C# basics, EF Core tuning, and MCP in Visual Studio
A mixed .NET roundup covering language fundamentals, FastEndpoints, EF Core performance, Minimal APIs, Copilot, and Visual Studio MCP GA.
Jasen's top three picks
- 1 What are the difference between a function and a method in C# ?
c-sharpcorner.com
A solid refresher on the C# basics that still trip people up, especially when “function” versus “method” starts showing up in code reviews.
- 2 FastEndpoints for Senior .NET Developers: Advanced Validation, DI, and Middleware Techniques
blog.stackademic.com
FastEndpoints gets a deeper treatment here, with validation, DI, and middleware patterns that matter once you’re past the hello-world stage.
- 3 From Stack to Span<T> — A Recap into C#’s Memory
c-sharpcorner.com
Span
and stack-vs-heap memory are back on the menu, this time with a performance angle that’s worth revisiting.
Editor's note
I curated a pretty balanced mix today: some fundamentals, some performance, and a few tooling updates. The Visual Studio MCP GA item stands out for day-to-day AI-assisted workflows, and the LINQ performance piece is a useful reality check for code that looks tidy but costs throughput. I also like the EF Core and Minimal APIs articles because they’re the sort of practical topics teams can apply immediately.
Today's articles
What are the difference between a function and a method in C# ?
c-sharpcorner.com
Understanding the difference between a function and a method is crucial for every C# developer. While both perform operations and return results, their usage and context differ. In this article, we’ll...
Topics: C#
Read articleFastEndpoints for Senior .NET Developers: Advanced Validation, DI, and Middleware Techniques
blog.stackademic.com
Why FastEndpoints Matters for Senior Developers Continue reading on Stackademic »
Topics: ASP.NET Core Minimal APIs Security
Read articleFrom Stack to Span<T> — A Recap into C#’s Memory
c-sharpcorner.com
Explore C# memory management, from stack vs heap to structs and contiguous memory. Learn how Span<T> enables efficient slicing without allocations, optimizing performance and reducing GC overhead i...
Topics: C# Performance
Read article8 Simple Tricks to Make Your Code Look Professional Overnight
medium.com
Transform messy code into clean, readable work fast. Continue reading on Nerd For Tech »
Topics: C# Solid Principles
Read article11 LINQ Calls Microsoft Engineers Replace for Up to ~2× Throughput
blog.devgenius.io
(With analyzers, docs, and a reproducible benchmark harness) Continue reading on Dev Genius »
Topics: C# Performance
Read articleEF Core + Code First “from zero to mastery” Tutorial
medium.com
1) Introduction to EF Core and the Code First Approach
Topics: EF Core
Read articleAnnouncing Copilot Studio Agent Academy: Your Mission Starts Now
devblogs.microsoft.com
Welcome to Copilot Studio Agent Academy Whether you're just starting your journey with AI agents or looking to sharpen your skills in Microsoft Copilot Studio, we've got your mission briefing ready an...
Topics: GitHub Copilot OpenAI
Read articleEntity Framework Performance Tuning: Tips for Faster Queries
medium.com
Best Practices for Optimizing EF Core Performance in .NET
Topics: EF Core Performance
Read articleModel Context Protocol (MCP) is Now Generally Available in Visual Studio 🎉
devblogs.microsoft.com
We’re excited to announce that MCP support is now GA in Visual Studio—unlocking richer, real-time context from your entire development stack and expanding the power of Agent Mode like never before. Mo...
Topics: OpenAI Visual Studio
Read articleDon’t Just Build — Test, Ship, and Iterate with a Reliable .NET Core Boilerplate
adilyousaf88.medium.com
In a world of quick-start templates and half-baked GitHub projects, it’s easy to get burned by boilerplates that look promising but fail…
Topics: .NET Core GitHub Test-Driven Development
Read articleBuilding a High-Performance API with .NET and PostgreSQL
medium.com
When I started building APIs, I thought: “If it works, it’s good.” Then came my first production issue: API calls that took forever. I…
Topics: ASP.NET Core Performance PostgreSQL
Read articleStop Picking the Wrong .NET Collection — A Principal Engineer’s Field Guide
towardsdev.com
A .NET Engineer’s Field Guide to Lists, Sets, Dictionaries, Queues, Stacks, Sorted, Immutable, Concurrent & Frozen Continue reading on Towards Dev »
Topics: .NET Core Performance
Read articleC# Boxing: A Hidden Performance Enemy (Defeat It Now)
levelup.gitconnected.com
Master boxing in C# to write faster, cleaner code. Continue reading on Level Up Coding »
Topics: C# Performance
Read articleWhy I Stopped Caring About .NET vs Java (And You Should Too)
blog.devgenius.io
After 15 years of architecture decisions, here’s what actually matters when you’re responsible for systems that can’t fail. Continue reading on Dev Genius »
Topics: .NET Core
Read articleTop 10 GitHub Copilot Features Every Developer Should Know
c-sharpcorner.com
Discover the top 10 GitHub Copilot features that can boost your productivity as a developer. From smart code completions to Copilot Chat, learn how to use Copilot effectively.
Topics: GitHub Copilot
Read articleHow to use parameter binding for routes in Minimal APIs
roundthecode.com
Learn how to use parameter binding in minimal API routes with wildcards and constraints as well as using them in an endpoint handler alongside special types. The page How to use parameter binding for ...
Topics: ASP.NET Core Minimal APIs
Read articleNuGet Goes Quiet: How a CDN Logging Outage Shook the .NET Ecosystem in 2025
medium.com
A CDN logging failure caused NuGet download metrics to collapse in August
Read articleWhat is a CHANGELOG.md?
medium.com
A CHANGELOG.md is a simple markdown file that lists all the notable changes made to a project. The purpose of the file is to provide a…
Topics: GitHub
Read articleWhat is the difference between == and .Equals() in C#?
medium.com
In C#, both == and .Equals() are used to compare values, but they differ in behavior and purpose.
Topics: C#
Read articleWhat are Common Design Patterns in Node.js (Module, Singleton, Factory, etc.)
c-sharpcorner.com
This article explains the most commonly used design patterns in Node.js, such as Module, Singleton, Factory, and others. Each concept is explained in simple words with code examples to help you unders...
Topics: Design Patterns
Read article