rangeStartFrom2 = _numbers[2..]; // دریافت بازه‌ای شروع شده از المان دوم تا آخر
            var skipLast3Characters = _numbers[..^3]; // صرفنظر کردن از سه المان آخر
            var rangeAll = _numbers[..]; // انتخاب کل بازه
        }
    }
}

var range = new Range(1, 4);
Range rangeStruct = 1..4;
var rangeShortHand = 1..4;

using System;
using System.Linq;

namespace ConsoleApp
{
    class Program
    {
        private static readonly int[] _numbers = Enumerable.Range(1, 10).ToArray();
        static void Print(Range range) => Console.WriteLine($"{range} => {string.Join(", ", _numbers[range])}");

        static void Main()
        {
            Print(1..3); // 1..3 => 2, 3
            Print(..3);      // 0..3 => 1, 2, 3
            Print(3..);      // 3..^0 => 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
            Print(1..^1);    // 1..^1 => 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
            Print(^2..^1);   // ^2..^1 => 9
        }
    }
}

Console.WriteLine("123456789"[1..4]); // Would output 234

var helloWorldStr = "Hello, World!";

var hello = helloWorldStr[..5];
Console.WriteLine(hello); // Output: Hello

var world = helloWorldStr[7..];
Console.WriteLine(world); // Output: World!

var world2 = helloWorldStr[^6..]; // Take the last 6 characters
Console.WriteLine(world); // Output: World!

var arr = (new[] { 1, 4, 8, 11, 19, 31 }).AsSpan();
var range = arr[2..5];

ref int elt1 = ref range[1];
elt1 = -1;

int copiedElement = range[2];
copiedElement = -2;

Console.WriteLine($"range[1]: {range[1]}, range[2]: {range[2]}"); // output: range[1]: -1, range[2]: 19
Console.WriteLine($"arr[3]: {arr[3]}, arr[4]: {arr[4]}"); // output: arr[3]: -1, arr[4]: 19

namespace CS8Tests;

public class InterceptorsSample
{
    public string GetText(string text)
    {
        return $"{text}, World!";
    }
}

namespace System.Runtime.CompilerServices;

[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Method, AllowMultiple = true, Inherited = false)]
public sealed class InterceptsLocationAttribute : Attribute
{
    public InterceptsLocationAttribute(string filePath, int line, int character)
    {
    }
}

using CS8Tests;

var example = new InterceptorsSample();
var text = example.GetText("Hello");
Console.WriteLine(text); //Hello, World!

using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;

namespace CS8Tests;

public static class MyInterceptor
{
    [InterceptsLocation("C:\\Path\\To\\CS8Tests\\Program.cs", 4, 20)] 
    public static string InterceptorMethod(this InterceptorsSample example, string text)
    {
        return $"{text}, DNT!";
    }
}

 error CS9137: The 'interceptors' experimental feature is not enabled in this namespace. Add
'<InterceptorsPreviewNamespaces>$(InterceptorsPreviewNamespaces);CS8Tests</InterceptorsPreviewNamespaces>'
to your project.

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    <!--<NoWarn>Test001</NoWarn>-->
    <InterceptorsPreviewNamespaces>$(InterceptorsPreviewNamespaces);CS8Tests</InterceptorsPreviewNamespaces>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Hello, DNT!

using CS8Tests;
using System;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;

[CompilerGenerated]
internal class Program
{
  private static void <Main>$(string[] args)
  {
    Console.WriteLine(new InterceptorsSample().InterceptorMethod("Hello"));
  }

  public Program()
  {
    base..ctor();
  }
}

app.MapGet("/products", handler: (int? page, int? pageLength, MyDb db) => { ... })

an exciting release incorporated with plenty of library updates, a new WASM mode, more source generators, constant performance improvements, and NativeAOT support on iOS. We hope you enjoy these new features and improvements. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue our journey of making .NET better, together! 

dotnet new blazor --interactivity Server

dotnet new blazor --interactivity WebAssembly

// ...

builder.Services.AddRazorComponents()
       .AddInteractiveServerComponents();

// ...

app.MapRazorComponents<App>()
   .AddInteractiveServerRenderMode();

// ...

builder.Services.AddRazorComponents()
    .AddInteractiveWebAssemblyComponents();

// ...

app.MapRazorComponents<App>()
    .AddInteractiveWebAssemblyRenderMode()
    .AddAdditionalAssemblies(typeof(Counter).Assembly);

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.BlazorWebAssembly">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <ProjectReference Include="..\BlazorDemoApp.Shared\BlazorDemoApp.Shared.csproj" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>

builder.Services.AddScoped<IProductStore, ProductStore>();

@using static Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Web.RenderMode
// ...
@using BlazorDemoApp.Client.Components.Store
@using BlazorDemoApp.Client.Components

<RelatedProducts ProductId="ProductId" @rendermode="@InteractiveWebAssembly"/>

using BlazorDemoApp.Services;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;

namespace BlazorDemoApp.Controllers;

