Tools and Skills for .NET 8 : Get the Career You Want with Good Practices and Patterns to Design, Debug, and Test Your Solutions

Tools and Skills for .NET 8: Get the career you want with good practices and patterns to design, debug, and test your solutions Elevate your career by mastering key .NET tools and skills, including debugging, source code management, testing, cloud-native development, intelligent apps and more. Key Features Coverage of key .NET tools and skills including refactoring, source code management, debugging, memory troubleshooting, and more Practical guidance on using code editors effectively, implementing best practices, and protecting data Explore cutting-edge techniques like building intelligent apps, cloud native development with .NET Aspire, and Docker containerization Book Description Unlock the full potential of .NET development with Tools and Skills for .NET 8. Dive into source code management using Git and learn how to navigate projects while ensuring version control. Discover advanced debugging techniques and troubleshooting strategies to identify and resolve issues, and gain practical insights on documenting your code, APIs, and services, fostering project clarity and maintainability. Delve into the world of cryptography, ensuring confidentiality and integrity throughout your development lifecycle. Elevate your skills as you explore cutting-edge topics such as building intelligent apps using custom LLM-based chat services, mastering dependency injection, optimizing performance through testing, and Docker containerization. Harness the power of cloud-native development with .NET Aspire, unlocking the benefits of modern cloud platforms. With guidance on software architecture best practices, this book empowers you to build robust, scalable and maintainable applications. Advance your career with invaluable insights on job readiness and interview preparation, positioning yourself as a top-tier candidate in today's competitive job market. Whether you're a seasoned .NET professional or an aspiring developer looking to enhance your skills, this book is your ultimate companion on the journey to .NET mastery. What you will learn Make the most of code editor tools for efficient development Learn advanced debugging techniques and troubleshooting strategies Understand how to protect data and applications using cryptography Build a custom LLM-based chat service Discover how to master dependency injection Optimize performance through benchmarking and testing Delve into cloud-native development using .NET Aspire Advance your career with advice on job readiness and interviews Who this book is for .NET professionals seeking to enhance their expertise, as well as aspiring developers aiming to advance their careers in the field. This book caters to individuals eager to master essential .NET tools, refine their development practices, explore advanced techniques and cutting-edge tools, and prepare themselves for job opportunities and interviews in the competitive landscape of .NET development Preface Where to find the code solutions What this book covers What you need for this book Get in touch Introducing Tools and Skills for .NET Introducing this book and its contents Companion books to complete your learning journey Audiences for this book Tools Skills Testing Design and career development Setting up your development environment Choosing the appropriate tool and application type for learning Using Visual Studio for general development Using Code for cross-platform development Using GitHub Codespaces for development in the cloud Using Rider for cross-platform development What I used Deploying cross-platform Downloading and installing Visual Studio Visual Studio keyboard shortcuts Visual Studio Enterprise edition tools Downloading and installing Code Installing other extensions Managing Code extensions at the command prompt Understanding Code versions Code keyboard shortcuts Downloading and installing Rider Other JetBrains tools Chrome AI tools Making good use of the GitHub repository for this book Raising issues with the book Giving me feedback Downloading solution code from the GitHub repository Where to go for help Reading documentation on Microsoft Learn Getting help for the dotnet tool LLMs like ChatGPT Getting better help from LLMs using prompt engineering AI usage by developers Getting help on Discord and other chat forums Setting up a database and projects for this book Using a sample relational database Setting up SQL Server and the Northwind database Creating the Northwind database for a local SQL Server Creating the Northwind database for SQL Edge in Docker Creating a class library for entity models using SQL Server Creating a class library for the data context using SQL Server Creating a test project to check the integration of the class libraries Running tests Using .NET 9 with this book Practicing and exploring Exercise 1.1 – Online-only material Exercise 1.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 1.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 1.