ASP.NET Core 2.1 Brings SignalR, Razor Class Libraries

Coinciding with the release of .NET Core 2.1, Microsoft has shipped ASP.NET Core 2.1. This is a powerful release that includes the real-time communication library SignalR, updated templates to make GDPR compliance easier, and updated SPA templates for Angular, React, and React + Redux.

SignalR debuted for traditional ASP.NET back in 2013, but with this release the technology is now expanded and available on ASP.NET Core. This increases the number of platforms that can host SignalR applications, and with the source available on GitHub it is easier for developers to see how it works. InfoQ previouslypublished a look at SignalR Alpha for those interested in a developer's first hand account of the technology.

Razor Class Libraries (RCL) are part of this release, and provide the ability to package code and reuse it in multiple web applications. A given application can override the RCL as needed to further customize their code. These libraries can include Razor views, pages, controllers, page models, View components and data models.

An important breaking change to be aware of relates to the Kestrel web server. Kestrel's default transport is now based on managed sockets. ASP.NET Core 2.0 apps that upgrade to 2.1 will need to add a dependency in the app's project file and modify their WebHost.CreateDefaultBuilder method.

To get started with ASP.NET Core, simply download the .NET SDK for your platform which is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS systems.  The full release notes for this release which includes a list of the all the bug fixes and known issues is available .