5 Days Program Advanced performance engineering in .NET:
Category | Tool(s) | Why it’s the best (quick note) |
Code Profiling & Debugging | Visual Studio Profiler, JetBrains dotTrace | Deep CLR insights; VS built-in + dotTrace’s powerful async/timeline views |
Memory & GC Analysis | JetBrains dotMemory, PerfView | dotMemory excels at leak/retention graphs; PerfView is unmatched for ETW/GC deep dives |
Micro-Benchmarking | BenchmarkDotNet | Gold standard for accurate, repeatable .NET microbenchmarks |
Load & Stress Testing | k6, Apache JMeter | k6 is modern/CI-friendly; JMeter remains versatile and widely adopted |
10 Days Program Advanced performance engineering in .NET:
Category | Tool(s) | Why it’s the best (quick note) |
Code Profiling & Debugging | Visual Studio Profiler, JetBrains dotTrace | Deep CLR insights; VS built-in + dotTrace’s powerful async/timeline views |
Memory & GC Analysis | JetBrains dotMemory, PerfView | dotMemory excels at leak/retention graphs; PerfView is unmatched for ETW/GC deep dives |
Micro-Benchmarking | BenchmarkDotNet | Gold standard for accurate, repeatable .NET microbenchmarks |
Load & Stress Testing | k6, Apache JMeter | k6 is modern/CI-friendly; JMeter remains versatile and widely adopted |
APM (Production) | Azure Application Insights, Dynatrace | App Insights is first-class for .NET/Azure; Dynatrace offers superb auto-discovery & AI insights |
Distributed Tracing | OpenTelemetry (.NET SDK), Jaeger | OTel is the vendor-neutral standard; Jaeger is a robust open-source backend |
System & Infra Monitoring | Prometheus + Grafana, Azure Monitor | Prom+Grafana for flexible metrics/visuals; Azure Monitor for tight Azure integration |
CI/CD Perf Automation | k6 (in pipelines), BenchmarkDotNet (in CI) | Shift-left perf gates with k6; catch code-level regressions via BenchmarkDotNet on PRs |
Here’s a comprehensive and balanced agenda (theory + hands-on + labs + project).
Comprehensive 5-Day Training Program
Advanced Performance Engineering in .NET
Day 1 – Foundations of Performance Engineering in .NET
1.1 Introduction to Performance Engineering
- Importance of performance engineering in modern .NET systems
- Difference between performance testing and performance engineering
- Key metrics: throughput, latency, response time, scalability
- Understanding SLAs, SLOs, SLIs for .NET services
1.2 .NET Runtime and Performance Model
- CLR execution model (JIT, RyuJIT, Tiered Compilation)
- Garbage Collection (GC) modes (Workstation, Server, Background, Low-latency)
- Threading model in .NET Core/5/6/7/8
1.3 Performance Metrics & Baselines
- Establishing baseline performance for .NET apps
- Identifying acceptable thresholds for web vs desktop vs microservices
1.4 Hands-On Lab
- Build a sample ASP.NET Core application
- Use built-in Visual Studio Diagnostic Tools to measure CPU, memory, and response times
- Capture baseline metrics and document
Takeaway: Clear understanding of how performance is measured and baselined in .NET apps.
Day 2 – Identifying Bottlenecks in .NET Applications
2.1 Common Bottlenecks in .NET Systems
- CPU-bound vs I/O-bound workloads
- Async/await pitfalls, deadlocks, and thread starvation
- Memory leaks, excessive allocations, and GC pressure
- ORM/Database inefficiencies (EF Core pitfalls)
2.2 Tools & Techniques to Find Bottlenecks
- Visual Studio Profiler (live profiling)
- JetBrains dotTrace (timeline + async flows)
- dotMemory for leak detection and heap analysis
- PerfView for ETW-based deep runtime analysis
2.3 Hands-On Labs
- Lab 1: Profile a .NET Core Web API under simulated load (Visual Studio Profiler)
- Lab 2: Identify memory leaks with dotMemory and fix them
- Lab 3: Analyze GC events with PerfView
Takeaway: Developers can confidently locate performance bottlenecks at code and runtime level.