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Making the Most of the Tools in Your Code Editor Introducing common tools and features Refactoring features Code snippets Editor configuration AI companions Tools in Visual Studio 2022 Refactoring features Add method parameter checks Method parameter refactoring Convert foreach to for and vice versa Simplify LINQ statements Align code elements Refactor to primary constructors Code snippets Code snippets schema Creating and importing code snippets Distributing code snippets Editor configuration AI companions: GitHub Copilot Making the most of GitHub Copilot Navigating Visual Studio Copying and pasting a statement Switching between file tabs and tool windows Features to improve the editing experience Line numbers and word wrap Keyboard shortcuts Formatting code Task list Extension Manager Tools in Visual Studio Code Refactoring features Code snippets Decompiling .NET assemblies Creating a console app to decompile Decompiling using the ILSpy extension for Visual Studio Viewing source links with Visual Studio No, you cannot technically prevent decompilation Lowering C# code Custom project and item templates Creating a project for a template Testing the project template Practicing and exploring Exercise 2.1 – Online-only material Exercise 2.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 2.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 2.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Source Code Management Using Git Introducing source code management Features of source code management Types of SCM system Common SCM systems Introducing Git Features of Git Why is Git hard to learn? Roles in a team for Git Downloading the latest Git Git integration with Visual Studio Configuring your Git identity Configuring SSH signature enforcement Configuring your default branch Getting help for Git Working with Git Starting with a Git repository Creating and adding files to a Git repository in theory Tracking changes in Git Creating a Git repository in practice Creating a new project Committing files Undoing a commit Cleaning a commit Stashing Ignoring files Reviewing Git repositories Viewing differences in files Viewing your commit history Filtering log output Managing remote repositories Branching and merging Walking through a branching and merging example Deleting and listing branches Summary of common Git commands Practicing and exploring Exercise 3.1 – Online-only material Exercise 3.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 3.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 3.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Debugging and Memory Troubleshooting Debugging strategies Introducing debugging strategies Understanding the problem How to start debugging When to give up debugging Interactive debugging with Visual Studio Creating code with objects to view Setting a breakpoint and starting debugging Navigating with the debugging toolbar Debugging windows Controlling what appears in debug panes Debugging test projects Asking GitHub Copilot Chat for debugging help Understanding stack and heap memory How reference and value types are stored in memory Understanding unsafe code Understanding pointers Other uses of pointers Understanding boxing Understanding garbage collection Controlling the GC Managing resources with IDisposable Tools and skills for memory troubleshooting Common memory tools and skills Visual Studio tools Using Visual Studio Memory Usage Practicing and exploring Exercise 4.1 – Online-only material Exercise 4.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 4.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 4.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Logging, Tracing, and Metrics for Observability Logging and tracing in .NET Understanding ILogger in .NET How to log using ILogger Building a web service for logging Testing the basic functionality of the web service Monitoring with metrics in .NET Concepts for metrics and alerts Metrics Alerts Scenarios for metrics and alerts Implementing metrics Adding metrics to an ASP.NET Core project Viewing metrics Introducing OpenTelemetry Supported instrumentation packages Instrumenting an ASP.NET Core project Viewing the telemetry Practicing and exploring Exercise 5.1 – Online-only material Exercise 5.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 5.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 5.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Documenting Your Code, APIs, and Services Introducing documentation Benefits of documentation When not to document Documenting your source code When should you document your source code? Good practices for commenting your source code Documenting public APIs in class libraries XML comment documentation How to document code using XML comments Generating documentation using DocFX Creating a DocFX project Adding custom documentation content Markdown markup language Headings Formatting text Creating lists Links and images Code blocks and syntax highlighting Tables Documenting services Considerations for documenting services Tools for documenting services Understanding the OpenAPI Specification (OAS) Documenting a Minimal APIs service using OpenAPI Documenting visually with Mermaid diagrams Rendering Mermaid diagrams Flowcharts using Mermaid Class diagrams using Mermaid Converting Mermaid to SVG Practicing and exploring Exercise 6.1 – Online-only material Exercise 6.