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If there is a framework that seems perfect for enterprise applications, that would be .NET. With an extensive set of features, language and platform interoperability, and various integration options, .NET has become one of the most popular frameworks to use when developing enterprise-grade products.
In this article, we will have a close look at .NET, its most distinctive features, pros and cons, and use cases. After the reading, you will be able to better comprehend why to use .NET for developing your next enterprise product and what issues to keep in mind.
.NET: a brief history and the current state
Back in the early 2000s, Microsoft had an ambitious idea to create a “foundation for the Internet of the new generation” as stated by Bill Gates himself. And even though the branding campaign did not succeed, the .NET framework remained.
The main idea behind the .NET strategy was to assemble all Microsoft products and add a .NET ending to each. And in the 2000s, .NET was known as the Next Generation Windows Services – but since the whole .NET strategy failed, the NGWS name bit the dust.
Microsoft released the first beta version of .NET in the early 2000s and the latest one, .NET Core, was released in 2019. Throughout almost 20 years, the .NET framework saw some significant changes, all aimed at improving its functionality and performance.
It is important to note the appearance of the .NET Core that was introduced in 2014. Since .NET was not able to work on any other platform than Windows, Microsoft fixed it by creating the .NET Core – a cross-platform rebuild of the original .NET., .NET Core allows developers to create applications for different platforms and to install different app versions on a single device.
Today .NET is widely used for the development of enterprise applications due to the great performance that it delivers. Below are the main design principles of this framework:
- Interoperability: older versions can gel with the newer versions easily (meaning, your app on an older .NET version will run on a machine with the newer version).
- Portability: .NET apps work on a variety of platforms, such as Windows, Linux, iOS.
- Security: .NET has an inbuilt security mechanism that assists in validating and verifying the applications.
- Memory management: almost all work on memory management is performed by the Common Language runtime.
- Simplified deployment: .NET offers a set of tools that can be used to package the apps that are built on .NET.
As can be seen from these principles, .NET is a very developer-friendly framework that is aimed at the convenience and security of work.
.NET overview: technology type
.NET is a free and open-source development framework that allows building high-performing and secure mobile and web applications. It supports the following programming languages:
- C#: an object-oriented programming language that is easy to use and has a bunch of developer-friendly features (including garage collection or versioning).
- F#: a cross-platform language that has functional programming (as well as object-oriented and imperative programming) capabilities.
- Visual Basic: used to build object-oriented applications.
There are three main components of the .NET framework: Framework Class Library, CLR (Common Language Runtime), and app models. Let’s see each component in more detail.
Framework Class Library
The Framework Class Library (FCL for short) is a class library that provides a library of clean and reusable codes for the developers. It also has an object-oriented class library that is capable of performing such programming functions as file access and data collection.
The FLC can be roughly divided into three categories: utility features, wrappers around the OS functionality, and frameworks. Note that this is just a rough division and there are many classes that can belong to more than one category.
In general, FLC takes care of the system functionality in the .NET framework and performs a variety of functions, including database interaction, XML document management, graphic rendering.
Common Language Runtime
This component of the .NET framework is responsible for the execution of the programs that are written on .NET. Here are some of the services that it provides:
- Memory management,
- Execution of code access security,
- Garbage collection,
- Allows server-side apps to host run-time,
- Verification of code safety.
It is worth mentioning that after Microsoft moved to the .NET Core in 2014, the CLR is now known as CoreCLR.
App models
There are three main app models in the .NET framework:
- WPF (or Xamarin): used for creating forms-based applications that are used on end-user devices.
- ADO.NET: used for creating applications that interact with the databases.
- ASP.NET: used for creating web-based applications that run on browsers.
The use of .NET: most common cases
We’ve already mentioned that .NET is perfect for building enterprise applications – but there are more use cases for this framework. Below we list the most popular ones.
Web and mobile applications
.NET is great for building web and mobile applications due to a number of reasons.
First, .NET is a platform-independent framework and that means it is perfect for building cross-platform applications. Hence, the deployment of .NET significantly simplified the developers’ work when working on the app that would be suitable for multiple platforms.
Second, .NET is known for delivering a great performance of its products. It has a just-in-time compilation process which contributes to high speed and efficient performance. As well, .NET has four main principles in its core: reliability, compatibility, scalability, security. This also ensures that .NET applications always perform at their best.
IoT applications
Since .NET supports a plethora of devices and platforms, it also supports a variety of sensors and IoT-related devices. Hence, .NET is a very suitable framework for creating high-performing IoT solutions.
In addition to that, C# allows developers to build embedded applications by using Meadow – an IoT platform with defence-grade security. And since Meadow is an open source platform, developers can use it with any IDE of choice, including Visual Studio.
Game development
Another hot area of .NET application is game development. Since the gaming industry continues to steadily grow, this industry might be very beneficial for the developers, especially if they have experience with .NET.
Due to the ability of .NET to run across many platforms, game developers widely use this framework to enable safe cross-platform scripting. In this way, developers can efficiently reuse their skills and code in a familiar environment of choice.
Some of the popular cross-platform game engines that support .NET include Unity, MonoGame, Godot, Wave Engine, Cryengine. As well, Microsoft offers a good variety of game services (Microsoft Azure PlayFab) and tools (Microsoft Visual Studio) to create game hits of any kind.
.NET Pros and Cons
.NET indeed is a great framework that grants developers numerous capabilities for creating high-performing and secure applications. But, as any other framework, .NET has certain flaws that should be considered. Let’s have a look at both.
Pros
Cons
Expert Opinion
.NET is rightly considered to be the most suitable choice for an enterprise project. But apart from that type of applications, modern .NET is also good in other fields. Mobile applications and web apps, backend and frontend, machine learning and functional programming – all that is possible to develop by using the high standards of the .NET framework.
No other framework has a similar set of existing functionality and is able to keep the same speed of evolution. Proven throughout the years, .NET remains incredibly relevant among the developers across the industries.
.NET is rightly considered to be the most suitable choice for an enterprise project. But apart from that type of applications, modern .NET is also good in other fields. Mobile applications and web apps, backend and frontend, machine learning and functional programming – all that is possible to develop by using the high standards of the .NET framework.
No other framework has a similar set of existing functionality and is able to keep the same speed of evolution. Proven throughout the years, .NET remains incredibly relevant among the developers across the industries.
Head of .Net Department
Roman
Conclusion
Node.js is a really versatile development tool that provides immense efficiency and scalability to developers. At SoftTeco, we actively deploy it to create high-performing custom solutions for the clients across different industries and every time Node.js proves to be a great choice.
Our next article will be dedicated to Go – an open source programming language that was designed to make the development process easier, especially for products with complex architecture. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter and stay tuned!
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