.NET 4.0 Language and IDE Features

Unveiling the next version of .NET lays out new language features building on the trend increasing the dynamic characteristics of C# and VB.NET. New language features will fall into categories of new features to support the current drivers, cross-over of features between the languages, and IDE improvements to ease your programming experiences.

The current drivers for the languages are declarative coding, dynamic programming and concurrency. You'll see how a vision of the languages is evolving from these driving forces - building on the dynamic features separately developed for LINQ and in the DLR. You'll also see how the combined language team is balancing distinction and parity in areas such as late binding, XML and lambda expressions. The next release will present a major overhaul of Visual Studio itself.

This offers exciting possibilities for improving your coding and debugging experience, including changes to document mapping and visualizing the structure of your object models and code dependencies. You'll leave knowing what you can look forward to in the next version, as well as a better feel for the overall direction of the languages.

Speaker: Kathleen Dollard

Kathleen Dollard is the Chief Technologist for AppVenture (www.appventure.com) where she leads the application generation efforts. She has been a Microsoft MVP for 11 years and is a member of the INETA Speaker’s Bureau. Kathleen has worked extensively with application code generation and is the author of Code Generation in Microsoft .NET (from Apress).

She has published numerous articles on a range of .NET technologies and writes the monthly column “Ask Kathleen” in Visual Studio Magazine (www.visualstudiomagazine.com). Kathleen is also active in the Northern Colorado .NET SIG, Denver Visual Studio User Group, Northern Colorado Architect’s Group, and IASA Denver.