What this book covers

Chapter 1, Understanding the Basics, covers the basic steps to add the server and client portions of a SignalR application in the context of different hosting technologies. We will be writing the simplest code possible, and we'll perform the minimal steps that are required to have everything up and running.

Chapter 2, Using Hubs, illustrates the Hubs API from a server-side point of view.

Chapter 3, Using the JavaScript Hubs Client API, introduces the Hubs API from a client-side point of view, using the JavaScript client library.

Chapter 4, Using the .NET Hubs Client API, explains the Hubs API from a client-side point of view, using the .NET client library this time.

Chapter 5, Using a Persistent Connection, moves to the more low-level persistent connection API, illustrating its peculiar features and differences when compared to Hubs.

Chapter 6, Handling Connections, illustrates some advanced features that we can leverage to optimize and customize the way we handle the existing connections.

Chapter 7, Analyzing Advanced Scenarios, digs into more infrastructural features made available to fine-tune and extend SignalR's behaviors.

Chapter 8, Building Complex Applications, is all about full-fledged examples, illustrating how SignalR can be used as the foundation technology to solve real-world, bidirectional messaging problems.

Appendix A, Creating Web Projects, explains the steps to create each one of the various types of ASP.NET projects that we created in Visual Studio, in case you are not yet used to it.

Appendix B, Insights, discusses the different transport strategies that SignalR chooses to provide a logical persistent connection, according to the environment it runs on. It also talks about the basic concepts of asynchronous programming.