April 2014 updates:
- Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 includes updates to the Portable Class Library templates to support these scenarios:
- You can use Windows Runtime APIs in portable libraries that target Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, and Windows Phone Silverlight 8.1.
- You can include XAML (Windows.UI.XAML types) in portable libraries when you target Windows 8.1 or Windows Phone 8.1. The following XAML templates are supported: Blank Page, Resource Dictionary, Templated Control, and User Control.
- You can create a portable Windows Runtime component (.winmd file) for use in Store apps that target Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1.
- You can retarget a Windows Store or Windows Phone Store class library like a Portable Class Library.
For more information about these changes, see Cross-Platform Development with the Portable Class Library. - The .NET Framework content set now includes documentation for .NET Native, which is a precompilation technology for building and deploying Windows Store apps. .NET Native compiles your apps directly to native code, rather than to intermediate language (IL), for better performance. For details, see Compiling Apps with .NET Native. The .NET Native Developer Preview is available for download on the Microsoft Connect website (requires registration).
- The .NET Framework Reference Source provides a new browsing experience and enhanced functionality. You can now browse through the .NET Framework source code online, download the reference for offline viewing, and step through the sources (including patches and updates) during debugging. For more information, see the blog entry A new look for .NET Reference Source.
For a list of new APIs in the .NET Framework 4.5.1, see New Types and Members in the .NET Framework 4.5.1.
Core new features and enhancements in the .NET Framework 4.5.1 include:
- Automatic binding redirection for assemblies. Starting with Visual Studio 2013, when you compile an app that targets the .NET Framework 4.5.1, binding redirects may be added to the app configuration file if your app or its components reference multiple versions of the same assembly. You can also enable this feature for projects that target older versions of the .NET Framework. For more information, see How to: Enable and Disable Automatic Binding Redirection.
- Ability to collect diagnostics information to help developers improve the performance of server and cloud applications. For more information, see theWriteEventWithRelatedActivityId and WriteEventWithRelatedActivityIdCore methods in the EventSource class.
- Ability to explicitly compact the large object heap (LOH) during garbage collection. For more information, see the GCSettings.LargeObjectHeapCompactionModeproperty.
- Additional performance improvements such as ASP.NET app suspension, multi-core JIT improvements, and faster app startup after a .NET Framework update. For details, see the .NET Framework 4.5.1 announcement and the ASP.NET app suspend blog post.
Improvements to Windows Forms include:
- Resizing in Windows Forms controls. You can use the system DPI setting to resize components of controls (for example, the icons that appear in a property grid) by opting in with an entry in the application configuration file (app.config) for your app. This feature is currently supported in the following Windows Forms controls:PropertyGrid
TreeView
Some aspects of the DataGridView (see new features in 4.5.2 for additional controls supported)To enable this feature, add a new <appSettings> element to the configuration file (app.config) and set the EnableWindowsFormsHighDpiAutoResizing element totrue:<appSettings> <add key="EnableWindowsFormsHighDpiAutoResizing" value="true" /> </appSettings>
Improvements when debugging your .NET Framework apps in Visual Studio 2013 include:
- Return values in the Visual Studio debugger. When you debug a managed app in Visual Studio 2013, the Autos window displays return types and values for methods. This information is available for desktop, Windows Store, and Windows Phone apps. For more information, see Examine return values of method calls in the MSDN Library.
- Edit and Continue for 64-bit apps. Visual Studio 2013 supports the Edit and Continue feature for 64-bit managed apps for desktop, Windows Store, and Windows Phone. The existing limitations remain in effect for both 32-bit and 64-bit apps (see the last section of the Supported Code Changes (C#) article).
- Async-aware debugging. To make it easier to debug asynchronous apps in Visual Studio 2013, the call stack hides the infrastructure code provided by compilers to support asynchronous programming, and also chains in logical parent frames so you can follow logical program execution more clearly. A Tasks window replaces the Parallel Tasks window and displays tasks that relate to a particular breakpoint, and also displays any other tasks that are currently active or scheduled in the app. You can read about this feature in the "Async-aware debugging" section of the .NET Framework 4.5.1 announcement.
- Better exception support for Windows Runtime components. In Windows 8.1, exceptions that arise from Windows Store apps preserve information about the error that caused the exception, even across language boundaries. You can read about this feature in the "Windows Store app development" section of the .NET Framework 4.5.1 announcement.
