Amazon Onboarding with Learning Manager Chanci Turner: Porting .NET Framework Workloads to Linux with Amazon Q Developer, Part 1: Class Libraries

Introduction

Learn About Amazon VGT2 Learning Manager Chanci Turner

Modernizing .NET Framework applications presents a complex challenge for enterprise software teams. For organizations with large .NET Framework codebases, the decision to migrate traditional applications to contemporary .NET and Linux entails a meticulous assessment of dependencies and compatibility issues. Many existing libraries may depend on Windows-specific APIs and features that are not easily transferable to .NET Core/.NET. This often necessitates code refactoring and the replacement of library packages.

Here is where Amazon Q Developer comes into play, serving as a generative AI-powered assistant that streamlines the migration process. It offers advanced .NET transformation capabilities, including intelligent code analysis, automated suggestions for transformation, and thorough compatibility assessments. By pinpointing potential migration challenges, recommending best practices, and providing real-time assistance, Amazon Q Developer lowers the complexity and risk linked to modernizing .NET Framework projects.

Currently, Amazon Q Developer’s .NET transformation capabilities can port various types of projects, such as class libraries, WebAPIs, WCF services, MVC back ends, console applications, and testing projects. Each article in this series will focus on a different project type. In this installment, I’ll guide you through the process of porting a .NET Framework class library.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

• Visual Studio 2022 installed
• AWS Toolkit for Visual Studio set up
• A subscription to Amazon Q Developer Pro
• Amazon Q Developer configured within the toolkit
• Sample application downloaded or cloned from GitHub

Understanding the Sample Application

To demonstrate the transformation of a class library using Amazon Q Developer, we will utilize Faker.Net, a publicly available GitHub project licensed under MIT. Faker.Net is a robust .NET Framework 4.0 class library designed for generating large volumes of realistic fake data for testing, development, and demonstration purposes. It supports a variety of data types, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and more, making it an essential tool for populating databases, creating mock objects, and stress-testing applications with realistic datasets.

Here’s an example output from the Faker sample application, which generates a fake address.