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 6.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 6.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Observing and Modifying Code Execution Dynamically Working with reflection and attributes Metadata in .NET assemblies Versioning of assemblies Reading assembly metadata Creating custom attributes Understanding compiler-generated types and members Making a type or member obsolete Dynamically loading assemblies and executing methods A warning about reflection and native AOT Reflection improvements in .NET 9 Doing more with reflection Working with expression trees Understanding components of expression trees Executing the simplest expression tree Creating source generators Implementing the simplest source generator Practicing and exploring Exercise 7.1 – Online-only material Exercise 7.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 7.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 7.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Protecting Data and Apps Using Cryptography Understanding the vocabulary of protection Techniques to protect your data Keys and key sizes IVs and block sizes Salts Generating keys and IVs Encrypting and decrypting data Encrypting symmetrically with AES Hashing data Hashing with the commonly used SHA-256 Signing data Signing with SHA-256 and RSA Generating random numbers for cryptography Authenticating and authorizing users Authentication and authorization mechanisms Identifying a user User membership Implementing authentication and authorization Protecting application functionality Real-world authentication and authorization What’s coming in .NET 9 CryptographicOperations.HashData() method KMAC algorithm Practicing and exploring Exercise 8.1 – Online-only material Exercise 8.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 8.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 8.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Building an LLM-Based Chat Service Introducing LLMs How LLMs work Obtaining access to an LLM Using Semantic Kernel with an OpenAI model Understanding Semantic Kernel Understanding functions Adding functions Adding session memory and enabling multiple functions Streaming results Adding logging and resilience Running local LLMs Hugging Face Ollama Ollama models Ollama CLI OllamaSharp .NET package LM Studio Practicing and exploring Exercise 9.1 – Online-only material Exercise 9.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 9.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 9.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Dependency Injection, Containers, and Service Lifetime Introducing dependency injection Why use DI? The mechanisms of DI in .NET Examples in modern .NET Constructor injection example Property injection examples Method injection example Registering dependency service lifetimes Registering multiple implementations When are exceptions thrown? Best practices for DI Implementing .NET Generic Host Key features of the .NET Generic Host Building a .NET Generic Host Understanding host services and events Service registration methods Dependency graphs and service resolution Disposing services DI with ASP.NET Core Registering services for features using extension methods When you cannot use constructor injection Using scoped services in middleware Resolving services at startup DI and views DI, action methods, and Minimal APIs Practicing and exploring Exercise 10.1 – Online-only material Exercise 10.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 10.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 10.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Unit Testing and Mocking Introducing all types of testing Unit testing Integration, end-to-end, and security testing Performance, load, and stress testing Functional and usability testing Testing terminology Attributes of all good tests Test outcomes Test doubles, mocks, and stubs Adopting a testing mindset Pros and cons of test-driven development Core principles of TDD Pros of TDD Cons of TDD Good practices for TDD Unit testing How isolated should unit tests be? Naming unit tests Unit testing using xUnit Common xUnit attributes Creating a SUT Writing simple unit tests Test methods with parameters Testing theory methods using InlineData Testing theory methods using ClassData Testing theory methods using strongly typed ClassData Testing theory methods using MethodData Positive and negative test results Red flags in unit tests Seeing output during test execution Set up and tear down Controlling test fixtures Mocking in tests Libraries for mocking Using NSubstitute to create test doubles Mocking with NSubstitute example Making fluent assertions in unit testing Making assertions about strings Making assertions about collections and arrays Making assertions about dates and times Generating fake data with Bogus Faking data test project Writing a method with fake data Practicing and exploring Exercise 11.1 – Online-only material Exercise 11.