5 Things Every Business Should Know About .NET Before Its Next Project

Are you happy with your return on investment (ROI), or are your projects draining your budget? If you are still struggling with such projects, it’s a suitable time to adopt the .NET framework!

The re-usable code and object-oriented programming features of .NET Framework decrease your operation cost to a remarkable extent. .NET languages such as C# are object-oriented, so code is organized into reusable objects that combine data and behavior of .NET developers. The language also supports easier deployment through a controlled code sharing environment and side-by-side versioning (run multiple versions of your application on the same machine).

.NET Framework was developed by Microsoft as a software application framework in 2002. It’s pronounced ‘dot net’ and includes languages and libraries. Developers use .NET to build web, mobile, cloud, and IoT applications, as well as games.

Dot Net features a huge library that contains lots of readymade pieces of code. We can group the .NET libraries into areas such as encryption, security, database access, etc. The readymade code supports both simple and complex data structures. Here are five things to know about .NET.

 5 Things to Know About .NET Development 

1. .NET Is Open Source 

.NET was announced by Microsoft in the late 1990’s with the initial name, Next Generation Windows Services (NGWS). .NET was not an open-source framework until 2014. Being open source is an advantage for any business using .NET. Dot Net is free to use and distribute among users. Anyone can also modify the code to fit their needs.

Being open source, .NET became a collaborative platform which further created the foundation for cross platform applications. An open-source model lets more people contribute, which can speed up improvements.

With closed-source software, even vendors and partners can’t see the code. However, an open source system allows access to the projects completely for every stakeholder in a .NET software development company. 

Explore the detailed case study to see how a research and analysis institute used .NET and SQL Server database migration to bring its services into one scalable application, improve accessibility across devices, and support multilingual users.

The open-source projects are accessible directly to project vendors, partners, and associates of a .NET development company. Being a vendor partner, you can only download the projects. However, the .NET project vendors can both download and modify the projects. This diagram shows how an open-source software ecosystem works.

2. .NET Isn’t Limited to Windows

.NET Framework was built only for Windows. Microsoft released the first version of Dot Net Core in 2016. Unlike .NET Framework, it runs on multiple platforms. Being both open-source as well as cross-platform is a blessing. .NET opens up more opportunities by adding new platforms for your applications. You can create applications for macOS and Linux with Dot Net Core. In addition, you can use .Net Core for the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud.

3. .NET Supports Several Programming Languages 

Dot Net is a huge software framework, which contains 32 programming languages. Some of the prominent languages are C#, F#, and Visual Basic. The other programming languages are A Sharp (.NET), Boo, Cobra, Fantom, IronPython, Sharp, Oxygene, etc. to name a few.
.Net comprises both frontend and backend languages. For example, developers use C# with ASP.NET Core, a web framework, to build back-end services and web apps.

4. .NET Security Features

Security is an important feature of any software framework, and a study shows that Dot Net is more secure than Java. The vulnerability density of Java is 30.0. and .Net is 27.2. Here, the term ‘Vulnerable Density’ is way of quantifying the number of defects in sample code (average defects per MB of code scanned). In a nutshell, this survey says that Dot Net is a more secure platform than Java.

Therefore, .NET is growing as a popular software framework to develop applications for the banks and other financial institutions.

5. .NET Works with Existing Code and Systems

.NET is a big umbrella that embraces many languages, tools, and technologies. Microsoft built .NET as an ecosystem for building, testing, and migrating applications. Thus, being compatible with a wider network of languages and skills, .NET is interoperable too! Interoperability means software can work with other software and systems.

In essence, it is a language-neutral framework. .NET can work with the most standard computer languages and operating environments. Dot Net has three types of interoperability:

• COM interop (.Net with COM components)
• .NET interop (COM components with .NET)
• P/Invoke (.Net with Win32 DLLs )

Here COM stands for Component Object Model and Microsoft introduced it as a binary-interface standard between the two binary modules where one is a library and another is a program run by a user. .NET defines the standard of how these two binary modules meet and interact with each other.   

When we access (with .Net runtime) dot net components from COM components, it is called forward compatibility. And the .Net runtime also allows us to access old COM code from .Net components and its called backward compatibility, supported by a .NET developer.

Is .NET Right for Your Next Project? 

In short, .NET is a framework for building and running web and mobile applications. The Dot Net Core software framework is expected to grow bigger in the coming years with the power of the .NET framework.

Clarion’s team of 400+ people has worked with more than 1,000 SMBs across the globe. We are the right destination you were looking for to hire top .NET developers. For any further assistance feel free to get in touch with us.