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patterns & practices: Application Blocks

Application Blocks are reusable source-code components that provide proven solutions to common development challenges. They can be integrated as is into applications, or they can be extended or customized. patterns & practices Application Blocks address specific recurring problem domains such as data access, logging, user interface process, and composite user interfaces.

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Enterprise Library

The patterns & practices Enterprise Library is a library of reusable and extensible application blocks designed to assist developers with common enterprise development challenges. Enterprise Library 3.0 contains application blocks for Caching, Cryptography, Data Access, Exception Handling, Logging, Policy Injection, Security and Validation.

Caching Application Block
The Caching Application Block is a component of Enterprise Library which provides a flexible and extensible caching mechanism for use in client and server-side .NET development projects.
Smart Client - Composite UI Application Block
Are you building applications with complex user interfaces? Do you want to take full advantage of the power of the Microsoft Windows desktop? Check out this recently released application block that provides guidance on building world-class, enterprise ready, client applications. Available both in C# and Visual Basic .NET.
Cryptography Application Block
The Cryptography Application Block is a component of Enterprise Library which makes it easier to include cryptographic functionality in .NET applications. The block provides a simple interface to DPAPI, symmetric encryption and hashing, and uses the Enterprise Library configuration tool to simplify key management.
Data Access Application Block
The Data Access Application Block is a component of Enterprise Library which reduces the amount of custom code that you need to create, test, and maintain when building data access layers in .NET applications.
Exception Handling Application Block
The Exception Handling Application Block is a component of Enterprise Library that makes it easier to implement consistent exception handling policies at logical tiers in an application. Exception policies can be configured to perform tasks such as logging exceptions, wrapping or replacing exception types.
Logging Application Block

The Logging Application Block is a component of Enterprise Library that allows developers to instrument their applications with logging and tracing calls. Log and trace messages can be filtered, formatted and routed to a choice of trace listeners, including the event log, text files, database or WMI.

Policy Injection Application Block

The Policy Injection Application Block is a component of Enterprise Library which allows developers to specify the crosscutting behavior of objects in terms of a set of policies. Crosscutting concerns are the necessary tasks, features, or processes that are common across different objects. Examples are logging, authorization, validation, and instrumentation.

Security Application Block
The Security Application Block is a component of Enterprise Library that builds on the capabilities of the Microsoft .NET Framework to help you perform authentication, authorization, check role membership and access profile information.
Validation Application Block

The Validation Application Block is a component of Enterprise Library which provides a common approach to defining validation rules for your business objects that allows them to be reused across different layers of your application.

Web Service Facade for Legacy Applications
This guide discusses best practices for interfacing with legacy applications by using Microsoft® ASP.NET Web services and the Microsoft .NET Framework. The .NET Framework provides the foundation for creating a Legacy Application Interface solution using Microsoft technologies. This guide provides a sample solution using a Microsoft FoxPro® database as the legacy application and connecting it to a .NET-based application using ASP.NET Web services and SOAP. The specific technologies involved are ASP.NET, C# or the Microsoft Visual Basic® .NET development system, the .NET Framework, XML, Visual Basic, COM, and ADO.

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