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 11.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 11.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Integration and Security Testing Basics of integration testing Which external systems to test Sharing fixtures in integration tests Walkthrough of an example integration test Integration testing with data stores Developer instances of the database and migrations Data lifecycle Testing services using dev tunnels Installing the dev tunnel CLI Exploring a dev tunnel with the CLI and an echo service Exploring a dev tunnel with an ASP.NET Core project Introducing security testing Open Web Application Security Project OWASP Top 10 A1:2021 – Broken Access Control A2:2021 – Cryptographic Failures A3:2021 – Injection A4:2021 – Insecure Design A5:2021 – Security Misconfiguration A6:2021 – Vulnerable and Outdated Components A7:2021 – Identification and Authentication Failures A8:2021 – Software and Data Integrity Failures A9:2021 – Security Logging and Monitoring Failures A10:2021 – Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) OWASP Top 10 summary Threat modeling Microsoft Threat Modeling Tool Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) OWASP resources Azure Security and Compliance Blueprints .NET security best practices Practicing and exploring Exercise 12.1 – Online-only material Exercise 12.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 12.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 12.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Benchmarking Performance, Load, and Stress Testing Benchmarking performance Importance of a baseline Big O notation Statistical metrics BenchmarkDotNet for benchmarking performance Avoiding benchmarking mistakes Isolating benchmarking code from setup or teardown Trust the tool Compare like to like Beware of environmental variations Identifying poor blog posts about performance Load and stress testing Apache JMeter Bombardier – a fast cross-platform HTTP benchmarking tool Using Bombardier Downloading Bombardier Comparing an AOT and a non-AOT web service Testing the two web services with Bombardier Interpreting Bombardier results NBomber – a load testing framework NBomber scenarios Load simulations NBomber types NBomber project example Practicing and exploring Exercise 13.1 – Online-only material Benchmarking mistakes Exercise 13.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 13.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 13.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Functional and End-to-End Testing of Websites and Services Understanding functional and end-to-end testing Example 1: Testing a Web API service Example 2: Testing an ASP.NET Core website Example 3: Testing a SignalR real-time application Testing web user interfaces using Playwright Benefits for .NET developers Alternatives to Playwright Common Playwright testing types Common Playwright testing methods Common Playwright locator methods Common Playwright locator automation methods Testing common scenarios with eShopOnWeb Page navigation and title verification Interacting with a web user interface Selecting dropdown items and clicking elements Form submission, authentication, and validation Responsive design testing Emulating screen sizes Emulating devices Emulating locale, time zone, and geolocation Emulating dark mode and color schemes Emulating the user agent, disabling JavaScript, and going offline Single-Page Applications (SPAs) and dynamic content Generating tests with the Playwright Inspector Testing web services using xUnit Creating a web service ready for testing Creating the test project Practicing and exploring Exercise 14.1 – Online-only material Exercise 14.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 14.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 14.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Containerization Using Docker Introducing containerization How containers work and their benefits Docker, Kubernetes, and .NET Aspire Kubernetes .NET Aspire Container registries Docker concepts Docker tools and technologies Docker command-line interface (CLI) commands Building images using Dockerfiles Configuring ports and running a container Interactive mode Setting environment variables Common Docker container images .NET container images CVEs and Chiseled Ubuntu Managing containers with Docker Installing Docker and using prebuilt images Docker image hierarchy and layers Containerizing your own .NET projects Containerizing a console app project Publishing to a Docker container Containerizing an ASP.NET Core project Working with test containers How Testcontainers for .NET works Usage example Practicing and exploring Exercise 15.1 – Online-only material Exercise 15.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 15.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 15.