The Definitive Guide to the Microsoft Enterprise Library introduces one of the most exciting and popular .NET-oriented initiatives, the Enterprise Library. The EL offers nine classes of reusable code, or blocks, that are used to solve a variety of common problem spaces. These problems cover a number of topics, including configuration, data access, exception management, caching, application updates, UI separation, asynchronous invocation, logging, security, and XML-based information aggregation.

Author Keenan Newton, a senior consultant for noted Microsoft Partner Magenic, begins the book with an introduction to common challenges, explaining the conditions that brought about the creation of the EL. After an EL overview, subsequent chapters offer detailed information about each of the nine blocks. The book concludes by outlining the framework available for creating custom application blocks.

You'll be able to build .NET applications faster and more efficiently by taking advantage of readily available code developed and released by Microsoft's Patterns and Practices group. All book examples are based on a theme project that develops a point-of-sale application for a cosmetics company. You will be introduced to these technologies in conjunction with real-world scenarios.