[ApiController]
[Route("/api/[controller]")]
public class ProductsController : ControllerBase
{
    private readonly IProductStore _store;

    public ProductsController(IProductStore store) => _store = store;

    [HttpGet("[action]")]
    public IActionResult Related([FromQuery] int productId) => Ok(_store.GetRelatedProducts(productId));
}

builder.Services.AddControllers();
// ...
app.MapControllers();

@using BlazorDemoApp.Shared.Models
@inject HttpClient Http

<button class="btn btn-outline-secondary" @onclick="LoadRelatedProducts">Related products</button>

@if (_loadRelatedProducts)
{
    @if (_relatedProducts == null)
    {
        <p>Loading...</p>
    }
    else
    {
        <div class="mt-3">
            @foreach (var item in _relatedProducts)
            {
                <a href="/ProductDetails/@item.Id">
                    <div class="col-sm">
                        <h5 class="mt-0">@item.Title (@item.Price.ToString("C"))</h5>
                    </div>
                </a>
            }
        </div>
    }
}

@code{

    private IList<Product>? _relatedProducts;
    private bool _loadRelatedProducts;

    [Parameter]
    public int ProductId { get; set; }

    private async Task LoadRelatedProducts()
    {
        _loadRelatedProducts = true;
        var uri = $"/api/products/related?productId={ProductId}";
        _relatedProducts = await Http.GetFromJsonAsync<IList<Product>>(uri);
    }

}

System.InvalidOperationException: Cannot provide a value for property 'Http' on type 'RelatedProducts'.
There is no registered service of type 'System.Net.Http.HttpClient'.

<RelatedProducts ProductId="ProductId" @rendermode="@InteractiveWebAssembly"/>

builder.Services.AddScoped(sp => new HttpClient 
{ 
    BaseAddress = new Uri("http://localhost/") 
});

using BlazorDemoApp.Shared.Models;

namespace BlazorDemoApp.Shared.Data;

public interface IProductStore
{
    IList<Product> GetAllProducts();
    Product GetProduct(int id);
    Task<IList<Product>?> GetRelatedProducts(int productId);
}

public Task<IList<Product>?> GetRelatedProducts(int productId)
    {
        var product = ProductsDataSource.Single(x => x.Id == productId);
        return Task.FromResult<IList<Product>?>(ProductsDataSource.Where(p => product.Related.Contains(p.Id))
                                                                 .ToList());
    }

[HttpGet("[action]")]
public async Task<IActionResult> Related([FromQuery] int productId) =>
        Ok(await _store.GetRelatedProducts(productId));

public class ClientProductStore : IProductStore
{
    private readonly HttpClient _httpClient;

    public ClientProductStore(HttpClient httpClient) => _httpClient = httpClient;

    public IList<Product> GetAllProducts() => throw new NotImplementedException();

    public Product GetProduct(int id) => throw new NotImplementedException();

    public Task<IList<Product>?> GetRelatedProducts(int productId) =>
        _httpClient.GetFromJsonAsync<IList<Product>>($"/api/products/related?productId={productId}");
}

builder.Services.AddScoped<IProductStore, ClientProductStore>();
builder.Services.AddScoped(sp => new HttpClient { BaseAddress = new Uri(builder.HostEnvironment.BaseAddress) });

@inject IProductStore ProductStore

private async Task LoadRelatedProducts()
{
   _loadRelatedProducts = true;
   _relatedProducts = await ProductStore.GetRelatedProducts(ProductId);
}

Here’s a summary of what’s new in this preview release:

• Improved startup debugging experience
• Blazor
  • Form model binding & validation with server-side rendering
  • Enhanced page navigation & form handling
  • Preserve existing DOM elements with streaming rendering
  • Specify component render mode at the call site
  • Interactive rendering with Blazor WebAssembly
  • Sections improvements
  • Cascade query string values to Blazor components
  • Blazor Web App template option for enabling server interactivity
  • Blazor template consolidation
• Metrics
  • Testing metrics in ASP.NET Core apps
  • New, improved, and renamed counters
• API authoring
  • Complex form binding support in minimal APIs
• Servers & middleware
  • HTTP.sys kernel response buffering
  • Redis-based output-cache
   

namespace BlazorDemoApp.Models;

public record Product
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public required string Title { get; set; }
    public required string Description { get; set; }
    public decimal Price { get; set; }

    public List<int> Related { get; set; } = new();
}

using BlazorDemoApp.Models;

namespace BlazorDemoApp.Services;

public interface IProductStore
{
    IList<Product> GetAllProducts();
    Product GetProduct(int id);
    IList<Product> GetRelatedProducts(int productId);
}