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Cloud-Native Development Using .NET Aspire Introducing Aspire What does the Aspire team say? Code editor and CLI support for Aspire Starting an Aspire solution Aspire project types Aspire resource types Aspire application model and orchestration Aspire project templates Exploring the Aspire starter template Creating the Aspire starter application Exploring the Aspire starter solution Deeper into Aspire Developer dashboard for monitoring AppHost project for orchestrating resources ServiceDefaults project for centralized configuration Participating functional projects Configuring Redis Aspire components Logging, tracing, and metrics for observability Docker versus Podman for containers Waiting for containers to be ready What about Dapr, Orleans, and Project Tye? Dapr Orleans Project Tye Choosing between Dapr, Orleans, and Aspire Aspire for new and existing solutions Creating a new Aspire solution Aspire and PostgreSQL Using data volumes and configuring a stable password Adding Aspire to an existing solution Switching to Aspire components Reviewing the eShop reference application Deployment with Aspire Practicing and exploring Exercise 16.1 – Online-only material Exercise 16.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 16.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 16.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Design Patterns and Principles SOLID principles Single Responsibility Principle (SRP) SRP example SRP violating example SRP adhering refactoring SRP common mistakes SRP takeaways Open/Closed Principle (OCP) OCP example OCP violating example OCP common mistakes OCP takeaways Liskov Substitution Principle (LSP) LSP example LSP violating example LSP adhering refactoring LSP common mistakes LSP in .NET LSP takeaways Interface Segregation Principle (ISP) ISP example ISP violating example ISP adhering refactoring ISP common mistakes ISP in .NET ISP takeaways Dependency Inversion Principle (DIP) DIP example DIP violating example DIP common mistakes DIP takeaways Design patterns Creational patterns Builder pattern Structural design patterns Adapter a.k.a. the Wrapper pattern Behavioral design patterns Template Method pattern Design principles DRY KISS YAGNI Law of Demeter LoD example LoD takeaways Composition over Inheritance Composition over Inheritance example Composition over Inheritance violating example Composition over Inheritance takeaways Principle of Least Astonishment PoLA example PoLA takeaways Algorithms and data structures Sorting algorithms Searching algorithms Data structure algorithms Hashing algorithms Recursive algorithms Where to learn more about algorithms and data structures Practicing and exploring Exercise 17.1 – Online-only material Exercise 17.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 17.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 17.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Software and Solution Architecture Foundations Introducing software and solution architecture Software architecture Solution architecture Software architecture concepts Domain-Driven Design (DDD) Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) methodologies Software architecture styles Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS) Solution architecture concepts Conclusion Uncle Bob’s Clean Architecture Clean architecture concepts Defining entities Defining use cases and business rules Implementing interfaces Implementing presenters Implementing controllers Good practices in .NET Clean Architecture Diagramming design using Mermaid Mermaid for software and solution architecture Mermaid diagram types Mermaid flowcharts Flowchart syntax Example flowchart – a user login process Example flowchart – a software development process Sequence diagram syntax Example sequence diagram – a user registration process Example sequence diagram – website querying a database Practicing and exploring Exercise 18.1 – Online-only material Exercise 18.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 18.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 18.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Your Career, Teamwork, and Interviews Working on a development team Being a software engineer Career path Roles on a development team that you will collaborate with Project manager Business analyst Quality assurance analyst or tester User experience designer Database administrator DevOps engineer Front-end (FE) developer Technical lead or architect Onboarding process How to ask for training and development Identify specific training needs Align training with business goals Prepare a cost-benefit analysis Propose a flexible plan Request a meeting and present your case Pair programming Could an LLM replace a human paired programmer? Applying for a job Before you apply Refine your skills and knowledge Obtain certifications Search for job openings Craft your job application, resume, and online profiles Your resume or curriculum vitae Ask an LLM to improve your resume Interview preparation Do not use an LLM during an interview Interviewing at the big companies Applying for more experienced positions Applying for tester positions Selection of questions Behavioral questions STAR method Using the STAR method effectively Tips during interviews How to handle difficult coding questions How to handle unprepared interviewers What to never do Sample interview questions 1. .NET CLI tools Good