Editor's note
I curated a very mixed lineup today: practical ASP.NET Core guidance, security hardening, and a few AI-heavy pieces. The Visual Studio 2026 Insiders post stands out for its IDE roadmap, while the unmanaged memory article is a good reminder that GC health does not guarantee container health. This issue also includes several fundamentals refreshers that still matter in real projects.
ASP.NET Core security, AI tools, and .NET 8 performance
Jasen Fici
September 19, 2025
Welcome to your Friday edition of .NET insights, where we reflect on the week like an old-school vinyl spinning out our favorite hits—each scratch tells a story, just like those debugging battles we’ve all faced. As you rev up for the weekend, consider these articles your toolkit for tuning up your code's performance, ready to hit smooth harmonies come Monday. So, grab your coffee (or that Friday margarita), and let's gear up for an enlightening cruise down the .NET development highway.
Today's Articles
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Jasen's take on today's picks
What is a Vector Database in Data Science?
Vector databases are now table stakes for AI search and recommendations, and this primer is a useful grounding piece.
ASP.NET Core - How to Use appsettings.json and IConfiguration
appsettings.json and IConfiguration remain everyday tools; this one is a solid refresher for keeping configuration tidy.
The Package Version Chaos is Over: How .NET
Version mismatches are still painful in .NET, so a package-version cleanup story is worth reading if you’ve fought dependency drift.
My Favorite .NET Libraries and How They Boost Productivity
A roundup of favorite libraries can save time, but the real value is learning why each tool earns a spot in a working stack.
.NET vs. .NET Core in 2025: A Developer’s Guide to What Matters
The .NET vs. .NET Core debate is mostly history, yet the article should help newer developers understand the platform’s evolution.
Health Checks in ASP.NET Core: Building Reliable Endpoint Monitoring
Health checks are one of the cheapest reliability wins in ASP.NET Core, especially when you’re running APIs behind load balancers.
Preventing Path Traversal and Directory Browsing Attacks in ASP.NET Core
Path traversal and directory browsing are classic web bugs; this security piece is the kind of defensive reading teams should not skip.
Unmanaged Memory Growth in .NET 8: Why Containers Crash Even When GC Looks Healthy
Unmanaged memory growth in .NET 8 is a sharp reminder that container crashes can come from outside the GC’s happy path.
Scaling Your .NET Productivity with Source Generators
Source generators can remove repetitive boilerplate and improve startup costs, so compile-time automation is worth a look.
Authentication with OpenID Connect & OAuth2 in .NET
OpenID Connect and OAuth2 are core building blocks for modern auth, and this article appears focused on practical implementation.
🚀 Generating .NET Core Projects with AI (Codeium/Windsurf)
AI-assisted project generation can be a real accelerator, but I’d still treat the generated code as a starting point, not a finish line.
What Is .NET Core and How Is It Different from .NET Framework?
The .NET Core versus .NET Framework comparison is dated but still useful for teams maintaining older apps or planning migrations.
Top 5 Attributes in C# You’ll Actually Use (Deeper Dive)
Attributes are easy to underuse; a deeper dive helps when you need cleaner metadata-driven code.
Model Binding and Model Validation in ASP.NET Core MVC?
Model binding and validation remain central to ASP.NET Core MVC, and getting them right reduces a lot of controller clutter.
Building a Modern Microservices Application with .NET Core, Angular 20, Docker, and Azure
A modern microservices stack with Docker and Azure is broad by design, so expect a full-system view rather than a narrow tip.
Visual Studio 2026 Insiders is here!
Visual Studio 2026 Insiders matters because it hints at where AI and performance improvements are heading in the IDE.
What Is An Entity? | Domain-Driven Design, Clean Architecture
Entity modeling in DDD and Clean Architecture is a foundational topic, even if the linked source-code pitch is a bit distracting.
How to Correctly Build AI Features in .NET
Microsoft.Extensions.AI is becoming a practical way to wire chat, embeddings, tools, and telemetry into .NET apps.
Why Cross-Browser Testing is Important?
Cross-browser testing still saves real user frustration, especially when front-end behavior drifts across engines.
How a Tiny Token in .NET Stopped a Million-Dollar Mistake
Anti-forgery tokens are boring until they prevent a serious mistake, which makes this security story worth the attention.
.NET AI Community Standup - Getting to Know LLM Tornado
The LLM Tornado standup should be a helpful pulse check on what’s coming next in the .NET AI ecosystem.