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.NET

What is .NET?

.NET is a cross-platform framework created by Microsoft and is suitable for a wide range of applications across various domains. .NET supports multiple programming languages, including C#, F#, and Visual Basic, allowing developers to choose the language they prefer while working within the .NET ecosystem.

When it comes to technicalities, .NET (previously known as .NET Core) is a younger sibling of the .NET Framework, also created by Microsoft. In November 2020, .NET Core evolved into .NET 5, a significant milestone that unified the various .NET implementations into a single framework. This version aimed to provide a better performance, more APIs, and improved language support, among other enhancements.

With .NET, it’s possible to create desktop and web applications running on Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems. .NET can also be used to develop the backend of mobile Flutter applications. All aspects of .NET are open-source, including runtime, class libraries, languages, compilers, and application frameworks.

The current state of .NET

Initially, .NET was a proprietary technology primarily used by Microsoft for the development of their operating system. Those days are long gone, as in 2014, they decided to open-source the framework and continue developing it under the .NET Foundation - an independent organization to foster open development and collaboration around the .NET ecosystem.

Today, it’s also used by widely known companies such as Accenture, StackOverflow, Cisco, Dell, and Intel.

Microsoft is investing in improving the .NET security and delivers a few years of support for each newly released version, which is definitely an asset that impacts its stability. The current .NET 8.0 version was released in November 2023.

.NET 8 delivers a unified platform for browser, desktop, mobile apps, cloud, and IoT and makes it easy to reuse code across all platforms. Moreover, the code running in the cloud or on a mobile device behaves the same way and has the same benefits. Along with Visual Studio 2022, it provides new git tooling, intelligent code editing, robust diagnostics, testing tools, and better team collaboration.

.NET is often compared with Java because both are object-oriented, support modular programming, and share a similar level of popularity. However, as Microsoft stated about one of the previous releases, ".NET 6 is the fastest full-stack web framework, which lowers compute costs if running in the cloud."

Indeed, .NET is faster and less memory-consuming than Java, mainly because Microsoft spends a lot of time optimizing the entire framework. They represent a performance-first approach to its development and the huge amount of further performance improvements provided in the 8.0 release proves that clearly.

Backend App Development

LeanCode is an Expert in .NET

At LeanCode, we gather experienced Backend Developers who have developed many mobile and web applications and web portals for various industries. From our experience, we can assure you that .NET provides a solid ground for building highly-performing applications with robust support across Windows, Linux, and macOS platforms.

Why do we call ourselves experts in .NET?

.NET is our core backend technologyWe believe that strength lies in specialization, which is why we do not build web applications in every technology. We chose the one that, in our opinion, works best for these types of projects. As a result, our developers are experts with a high level of knowledge and skills in the field of .NET and are up to date with the latest improvements.

We develop a CoreLibrary for .NETWe think that standardisation is the key to performance and quality. With this in mind, we have created an open-source library - LeanCode CoreLibrary - for building backend services. It simplifies the development of applications by providing ready-made components that solve common problems. It accelerates work, imposes standards, and provides solutions to issues that are not the project's primary goal but occur "alongside" work on the project.

LeanCode Core Library

We create own components for .NET projectsWe have experience, thanks to which we create components such as authorization, chat, thumbnail generator, and gif generator, i.e., our solutions for projects. It also makes work more efficient because we are able to implement them into new projects without the need to create the solution from scratch.

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This is the initial scoping call. Its purpose is to get a better understanding of what you want to build. After this call, you will have an idea about your project's feasibility and the ballpark estimates.

Łukasz KosmanCEO at LeanCode

.NET is a stable technology

.NET as a cross-platform framework is characterized by high performance and is used for building modern, cloud-enabled, Internet-connected apps. This technology has been on the market for a long time and is popular, which means that there are many libraries ready to use. Microsoft actively develops the entire ecosystem around .NET(every year, there is a new major release) and stability (every two years, a version is released that has a long term support).

What are the advantages of .NET?

Cross-platform compatibility

Applications built in .NET can run on macOS, Linux, and Windows without the need for rewriting the code - the same code is used for the entire backend. So, as an example, you can build your app on Windows and then easily run it in a Linux container.

Open-source

All aspects of .NET are open source, including class libraries, runtime, compilers, languages, etc. Due to the .NET Community engagement, you can take advantage of ample support, fast release cycles, and modern tooling. Moreover, the community also helps to solve issues that can be encountered.

Ready to use libraries

A significant advantage is that .NET has a large number of libraries and solutions created by Microsoft and the community. One of them is NuGet - the Microsoft-supported mechanism for sharing code, which defines how packages for .NET are created, hosted, and consumed and provides the tools for each of those roles.

Microservices architecture

.NET, as the web framework, makes it easy to create the APIs that become microservices. Each microservice can be developed, maintained, and deployed independently by any developer from the team. .NET is also easily scalable because it promotes creating applications in a way that allows you to scale horizontally.

High-performance

According to TechEmpower Web Framework Benchmark, .NET provides better response times and requires less computing power in overall score compared to other frameworks. It means that applications developed in .NET will run smoothly, which is an asset for user experience.

Faster development

The .NET ecosystem provides a wide range of pre-built libraries, frameworks, and tools that leverage object-oriented programming principles. These libraries contain ready-made components, functionalities, and utilities, enabling developers to expedite their coding process by utilizing these resources rather than building everything from scratch.

When is using .NET recommended?

.NET is a powerful framework suitable for a wide range of applications across different domains. Below, we mention a few specific cases when developing apps in .NET technology can definitely be recommended to our clients:

The need for a battle-tested solution

.NET application development is a battle-proven solution that integrates well with many languages, editors, libraries, Microsoft platforms (Windows), and various other ecosystems and services (Azure). It is also a stable solution supported by Microsoft.

The requirement is cross-platform

The evolution of .NET has been pivotal in enabling developers to create applications that can run seamlessly on various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. .NET allows you to write code once and run it on multiple platforms without significant changes.

The system needs to be based on microservices

If you're developing cloud-based applications or microservices, .NET supports modern cloud architectures, containerization (using Docker), and serverless computing models. .NET, in general, promotes service-oriented architecture. The application consists of a series of subroutines (microservices) designed to deliver a specific business case.

The need for Web Development and Desktop Apps

.NET offers frameworks like Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and the newly developed .NET MAUI (Multi-platform App UI), allowing you to create powerful cross-platform desktop applications. Also, for developing web applications, APIs, or services, ASP.NET Core within the .NET ecosystem offers high-performance web frameworks and tools.

The need for high performance

The performance of .NET can vary based on factors such as the specific workload, hardware, optimizations implemented in the code, and the version of .NET being used. However, .NET was designed with cross-platform compatibility in mind. This allows applications to run efficiently across various operating systems, benefiting from performance improvements tailored to different platforms.