ASP.NET 4.5 beta is finally here!

This is the blog post you have been waiting for. Well, maybe not, but its the blog post I look forward to writing. If you are an ASP.NET developer, this is an exciting time, because we get the new version of the framework that we will be working with for the next X number of years. You can look at the complete ASP.NET 4.5  features and updates list for yourself. This post is about some of the features I think our hosting customers will be happy to hear about.

First off there are a number of performance improvements specifically related to ASP.NET hosting. So out of the box, this version of the runtime should provide performance improvements. Thats always good news. One of the primary improvements is the introduction of Multi-Core JIT compilation. This means an uncompiled application will spool up much faster the first time it is run. With that out the way, lets look at some specific features and why we like them.

Asynchronous Improvements

We can now asychronously Read and Write HTTP Requests and Responses. HttpRequest.GetBufferlessInputStream now has BeginRead and EndRead methods. Conversely, HttpResponse now has BeginFlush and EndFlush Methods. Additionally, there is now support for await and Task-Based Asynchronous Modules and Handlers.

Request Validation

Out of the box, the popular AntiXSS library is included. We also gain support for “lazy” validation. Previously when request validation was invoked, everything in the collection was validated. With “lazy” validation, only the item specified will be validated.

WebSocket Support

With all the buzz regarding HTML 5 lately, one of the most talked about features is WebSockets. ASP.NET 4.5 includes the System.Web.WebSockets namespace that will allow for asynchronous communication with WebSocket objects.

Bundling & Minifiaction

Bundling allows you to point to a folder and “bundle” a group of files. This is useful for javascript and CSS files. Additionally, Minification is the process of condensing CSS and javascript files into smaller versions. This is done by removing white space and refactoring the code. For example, it is common to use variable names that we can read and understand. However computers, dont need such descriptive names. Minification would condense the the variable name down to a single character.

What features are you looking forward to in the ASP.NET 4.5 release?