public class ProductStore : IProductStore
{
    private static readonly List<Product> ProductsDataSource =
        new()
        {
            new Product
            {
                Id = 1, Title = "Smart speaker", Price = 22m,
                Description =
                    "This smart speaker delivers excellent sound quality and comes with built-in voice control, offering an impressive music listening experience.",
                Related = new List<int> { 2, 3 },
            },
            new Product
            {
                Id = 2, Title = "Regular speaker", Price = 89m,
                Description =
                    "Enjoy room-filling sound with this regular speaker. With its slick design, it perfectly fits into any room in your house.",
                Related = new List<int> { 1, 3 },
            },
            new Product
            {
                Id = 3, Title = "Speaker cable", Price = 12m,
                Description =
                    "This high-quality speaker cable ensures a reliable and clear audio connection for your sound system.",
            },
        };

    public IList<Product> GetAllProducts() => ProductsDataSource;

    public Product GetProduct(int id) => ProductsDataSource.Single(p => p.Id == id);

    public IList<Product> GetRelatedProducts(int productId)
    {
        var product = ProductsDataSource.Single(x => x.Id == productId);
        return ProductsDataSource.Where(p => product.Related.Contains(p.Id)).ToList();
    }
}

builder.Services.AddScoped<IProductStore, ProductStore>();

@page "/Products"
@using BlazorDemoApp.Models
@using BlazorDemoApp.Services

@inject IProductStore Store

@attribute [StreamRendering]

<h3>Products</h3>

@if (_products == null)
{
    <p>Loading...</p>
}
else
{
    @foreach (var item in _products)
    {
        <a href="/ProductDetails/@item.Id">
            <div>
                <div>
                    <h5>@item.Title</h5>
                </div>
                <div>
                    <h5>@item.Price.ToString("c")</h5>
                </div>
            </div>
        </a>
    }
}

@code {
    private IList<Product>? _products;

    protected override Task OnInitializedAsync() => GetProductsAsync();

    private async Task GetProductsAsync()
    {
        await Task.Delay(1000); // Simulates asynchronous loading to demonstrate streaming rendering
        _products = Store.GetAllProducts();
    }

}

@page "/ProductDetails/{ProductId}"
@using BlazorDemoApp.Models
@using BlazorDemoApp.Services

@inject IProductStore Store

@attribute [StreamRendering]

@if (_product == null)
{
    <p>Loading...</p>
}
else
{
    <div>
        <div>
            <h5>
                @_product.Title (@_product.Price.ToString("C"))
            </h5>
            <p>
                @_product.Description
            </p>
        </div>
        @if (_product.Related.Count > 0)
        {
            <div>
                <RelatedProducts ProductId="Convert.ToInt32(ProductId)" />
            </div>
        }
    </div>
    <NavLink href="/Products">Back</NavLink>
}

@code {
    private Product? _product;

    [Parameter]
    public string? ProductId { get; set; }

    protected override Task OnInitializedAsync() => GetProductAsync();

    private async Task GetProductAsync()
    {
        await Task.Delay(1000); // Simulates asynchronous loading to demonstrate streaming rendering
        _product = Store.GetProduct(Convert.ToInt32(ProductId));
    }

}

<RelatedProducts ProductId="Convert.ToInt32(ProductId)" />

@using BlazorDemoApp.Models
@using BlazorDemoApp.Services
@inject IProductStore Store

<button @onclick="LoadRelatedProducts">Related products</button>

@if (_loadRelatedProducts)
{
    @if (_relatedProducts == null)
    {
        <p>Loading...</p>
    }
    else
    {
        <div>
            @foreach (var item in _relatedProducts)
            {
                <a href="/ProductDetails/@item.Id">
                    <div>
                        <h5>@item.Title (@item.Price.ToString("C"))</h5>
                    </div>
                </a>
            }
        </div>
    }
}

@code{

    private IList<Product>? _relatedProducts;
    private bool _loadRelatedProducts;

    [Parameter]
    public int ProductId { get; set; }

    private async Task LoadRelatedProducts()
    {
        _loadRelatedProducts = true;
        await Task.Delay(1000); // Simulates asynchronous loading to demonstrate InteractiveServer mode
        _relatedProducts = Store.GetRelatedProducts(ProductId);
    }

}

<RelatedProducts ProductId="Convert.ToInt32(ProductId)" @rendermode="@InteractiveServer"/>

<script src="_framework/blazor.web.js"></script>

<RelatedProducts ProductId="Convert.ToInt32(ProductId)" @rendermode="@(new InteractiveServerRenderMode(false))"/>

@using static Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Web.RenderMode

public static class RenderMode
  {
    public static InteractiveServerRenderMode InteractiveServer { get; } = new InteractiveServerRenderMode();

    public static InteractiveWebAssemblyRenderMode InteractiveWebAssembly { get; } = new InteractiveWebAssemblyRenderMode();

    public static InteractiveAutoRenderMode InteractiveAuto { get; } = new InteractiveAutoRenderMode();
  }


public class InteractiveServerRenderMode : IComponentRenderMode
  {
    public InteractiveServerRenderMode()
      : this(true)
    {
    }

    public InteractiveServerRenderMode(bool prerender) => this.Prerender = prerender;

    public bool Prerender { get; }
  }

Angular 2018 roadmap includes Ivy Renderer, Angular Elements, Bazel and more