Modernization: WinForms/WPF to .NET 10, the web and Azure

Who it is for

For developers who maintain or inherit Windows Forms or WPF programs, and for teams that have to keep developing such a program without rewriting it all at once.

Prerequisites

K2 level (C#, ASP.NET Core, Entity Framework Core, Blazor, sign-in) and the Azure basics, Bicep and CI/CD from K3 (modules 3.1, 3.2, 3.7). Windows with Visual Studio; you need an Azure account only for the optional Azure steps.

Afterward, you can

• Take stock of an existing program, find its seams and justify an order of modernization
• Move a Windows Forms program from .NET Framework to .NET 10 with a safety net of tests
• Separate business logic and data access from the forms and share the database between old and new
• Replace the forms step by step with a web API and Blazor pages, also inside the Windows program
• Carry Windows sign-in, permissions and secrets over to Microsoft Entra ID, roles and Key Vault
• Run old and new side by side with a pilot group and feature switches, observe them and switch the old program off cleanly

Contents

1. M1

   Taking stock

   why and when not, the example order book, inventory, slicing and order by the strangler fig pattern

   8 h
2. M2

   First onto .NET 10

   safety net, project format and target framework, missing APIs and packages, configuration and startup, checking and shipping

   12 h
3. M3

   Separating business logic and data

   logic out of the forms, from DataSet to EF Core, one database for old and new, Azure SQL

   10 h
4. M4

   Web API and Blazor, page by page

   web API from the library, the Windows program as a client, first Blazor page, Blazor inside the Windows program, printing and files

   14 h
5. M5

   Sign-in, permissions, secrets

   from Windows sign-in to Microsoft Entra ID, permissions and data views, Key Vault and managed identity

   8 h
6. M6

   To Azure and running side by side

   shipping to Azure, dual running, pilot group and feature switches, observing both worlds, switching off and tearing down

   10 h
7. M7

   Final project

   plan, carry out, operate and report on a further block of functions

   10 h

About 72 hours in all (indicative).

Lessons

You see the text and video of every lesson here on the site after buying the course; the titles and goals are already shown. A self-study course: you work through the lessons in order and check your exercises yourself against the solutions.

You can read the first module (M1) for free, with text and video, without signing in: so you see how the course works before you buy.

The lessons are only in German for now.

The lessons stand under their modules, in the order of the course. Click a module to open or close its lessons.

Final project: the Kladde

Certifications

Microsoft offers no exam of its own for modernizing existing programs.

Keep learning with Microsoft Learn

Microsoft's learning paths and documentation that go with this course.

• Overview of upgrading .NET apps
• Overview of upgrading Windows Forms apps
• Strangler Fig pattern
• ASP.NET Core Blazor Hybrid