answer Commonly given poor answer 2. Git fundamentals Good answer Commonly given poor answer 3. Entity Framework Core Good answer Commonly given poor answer 4. Interfaces and abstract classes 5. Properties and indexers 6. Generics 7. Delegates and events 8. Language Integrated Query (LINQ) 9. Asynchronous programming with async and await 10. Memory management and garbage collection 11. Differences between modern .NET and .NET Framework 12. Cross-platform capabilities 13. .NET Standard 14. Dependency injection in .NET 15. Middleware in ASP.NET Core 16. Configuration and Options pattern 17. Hosting and Kestrel server 18. Data types 19. Globalization and localization 20. Control structures 21. Exception handling 22. Git branching strategies 23. Code reviews and pair programming 24. Agile and Scrum methodologies 25. Documentation standards 26. Problem-solving skills 27. Project management tools 28. Estimation techniques 29. Team collaboration 30. Leadership and mentorship 31. MVC pattern 32. Razor syntax 33. Web API development 34. RESTful services best practices 35. SignalR for real-time web functionality 36. State management 37. Authentication and authorization 38. Blazor WebAssembly 39. Benefits of microservices 40. Challenges in microservices architecture 41. Docker containers and .NET 42. Microservices communication patterns 43. Resilience and transient fault handling 44. Distributed tracing 45. Health checks and monitoring 46. AutoMapper vs. extension method vs. implicit operator 47. ADO.NET fundamentals 48. Entity Framework Core performance tuning 49. Unit testing frameworks like xUnit 50. Mocking frameworks like NSubstitute 51. Integration testing strategies 52. Performance testing 53. Security testing 54. Automated UI testing 55. SOLID principles 56. Singleton pattern 57. Factory pattern 58. Memory leak identification 59. Development methodologies 60. Big O When you’re failing, you’re learning Practicing and exploring Exercise 19.1 – Online-only material Exercise 19.2 – Practice exercises Exercise 19.3 – Test your knowledge Exercise 19.4 – Explore topics Summary Join our book’s Discord space Epilogue Next steps on your .NET learning journey Companion books to continue your learning journey Ninth edition of C# 12 and .NET 8 coming soon for .NET 9 Planned .NET 10 trilogy Packt books to take your learning further Good luck! Index Elevate your career by mastering key.NET tools and skills, including debugging, source code management, testing, cloud-native development, intelligent apps and more. Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook.Key FeaturesCoverage of key.NET tools and skills including refactoring, source code management, debugging, memory troubleshooting, and morePractical guidance on using code editors effectively, implementing best practices, and protecting dataExplore cutting-edge techniques like building intelligent apps, cloud native development with.NET Aspire, and Docker containerizationBook DescriptionUnlock the full potential of.NET development with Tools and Skills for.NET 8. Dive into source code management using Git and learn how to navigate projects while ensuring version control. Discover advanced debugging techniques and troubleshooting strategies to identify and resolve issues, and gain practical insights on documenting your code, APIs, and services, fostering project clarity and maintainability. Delve into the world of cryptography, ensuring confidentiality and integrity throughout your development lifecycle. Elevate your skills as you explore cutting-edge topics such as building intelligent apps using custom LLM-based chat services, mastering dependency injection, optimizing performance through testing, and Docker containerization. Harness the power of cloud-native development with.NET Aspire, unlocking the benefits of modern cloud platforms. With guidance on software architecture best practices, this book empowers you to build robust, scalable and maintainable applications. Advance your career with invaluable insights on job readiness and interview preparation, positioning yourself as a top-tier candidate in today's competitive job market. Whether you're a seasoned.NET professional or an aspiring developer looking to enhance your skills, this book is your ultimate companion on the journey to.NET mastery.What you will learnMake the most of code editor tools for efficient developmentLearn advanced debugging techniques and troubleshooting strategiesUnderstand how to protect data and applications using cryptographyBuild a custom LLM-based chat serviceDiscover how to master dependency injectionOptimize performance through benchmarking and testingDelve into cloud-native development using.NET AspireAdvance your career with advice on job readiness and interviewsWho this book is for.NET professionals seeking to enhance their expertise, as well as aspiring developers aiming to advance their careers in the field. This book caters to individuals eager to master essential.NET tools, refine their development practices, explore advanced techniques and cutting-edge tools, and prepare themselves for job opportunities and interviews in the competitive landscape of.NET development