Table Of Content
Discover Why Many Developers Still Prefer The .NET Framework Today
The .NET framework has a longstanding history of providing developers with a robust platform to create the software of their choice. Initially, .NET was specially developed for the Microsoft platform and provided a unified set of technologies to build websites and desktop software.
However, the passing years saw the platform slowly transform to include more technologies, including better, more robust web and server-side technologies. Today, ASP.NET is one of the top frameworks for web development.
But the question remains – What is it exactly that makes the .NET framework so desirable in 2022?
The Microsoft .NET Framework – What is it?
To put it simply, the .NET framework is a software development framework designed by Microsoft to compile and execute different codebases. The code should be written in programming languages that are covered under the .NET umbrella.
Initially, the framework was designed for the Microsoft platform, with version 1.0 coming out in 2002. However, it has now evolved for cross-platform and web development, making it highly versatile. Today, the .NET platform supports over 60 programming languages, of which eleven languages are written and maintained by Microsoft themselves.
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Where is the .NET Framework Used in Development?
The .NET framework is widely used nowadays for a variety of applications. ASP.NET can be used to create websites and web apps. Xamarin is used to develop highly functional mobile cross-platform mobile app, and other languages like C# and VB.NET help developers create feature-rich desktop applications.
.NET today is a versatile development platform that allows developers to create robust, highly functional, applications for a variety of platforms, including mobile, desktop, web, cloud, and more. This range of functionality combined with rich array of software languages and technologies it supports, makes the .NET framework the top choice for many developers.
How Good is The .NET Framework in Building Web/Mobile Applications?
When we talk about .NET and web development, then ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core are two of the most popular web development frameworks that developers use nowadays. According to a developer survey by Stack Overflow in 2021, both ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core are in the top ten most used web frameworks.
As can be seen in the image above, ASP.NET Core and ASP.NET are still some of the most popular options for web development frameworks. This proves that their versatility and rich functionality make them an attractive option for developers, even today.
When we talk about mobile app development, .NET’s answer to a mobile app framework, Xamarin, is a comparatively new app development framework. However, it is slowly gaining steam, and rising in popularity among developers who want to create cross-platform apps using .NET.
According to that same Developer Survey by Stack Overflow, software developers have ranked it as one of the top ten tools and technologies necessary for development in 2021. So for those developers who are well versed or comfortable with .NET development, Xamarin is an easy way for them to create cross-platform mobile apps.
What Makes .NET Framework One of the Top Development Frameworks in 2022?
The .NET framework has proved itself as a great software development platform for desktop, mobile, and the web environment. The plethora of features and functionality that it provides for developers makes it an extremely popular choice for those who want to a unified platform for their development projects.
But with so many different software development frameworks available nowadays, what is it that makes .NET so popular, even today?
ASP.NET Core – .NET’s Answer to a Modern Cross-Platform Web App Framework
.NET’s Answer to a Modern Cross-Platform Web App Framework. But what is asp.net? Recently, we have seen a trend where topics related to ASP.NET Core show more traffic compared to simple ASP.NET. That is because as an open-source web development platform, ASP.NET Core is more in tune with what developers are seeking nowadays.
The reason for this modern, open-source framework trend is due to the high functionality, versatility, and performance they provide, allowing developers to create better solutions. Moreover, this flexibility and added security makes this more popular with all types of businesses, from smaller startups to large enterprises.
As an open-source programming framework, ASP.NET Core supports a variety of programming languages, such as Python and F#, which allows developers from different technological backgrounds to collaborate easily. That makes it a highly popular choice for businesses as it allows them to build diverse teams.
Finally, Microsoft is constantly working hard to develop and push out updates in order to bank on ASP.NET Core’s popularity and upgrade it for better functionality. And with its open-source nature, there are nearly four thousand companies besides Microsoft that support and cater to the development of .NET Core.
The Rising Popularity of Xamarin
Now, there is already a cross-platform app development framework implementing .NET framework in the shape of Mono. However, it has a lot of performance and compatibility issues, which when combined with Mono’s lack of decent documentation, makes it difficult to use adequately.
That is why, when Xamarin was released, and after extensive QA testing, it started making a lot of waves in the .NET community. It did so by providing an interactive, easy, and efficient way for .NET developers to create cross-platform mobile apps for the Windows environment, as well as popular mobile platforms iOS and Android.
In recent years, cross-platform app development has seen a huge boom. Earlier, native app development was preferred where project complexity was higher. That was because native development allowed for better performance, as well as better UI suited to the specific platform. But the recent versions of cross-platform development frameworks have made great strides to provide near-native experience and functionality.
Banking on that, Xamarin is steadily rising in popularity among the .NET community. Using the .NET Core framework as its base, it uses the technology provided by Microsoft to create truly great mobile apps for different platforms.
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.NET 6 Framework – The Unification of Disparate Development Platform
Unlike what most people think, .NET 6 framework is not the new version of .NET. It is the recently introduced open-source version of .NET framework specifically designed for cross-platform functionality. That makes it compatible with platforms other than Microsoft Windows, such as MacOS and Linux.
As per Microsoft’s official notification on the 14th of December, 2021, .NET 6 Framework is a Long-term Support, or LTS release. That means that it will be officially supported for three years post release, making it easy to use for development even for platforms such as Microsoft’s Arm64 and Apple’s Silicon.
