.NET is a revolutionized invention in the IT domain. The credit goes to Microsoft that made this possible with the aim of letting the business world break new grounds with custom web applications. With so many versions being introduced up till now, it almost stands on the top of development frameworks ranking. Here are a few interesting facts about the Windows .NET framework.
The Development of Microsoft .NET Framework Originally Started Under The Name Of Next Generation Window Services.
Microsoft started developing Dot NET Framework in the late 1990s. It began originally under the name of Next Generation Window Services (NGWS). It was in 2001 that the first beta version of it was enunciated. Later, finally, on 13 February 2002, the first version of Dot Net was introduced worldwide, with an aim to bring managed code to Windows NT 4.0, 98, 2000, ME, and XP.
Microsoft Has Released Nine Upgraded Versions of .NET Up Till Now.
As already mentioned, the first version of the .NET developer framework was introduced in the year 2002. Following that, there are nine upgraded versions that have been made available up till now. Surprisingly, the seven of them were released with a new version of Visual Studio, an integrated development environment from Microsoft.
.NET Framework 4.8 is said to be the last sequence. The efforts are continued in context to rewritten, cross-platform, and open-source .NET Core (shipped as .NET 5). It is the successor to Microsoft .Net Framework for Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems.
.NET Developer Framework is Object-Oriented.
Dot Net is an object-oriented platform including all the coding that one does use the framework. With this being the reason, it provides utter consistency and potency while managing and running applications. Secondly, developers can make full use of this .NET benefit when the events keep reappearing.
.NET Is Also Effective For Game Development.
Other than enterprise-grade applications, the Microsoft .NET framework also allows one to develop and run gaming applications. It is because of the flexible features of the platform. The best part is that the developed gaming applications can be run on a gaming console, smartphones, TV, PC, and VR other than just on the web.
.NET Is More Secure Than Java.
In comparison to most developer frameworks, Dot Net is an extremely secure platform. It even beats Java in terms of security and comprises it as its core feature. Concerning security as one of the best .NET benefits, many banks and financial institutions harness it to develop applications.
.NET Was Not Always An Open-Source Platform
The announcement of .NET development was done in the 1990s by Microsoft. However, it was not known as an open-source platform until 2014. It is during that year Microsoft announced that .NET will be open source including run time and framework libraries.
Being an open-source platform is incredibly useful when users need to access it at a lower price and lower risk. Besides, this also reduces the time of competition, making it easy for developers to create applications. On the other hand, a closed platform will not allow project vendors to access the code of projects. Therefore, the .NET framework update in 2014 headed towards all .NET benefits that any open-source platform would provide.
.NET Is Simple To Maintain
The fact that source code and HTML are pooled together in Dot NET mobile development makes it easy for users to complete the .net developer responsibilities in a simpler manner. Secondly, business managers can enjoy the .NET benefits of effective and easily adaptable web page creation on this platform. What’s more phenomenal is that applications developed by .NET developers using this platform let business owners have stunning experience in the form of an error-free and secured communication system.
NUMBER OF WEBSITES CREATED WITH .NET WORLDWIDE.
.NET is one of the Generic top-level domains that is used worldwide for creating websites and software applications. Simply put, the technology possesses the power to develop business applications and websites that can help to achieve tremendous success. As a consequence, millions of business enterprises make use of the platform.
According to TechJury, the Dot NET framework contributes to over 4.30% of websites online. This makes it stand second among the top 5 Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) that account for 58% of all websites online. The report proves the extreme reliability and credibility of the Dot NET developer platform in the technical world.
Other statistics solutions provided by Enlyft, there are over 219,800 companies that make use of the Microsoft .NET framework. The maximum companies in this list belong to the United States and from the Computer Software Industry. Another fact presented in this report is that Dot NET is popular among companies, with 15-20 employees earning 1M – 10M revenue per year. Some of the remarkable names that enjoy significant success with the use of this innovative platform are TerraCycle Inc., MSLGROUP, Jason Industries Inc, U.S. Security Associates, Inc., Boart Longyear Ltd.
