Jason Zander announced today that Visual Studio 2012 and .NET Framework 4.5 is RELEASED to web. The .NET Web Tools Team (the team I'm on) has coverage on their blog as well. I thought I'd showcase some Tiny Happy Features that the team worked on just because it made life better. Some are large some are small, but all are tiny happy features.

I'll continue for a few more Tiny Happy Features over the next few weeks but this last week I took some time and recorded 13 (ya, thirteen, oy) short videos to show you guys these features in action. These are SHORT videos that are at most 4 to 6 minutes. It's hard to watch 60 to 90 minute screencast so I did these little one-take quick shots so you could watch them at lunch.

If you watch all these videos it will take you less than an hour and you'll have a good practical idea of what's new in Web Development and Tools with Visual Studio 2012. This is by no means exhaustive, but it's a lot.

The other concept that's worth pointing out is One ASP.NET. We've pulled the Web Tooling and Templates out into extensions in Visual Studio 2012. This means we can update Web Tools without updating all of Visual Studio. I talked about this in the One ASP.NET keynote at aspConf. We'll be updating the tools - not in major scary ways - but in useful and important ways that make front end web development easier. We'll look at small updates either quarterly or maybe semi-annually so when a new technique comes out you don't have to wait for the next version of Visual Studio.

MSDN Subscribers can download now at the MSDN Subscriber Download Page. For volume licensing customers, Visual Studio 2012 products will be on the Volume Licensing Service Center tomorrow. If you want to download Visual Studio 2012 free trial versions, or to download the free Express versions, head over to the the Visual Studio product website.

It's also worth noting that the Windows Azure .NET SDK has been updated today as well and you can download versions for either Visual Studio 2010 SP1 or Visual Studio 2012.

The Videos

Here's the 13 short videos showing each of my favorite features in just a few minutes. There are new Entity Framework 5 videos as well, so be sure to scroll all the way down!

CODEC NOTE: These are using HTML5 video and MP4. If you are using a browser that doesn't support that codec, click the Header links to go to the ASP.NET site directly and the videos will stream with Silverlight.

There are also 5 new Entity Framework videos done by Rowan Miller that show new features of the new Entity Framework 5 as well as walk you through Code First vs. Model First vs. Database First. They are excellent screencasts and I recommend them.

I want to write code:

I am creating a new database - Use Code First to define your model in code and then generate a database.

Use to define your model in code and then generate a database. I need to access an existing database - Use Code First to create a code based model that maps to an existing database.

I want to use a visual designer:

I am creating a new database - Use Model First to define your model using boxes and lines and then generate a database.

Use to define your model using boxes and lines and then generate a database. I need to access an existing database - Use Database First to create a boxes and lines model that maps to an existing database.

EF5 is the newest version of Entity Framework. These short videos and step-by-step walkthroughs will get you started with the new EF5 features

Enum Support in Code First - The domain classes that make up your Code First model can now contain enum properties that will be mapped to the database.

The domain classes that make up your Code First model can now contain enum properties that will be mapped to the database. Enum Support in EF Designer - Using the EF Designer you can now add enum properties to your entities.

Using the EF Designer you can now add enum properties to your entities. Spatial Data Types in Code First - Spatial data types can now be exposed in your Code First model using the new DbGeography and DbGeometry types.

Spatial data types can now be exposed in your Code First model using the new DbGeography and DbGeometry types. Spatial Data Types in EF Designer - Spatial data types can now be used in the EF Designer using the new DbGeography and DbGeometry types.

Spatial data types can now be used in the EF Designer using the new DbGeography and DbGeometry types. Table-Valued Functions - Table-valued functions (TVFs) in your database can now be used with Database First models created using the EF Designer.

Table-valued functions (TVFs) in your database can now be used with Database First models created using the EF Designer. Multiple Diagrams per Model - The EF Designer now allows you to have several diagrams that visualize subsections of your overall model. This allows larger models to be broken up into multiple smaller diagrams. You can also add color to the entities to help identify sections of your model.

Related Links