The most interesting thing about this innovative .NET framework is that despite being a cross-platform app development technology, it allows code reusability, and has even made it easy to do so. Designed to provide a universal platform for all mediums such as cloud, mobile, IoT, and more, its functionality covers the majority of common app needs.
Moreover, as it is cross-platform, changes made to a single codebase makes it available to all versions of your app. That means that versions of your app running on different platforms such as iOS and Android, or even on the cloud, will simultaneously be updated to provide the same functionality.
The Rising Popularity of Azure Cloud
Cloud computing has taken over the tech industry within the past decade. With a demand for better accessibility, as well as the rising amounts of data storage, cloud platforms that provide seamless services have quickly risen in popularity.
Microsoft’s answer to a cloud computing platform, is called Azure. In the past few years, it has been quickly gathering a following from people who are attracted by the benefits Azure provides over other cloud platforms.
Microsoft Azure offers a host of features, and is considered a platform that is affordable, versatile in use, and most importantly, scalable. Moreover, it is one of the most secure cloud platforms. That is due to the robust security features it provides, as well as its near perfect uptime and a guaranteed service level agreement.
Developers that use the Azure Cloud platform to host apps developed using .NET Core can benefit from a variety of services designed to make the experience better. These features include secure Azure data storage, MS-SQL DB, Azure VMs, as well as access to App Services. All of this combined makes Microsoft Azure an attractive option for those who prefer staying with the .NET development platform.
Blazor – .NET Core’s New Single Page App Development Framework
ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core are amazing web development frameworks designed to work with .NET and .NET Core. However, when Blazor web framework was introduced, it was an instant hit. Introduced in October of 2017, the web framework is used to create interactive client-side web interfaces using the .NET Core.
Now the question on most of your minds would be, that with a tried-and-trusted framework like ASP.NET available, why would developers choose Blazor over it?
The answer to that question lies with a function that Blazor is very good at providing. Unlike ASP.NET, Blazor is more than just a web framework. Using it, developers can easily and quickly develop robust, and user-friendly web-based Single Page Applications for different platforms like Windows, mobile, and the cloud.
One of its most unique features is that its applications are developed to have need for I/O threads to address user requests on their pages. With this data, experts are predicting that the Blazor framework will soon be the framework of choice to develop full-fledged and robust web apps which require high bandwidths, by changing the way apps process requests on pages.
ML.NET Framework v1.4 – Making Machine Learning Easier for .NET
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are a technology that have dictated how well a software does in recent years. Developers with different specialties have been working hard to add AI & ML to their projects in order to make their projects smarter, and better personalized.
However, machine learning is difficult to implement without the proper APIs designed to help developers build smarter software solutions without creating highly complex codebases. Generally, Python and its related frameworks and libraries are the preferred option when implementing anything related to AI or machine learning.
However, for those who want to implement machine learning functionality using .NET, then Microsoft has introduced one of the most advanced machine learning frameworks. Named ML.NET 1.4, this framework allows developers to use features of artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as implement the power of data science to make highly robust and smart software solutions.
Moreover, ML.NET 1.4 is both web and desktop-based ML framework, which allows developers to implement it into projects from a variety of platforms, easily. And with .NET framework and .NET Core being two of the most used development frameworks, ML.NET 1.4 is a welcome addition to the .NET family.
Improved Security Features for Your Software Solutions
Security nowadays is an essential for software development. Every other day we hear of cyber-attacks compromising the data used and collected by some software or the other. Therefore, developers today make implementing security measures a part of their software development process.
.NET framework is a great option for just that reason. It comes with a number of robust security methodologies, that can help you improve your project’s safety, without affecting its performance. Some of the safety and security features .NET provides to its developers include Runtime Code Regions (RCR), a powerful exception handling system that prevents the injection of malicious scripts into your software, the use of Code Access Authority (CAS) security, and more.
Additional security measures like validation checks, encryptions algorithms, and more make it even more secure. Moreover, the MVC architecture inherently makes it easier to develop highly secure and scalable software.
By allowing developers the ability the protect their codebases against malicious actions, it helps them develop better, more robust, and functionally better applications.
Conclusion
For those who know the industry, the .NET framework has already established itself a formidable contender among software development frameworks. And with new innovations bridging the gap in between the .NET platform and newer development frameworks in terms of performance, developers are preferring to opt for development frameworks that are part of a richer ecosystem.
And with the Microsoft suite of development frameworks one of the oldest and richest development ecosystems, .NET is still one of the most popular development environments today in 2022.
So why opt for something else, when you can hire our expert .NET development services to create a robust, feature-rich, secure, and scalable software solution?
FAQs
| Why should I hire a .NET developer to create my software? For those who want to create a feature-rich and secure software solution, then hiring an expert .NET developer is the best option for you. – They are experts are bringing abstract ideas to reality by translating your business needs and functional requirements into a software solution that helps you improve your business. – They have the skills, tools, and experience necessary to create the best software solution for you, and help you choose the best medium for your software. |
| Is .NET framework still relevant in 2022? Yes, the .NET framework is not only just relevant, it is one of the most popular development framework in 2022. And with a cross-platform and open-source version called the .NET Core, as well as new technologies such as Xamarin and Blazor, it is rising even higher in popularity and use. |
| What is .NET Core, and how does it benefit us? .NET Core is an open-source development framework created by Microsoft. It has a host of benefits for those who use it to create their software solutions, including: – Cross-platform functionality supports a range of operating systems and infrastructures. – Completely open-source – Completely compatible with other, older versions of .NET framework |