Microsoft .NET 8 nears the end line

.NET 8, the deliberate subsequent model of Microsoft’s software program improvement platform, has moved to a second and closing launch candidate (RC) stage. Common availability is due in November.

Unveiled October 10, .NET 8 RC 2 may be downloaded from the Microsoft .NET web site for Home windows, Linux, and Mac. The successor to .NET 7, which was launched in November 2022, .NET 8 can be supported for 3 years.

Enhancements in RC 2 embody improved efficiency and UI fixes for the .NET MAUI (Multi-platform App UI) framework and updates to Entity Framework. With .NET 8, builders will see a wide range of enhancements starting from AOT (ahead-of-time) compilation and supply era to JSON serialization and rubbish assortment enhancements.

Particular enhancements in .NET 8 embody:

• Higher System.Textual content.Json serialization and deserialization, with built-in assist for extra sorts, new API strategies, and different enhancements.
• Rubbish assortment provides a functionality to regulate the reminiscence restrict on the fly. That is considered as notably helpful in cloud eventualities, the place demand fluctuates.
• A supply generator is being launched to supply AOT (ahead-of-time) compilation and trim-friendly configuration in ASP.NET Core. This generator is an alternative choice to the present reflection-based implementation.
• New sorts to enhance app efficiency together with a Textual content.CompositeFormat sort to optimize format strings not identified at compile time.
• For reflection, a System.Kind object offers entry to perform pointer metadata together with calling conventions, return sort, and parameters. This performance at the moment solely is applied within the CoreCLR runtime and MetadataLoadContext.
• Extra SIMD assist is obtainable, introducing Vector512<T> and assist for Intel Superior Vector Extensions 512 (AVX-512).
• For cryptography, .NET 8 provides assist for the SHA-3 hashing primitives.
• HTTP consumer now helps HTTPS proxy, offering an encrypted channel between the consumer and proxy, to deal with requests with privateness.
• New overloads of CreateFromDirectory allow assortment of recordsdata included in a listing and zipping them. These then can retailer the ensuing zip file into the supplied stream.
• Native AOT assist for iOS-like platforms is launched in a preliminary style.
• A ValidateOptionsResultBuilder sort is being launched to facilitate the creation of a ValidateOptionsResult. This builder permits for the buildup of a number of errors.
• Adjustments have been made to .NET container photographs, resembling introduction of a sample to combine and match architectures with .NET photographs. Additionally, efficiency has been improved for pushing containers to distant registries, notably Azure registries.
• A brand new supply generator that helps interoperating with COM interfaces.
• For Android apps, the <AndroidStripILAfterAOT> property allows you to choose into additional AOT compilation for Android apps to lower app measurement.