I've been giving talks about getting apps off .NET Framework for a long time. Lately the approach I've been teaching is to go piece by piece, with YARP in front of the old app, so you can move one part at a time and keep shipping.

A lot has changed. The promise now is that an agent can do a lot of the migration for you. So I'm letting one do it and writing down what it costs.

I'm starting with a sample, that covers Web Forms, MVC and a WinForms app that talks to WCF. Before the agent touches anything, I'm writing characterization tests so we know what working looks like. Then the agent migrates while I supervise and log the hours, the tokens, every time I have to step in, and everything that breaks along the way. I'm keeping a close eye on the usual suspects, like WCF, System.Web, config transforms and all that static state.

Together we will put the agent's version next to the piece-by-piece YARP approach and compare cost and risk. What I really want to know is how far the agent gets on its own, and what the last 20 percent costs. You'll leave with a realistic idea of what to hand an agent on your own migration, and what to keep for yourself.