Application frameworks are absolutely vital in the development of every large application by providing common services that are used repeatedly throughout the application. These services can also be shared by multiple domain-specific applications, and hence reduce the time and cost of development

Application framework also controls the flow of the application, such as how objects are instantiated inside the application, and how developers can customize and extend the framework to fit a specific need for their application

Xin Chen is the founder of Xtremework, Inc. Since the inception of .NET, Xin has helped customers in a wide range of industries turn their business ideas into software products using .NET technology. Leveraging his expertise in .NET and enterprise application integration, Xin has also worked with several technology leaders, such as Microsoft and Accenture, to bring winning solutions to their customers. When not working overtime, Xin enjoys reading books, writing books, and resting. He is the author of BizTalk 2002 Design and Implementation (Apress, 2003). Xin Chen earned a master's degree in statistics from Columbia University and is currently living in New Jersey.

* Provides ready-to-run code for some of the most common tasks that .NET applications need to perform, which readers can incorporate directly into their own applications

* Shows how to develop an extensible application framework that will greatly simplify development using the Microsoft .NET Framework

* Provides examples of advanced object-oriented techniques such as design patterns in the context of real applications

* The complete source code for SAF, which is ready for use and can be modified freely, is available for download

* Deepens knowledge of .NET by showing many different .NET technologies (e.g. Remoting) in action, in a real application - not just illustrative samples

1. Introduction to Application Frameworks
2. Dissection of an Application Framework
3. An Overview of the Simplified Application Framework
4. Class Factories
5. Caching Service
6. The SAF.Configuration Service
7. SAF.EventNotification
8. Windows Services
9. Message Queue Services
10. Authorization Service
11. Authentication Service
12. Cryptography Service
13. Transaction Service
14. DocumentLayer Service
15. The Workflow Service