Microsoft, one of the leading technology giants, released the much-awaited .NET core last year, which grabbed the attention of ASP.NET developers around the globe. After being so successful and helpful over the years, the experts wished to have a more powerful and fresh ASP.NET framework to get their hands on. The company responded with.NET Core that according to the company officials is the biggest transformation of .NET and will certainly revolutionize the present and the future of how projects are being built.
Targeting the needs and desires of this modern world, Microsoft reconstructed the foundation of .NET for varied cloud applications, containers and micro services. The new release has opened a gateway of opportunities for ASP.NET developers who now have multiple command line tools, flexible deployment techniques and free-to-use design templates for efficient project development.
The need for transformation arose due to the demand of non proprietary version of .NET framework that runs on different platforms including Mac, Linux and Windows.
Here’s a rundown of the key aspects of .Net Core 1.0, which is beneficial for every ASP.NET development company and developer working under the ASP.NET umbrella.
It is open-source
A community of learned professionals will now dictate the future of .NET Core by innovating or amending processes within the .NET environment. You, as an ASP.NET developer, are at advantage of accessing the code 24×7 and modify it according to your requirements. You have more control over the source code than ever. It is more stable, reliable, secure and above all, transparent. You, along with your team members can quickly identify the bugs and rectify them. Transparency level gets increased due to availability of code and with that creator of the product can no longer define and abandon the subsets of code at will. This means product developed will be solid, secure and stable.
Its four pillars
There are four pillars to provide stability, balance and precision to project development including .NET runtime that is responsible for basic operations (like garbage collection, assembly loading, type system and more), CoreFX, a framework library (including fundamental utilities, data types and composition types), SDK tools & compiler that add to the developer experience and finally the “dotnet” app host, which takes care of the application launch. The entire package is part of .NET Core Software Development Kit that is at developers’ disposal to building exciting Core applications.
Its cross-platform character
Embedding .NET Core with cross-platform capabilities was certainly a bold and brave move by Microsoft. And to many, it came out as a surprise. However, this was much needed especially in this technologically advanced world where the credits are counted on factors flexibility, scalability and transparency in terms of operating systems and platforms. With the platform being used by Mac, Windows and Linux developers, it widens its reach, grants room for new developers to step in and invites feedback from the world for making the system better.
Flexible deployment
This feature of .NET Core leverages developers with an additional freedom of installing the platform as they wish to, as a part of an application (FDD- Framework-dependent deployment) or as an entirely new installation (SCD- Self-contained deployment). FDD allows you to minimize the use of memory and disk space with a smaller deployment package while SCD grants you complete control of the project deployment (including .NET Core libraries and runtime). Both the types have their own advantages, which diversify their use according to the project’s requirements.
Modular architecture
The inclusion of modular architecture helps developers in using only the necessary packages as per the project’s needs. Its cross-platform compatibility gets upgraded with the modular schema. With this move, developers can now build lightweight, efficient and powerful apps. Instead of including one large assembly, there are small packages that can be included without affecting the app’s performance and security. The updated version of the packages included can be released quicker than ever as the newly built .NET Core platform makes it possible to release them on an individual basis, which makes the life easier for the developers and reduces the load on the application.
It’s more than just cross-platform and open-source
The main differences reckoned to come out with .NET Core framework include its cross-platform and open-source functionality. However, the restructured framework embodies much more than that. A variety of new features has been included that count on for reliability, security, performance and design of the final application being made. Although, there are fewer APIs in .NET Core as compared to .NET framework, but with time they’ll increase for swiftness in development and faster processing. There are certain limitations too with the new release as it inherits some of the subsystems from the .NET framework, but the benefits it piles on with its open-source and cross-platform compatibility those limitations look dull and worthless.
Agile design and modular infrastructure of .NET Core takes it far ahead of the previously popular .NET framework. With time, new features of simplicity and promptness will append to the list that’ll further extend its capabilities, inviting more developers and ASP.NET development companies to the Microsoft shore.
Command-line tools
The basis for any high-level tool within the working environment, this .NET Core Line Interface leverages developers to build extra ordinary applications. Every possible product scenario can be accessed at the command-line. Another benefit brings to the table is that it’s platform-independent and developers need to learn the toolchain again and again. Once used or accessed, developers can use the same on any other supported platform or interface.
Collaborative effort
Abiding by standards and principles of open-source technology, the .NET Core platform has been built collaboratively with about 10,000 developers. Their contribution isn’t limited to just writing code but extends to its appealing design, responsiveness and performance for a superlative user experience. The cumulative effort worked brilliantly as the resultant is now more stable, powerful, transparent and most importantly platform-independent and community-driven inviting new ASP.NET developers to use it for their future development projects. In addition to this, you as a developer, are entitled to feed in your inputs, review the current state of the system and contribute your skills, expertise and experience. The .NET Core platform is presently maintained by the Microsoft and GitHub’s .NET’s community.
It is fresh, modern and digital
The digital revolution impacted Microsoft’s camp too asking them to redesign and restructure its proprietary .NET framework. It seems that this transformation will work wonders for them with a number of new developers joining the camp for building their next project. This is probably the biggest change company has done for improving their market as well as helping developers to deploy applications with ease to multiple platforms using the same framework and previously used tools. The trend of ‘code once and use everywhere’ was already gaining momentum and Microsoft did right in redefining the entire transcript of .NET platform.
.NET Core is evolving
The process of refinement continues as the software is likely to embrace more new APIs, features and functionalities in future. The dedicated Microsoft’s team and several other developers across the globe contribute devotionally in making things better and bring something new to the table. The .NET Core 1.1 release is scheduled to come out soon with an upgrade that involves support for APIs at BCL level and transition of default built system to MSBuilt and csprog. Plus, changes in Azure integration and middleware are also on the cards for the 1.1 release. Suggestions and contributions from developers are welcomed that could enhance the existing system for the betterment of development society.
Closure
The restructuring is certainly a step forward to innovating and deploying apps like never before. Developers get an advantage of developing apps with complete control and freedom, plus an additional chance of contributing with their suggestions and feedback about the software’s response. With digital transformation propelling, it was important for the tech giant, Microsoft to step in with a surprise and this was indeed out of the blue.
The move has opened doors for new developers and companies to try their hands on the latest .NET Core, which is likely to undergo amendments and grow to new heights in terms of the features and capabilities it offers to the digital world. Since its inception, it has impressed myriad developers aiding them in building projects, which were nothing less than a dream for ASP.NET developers. Reviewing the feedback received in this little time of its existence, it seems that the future is bright with endless opportunities to tap on.
Manish Jain
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