Expert .NET Micro Framework (Expert's Voice in .NET) [Hardcover]

Jens Kühner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 2008 | ISBN-10: 159059973X | ISBN-13: 978-1590599730 | Edition: 1

The Microsoft .NET Micro Framework is a small and efficient .NET runtime environment used to run managed code on devices that are too small and resource constrained for Windows CE and the Compact Framework.

Expert .NET Micro Framework will teach you everything you need to know in order to use the .NET Micro Framework to create effective embedded applications. It begins with the basics of accessing hardware and networking before delving deep into the less well–known areas such as cryptography and globalization, and how to use technologies such as wireless communication that are not directly supported by the .NET Micro Framework.

This book is a must if you want to get as much as possible out of the .NET Micro Framework to write powerful embedded applications.

Expert .NET Micro Framework also describes how to use resources, and write globalized and multilingual embedded applications. You will learn how to effectively use binary serialization to store data permanently in flash memory or exchange data with a PDA or PC. Topics like cryptography and encrypted data exchange with a .NET or Compact Framework application are covered.

What you’ll learn

• Describes and compares wireless communication technologies and how to use them even if they are not directly supported by the .NET Micro Framework
• Describes the whole class library and features of the .NET Micro Framework, illustrated by working examples
• Demonstrates how to access hardware components with managed drivers and write applications with a graphical user interface
• Includes a detailed description of how to effectively extend or write hardware emulators using undocumented features of the configuration engine and emulator components

Who this book is for

This book is for anyone with an interest in creating embedded systems. Primarily, it is written for the benefit of .NET developers with a background in C#, but it will equally appeal to hardware developers with a background in Assembler, C, or C++ who will be impressed by the benefits that managed code can bring to their devices.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jens Kuhner works for Vallon GmbH in Germany as a principal software developer developing metal detectors and ferrous locators. He creates software for data acquisition and evaluation using the .NET Framework and Compact Framework. Since this software must be incorporated closely with the detectors hardware, an interest in embedded systems was only natural.

Jens has been involved with the .NET Micro Framework from the very start, when he saw it presented at MEDC Europe. Since then, he's been an active beta tester of the technology and a regular contributor to Micro Framework forums.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (April 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159059973X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590599730
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 1.1 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,083,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Enterprise C# Developer/Arduino Fan's Investigation into .NET Micro June 22, 2010

By Brady Gaster

Format:Hardcover

I am a .NET programmer by trade, an Arduino fan by hobby, and an open-source advocate in practice. So, when I first heard of the .NET Micro Framework I had a dual response, both "yeah right" and "this could be interesting." I evaluated a few kits, and a few other books, and chose this one because it appeared at first glance to take a deeper look into not only embedded systems development with the .NET Micro Framework, but to take that glance through the lens of an experienced programmer.

I was pleased to find that the book not only offered an excellent introduction to .NET Micro - which I'll get to in a moment - but that it also allowed me to look at some of those familiar practices, like multi-threaded programming and lower-level communications with streams, and binary serialization, from a different perspective. I'm an enterprise .NET developer, so the approaches I take solve problems on a far greater scale than with embedded systems; this text approached those same topics on a small scale but did so in an unassuming and concise manner. The author seems to take the approach of "experienced coder in a coffee shop talking to another experienced programmer," the two taking different approaches to solve the same problems, and both learning from the other's approach.

Clearly-stated expert .NET generalities aside, this book has *tons* to offer the embedded developer. I had *zero* experience with .NET Micro and have missed .NET coding when I'm tinkering with Arduino in my spare time. This book demonstrated how the .NET Micro framework could bridge that gap and provide a more natural environment in which I'd be up and running a lot faster. It explained topics as basic as GPIO port interfaces, how the .NET Micro framework communicates over said ports, and went into a great discussion early on describing the various options for hardware. Most of us new to hardware integration find hardware selection, prices, and details quite confusing, so the chapter dedicated to hardware description and selection was much appreciated. When I am ready to purchase some .NET Micro hardware, I'll be referencing my copy of this book to aid in my selection. Bluetooth, wireless, Ethernet, and all other sorts of hardware integration possibilities are available in the .NET Micro framework, and the book covers each topic not only conceptually but when appropriate, with coding examples in C# to further exemplify the opportunities.

If you're a fan of web services, WSDL, SOAP, and all things XML communication, you'll be really stoked to learn that the book goes into exhaustive detail on one particular topic. Device Profile for Web Services - DPWS - a method of connecting embedded systems to one another and to enterprise systems via XML/SOAP Web Services. If you're into enterprise application development and find this sort of embedded thing an interesting hobby, this chapter will blow your mind. The opportunities available via the .NET Micro framework with DPWS is really interesting. I had all kinds of ideas for connecting hardware to online resources or API's, and the examples in the networking chapter made it all seem possible.

This book is a great introduction to the .NET Micro framework from the point of view of an experienced programmer. If you're getting into embedded systems or you just want to learn about .NET from another perspective, pick it up. Finally, if you're an Arduino/Freeduino enthusiast who enjoys .NET coding and have been troubled with how to put the two together (even though your hardware might have to change a little to support .NET Micro's awesome capabilities), this is your resource.