Day 3 – Benchmarking & Load Testing for .NET
3.1 Benchmarking in .NET
- Importance of benchmarking in microservices and libraries
- Writing micro-benchmarks with BenchmarkDotNet
- Avoiding benchmarking pitfalls (JIT warmup, dead-code elimination)
3.2 Load & Stress Testing
- Types of performance tests: load, stress, spike, endurance
- When to use each in a .NET application lifecycle
- Integrating load testing into CI/CD pipelines
3.3 Tools for Load Testing
- k6: modern load testing for APIs/microservices
- Apache JMeter: traditional load/stress/endurance testing
3.4 Hands-On Labs
- Lab 4: Write and run micro-benchmarks with BenchmarkDotNet
- Lab 5: Execute load tests on ASP.NET Core APIs using k6
- Lab 6: Stress test with JMeter and analyze reports
Takeaway: Ability to design and execute reliable benchmarks and load tests.
Day 4 – Multi-Layer Optimization in .NET Systems
4.1 Application Layer Optimizations
- Efficient memory management in .NET (object pooling, Span, ValueTask)
- Async programming best practices (Task vs Thread vs Parallel)
- LINQ optimizations and avoiding hidden allocations
- Using caching strategies in ASP.NET Core
4.2 Middleware & Server Optimizations
- Kestrel tuning for high-throughput APIs
- gRPC performance tuning in .NET Core
- Messaging broker performance (Azure Service Bus, RabbitMQ, Kafka with .NET)
4.3 Database Layer Optimizations
- Optimizing EF Core queries (N+1 problems, eager vs lazy loading)
- Indexing and query execution plans (SQL Server Profiler, Query Store)
- Database connection pooling and transaction management
4.4 Hands-On Labs
- Lab 7: Optimize EF Core queries and compare performance before vs after
- Lab 8: Tune Kestrel server settings and measure throughput improvements
- Lab 9: Database profiling with SQL Profiler on a sample .NET app
Takeaway: Developers can optimize performance across application, middleware, and database layers.
Day 5 – Continuous Performance Engineering & Capstone Project
5.1 Continuous Performance Monitoring
- Integrating BenchmarkDotNet + k6 in CI/CD pipelines (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions)
- Automated performance regression tests
- Monitoring .NET services with Azure Application Insights
- Using OpenTelemetry .NET SDK for distributed tracing
5.2 Resilience & Chaos Engineering
- Implementing Polly for retries, fallbacks, circuit breakers
- Testing resilience with Azure Chaos Studio
- Observability dashboards with Grafana + Prometheus (for .NET containers)
5.3 Capstone Project
- End-to-end performance engineering project on a sample ASP.NET Core microservice:
- Profile & identify bottlenecks
- Optimize code, database, and middleware
- Benchmark with BenchmarkDotNet
- Load test with k6
- Monitor with Application Insights
- Demonstrate improvements in metrics
5.4 Wrap-Up & Knowledge Consolidation
- Performance engineering checklist for .NET projects
- Best practices for enterprise adoption
- Q&A and discussion on applying learnings to real projects
Takeaway: Developers leave with a full lifecycle understanding — from profiling to optimization to continuous performance in production.
📊 Tools Focused Summary (Quick Reference)
Category | Tool(s) | Why it’s the best |
Code Profiling & Debugging | Visual Studio Profiler, JetBrains dotTrace | CLR + async/timeline insights |
Memory & GC Analysis | JetBrains dotMemory, PerfView | Leak detection + ETW runtime deep dive |
Micro-Benchmarking | BenchmarkDotNet | Accurate, repeatable benchmarking |
Load & Stress Testing | k6, Apache JMeter | CI/CD friendly + versatile |
Continuous Monitoring & APM | Azure Application Insights, OpenTelemetry | First-class .NET monitoring & tracing |
Chaos & Resilience | Polly, Azure Chaos Studio | Code-level + infrastructure-level resilience |
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