Additionally, data has also been collected by W3Techs, according to which .NEt and ASP.NET accounts for 3.3% and 8.9% of the usage of all websites online, respectively. The report also proposes the percentage of a website using a distinguished version of the .NET. Surprisingly, Version 1 and Version 2 mounts only 0.1% and 9.4%, respectively. On the other hand, the updated version 4 of Dot NET comprises the greatest proportion of users, that is, 90.5%.
.NET PRODUCTS
Understanding .NET Framework
Microsoft Dot NET framework, as already mentioned, is a developer platform to build various business applications. The major component of the platform is the Common Language Runtime (CLR). It plays the role of managing code in the developer’s execution and offers a rich library of classes that act quite helpful in creating applications.
.NET platform is the result of Microsoft’s idea of developing cross-platform and open-source technology. During the implementation, Microsoft made an effort to make this best work with Windows. In short. Dot NET is a Windows-only platform for developers. The other two major products are ASP.NET and .NET SDK.
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is an open-source framework created by Microsoft with an aim to develop web applications. The best part is that it runs both on the Dot Net framework on Windows and .NET core. Besides, it provides numerous benefits to the users, such as security, consistency between platforms, and upgraded features.
.NET SDK
.NET SDK is a .NET software development kit for the ASP.NET core framework that helps developers in easy execution. Users can install SDK in two ways, that is either by using the native installers or using the installation shell script.
Mono And Xamarian
Mono framework refers to as an open-source implementation of Dot NET framework. It is based upon the standards for C# language and Common Language Runtime. To be precise, it runs behind the scene in many products and has been inconsistent development for more than a decade.
Xamarin is a subsidiary of Microsoft. The same engineers who founded Mono contributed to the development of Xamarin. The major goal behind its development is to provide developers with an extensive range of tools that makes cross-platform code easier to test and maintain. Additionally, the significant pieces of the Xamarin platform include Visual Studio for Mac as C# integrated developer environment for Mac, Xamarin. Android for building C# .NET applications for Android devices, Xamarin.iOS for building C# .NET applications for iOS devices, and Xamarin.Mac as a closed-version of MonoMac.
What is .NET Core?
.NET Core is a new version of the Dot NET framework. Being the free, open-source, and general-purpose development platform, .NET core is used to develop different applications such as mobile, desktop, machine learning, games, web, cloud, IoT, microservices, and etc. The idea behind the creation of the .NET core is to bring into being the major parts that are no longer considered core in the. NET.
In the concept of .NET Core vs. .NET framework, the former does not only run on Windows but also on macOS and Linux Operating Systems. Moreover, it reduces the memory footprint and offers better performance in contrast. It is because of its modular architecture and support for multiple languages.
TECHNOLOGY STACK
The fact that desktop applications are still in use despite the trend in modern software development makes the .NET framework update an important concept today. What’s more incredible is that users can relish plentiful choices when it comes to migrating old projects to newer frameworks or selecting the stack for the development of the new applications. Below-mentioned is the list of technologies that can bring into use.
Win32 and COM
Most developers still prefer the oldest approach to build applications, which is Win32 and C++. Being a traditional technology, it is available in all Windows. However, unlike other technologies writing an application in C++ and Win32 is a strenuous task.
Windows Forms (WinForms)
To make the desktop development simpler and convenient, Microsoft developed Windows Forms song with Dot NET Framework in 2002. It is a Windows desktop technology that helps .NET developers seek quick results of the process. A few of the top-notch .NET benefits of this technology are rapid prototyping and enhanced opportunity to work with a graphical editor.
Windows Presentation Framework (WPF)
Windows Presentation Framework (WPF) is an alternative to Windows Forms, developed in 2006 along with Microsoft .NET framework 3.0. Where Windows Forms use graphical designers, WPF, on the other hand, uses XAML as markup language. The benefit of using XAML language is that it provides full control over the user interface’s structure.
Universal Windows Platform (UWP)
The modern alternative to WPF and WinForms is the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) that requires Windows 10. The technology is considered to be the finest for end-user applications as distribution of applications can be straightway done via Microsoft Store. Developers can create UWP apps either using XAML or JavaScript and HTML.
Electron (.NET)
Electron helps to run a web application in the same way as a native desktop application by opening a browser. Users can run Electron on iOS and Linux. It forms the best choice when developers need a viable path for web applications that requires access to computer resources.
