.NET

What is .NET?

.NET (previously known as .NET Core) is a younger sibling of the .NET Framework, also created by Microsoft. The official release of it in 2016 fixed most of the pain points of .NET Fx.

.NET (Core) brought this technology to current standards, outpacing the competition concerning performance, availability, and corporate support.

With .NET, it’s possible to create desktop and web applications running on Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems.

You can develop applications in C#, and F# for all runtime environments.

All aspects of .NET are open-source, including runtime, class libraries, languages, compilers, and application frameworks.

.NET as a cross-platform framework can be used to develop applications on any platform.

It is recommended to use it when building cloud applications, transforming existing business applications into a micro-service architecture and when high efficiency of created systems is required.

The current state of .NET

.NET is a product of Microsoft, and it was primarily used only by their company for their operating system - Windows.

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. According to Microsoft, there are around 100K OSS contributors. 

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 6.0 version was released in November 2021.

Today .NET is also used by such widely-known companies as Accenture, StackOverflow, Cisco, Dell, and Intel.

.NET 6 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. Also, .NET 6 and Visual Studio 2022 provide hot reload, 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. According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey from 2021, 35.35% of respondents use JAVA, and 31.5% use .NET.

However, .NET shows better performance. Microsoft states that ".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.

What are the advantages of using .NET?

.NET as a cross-platform framework is characterized by high performance and used for building modern, cloud-enabled, Internet-connected apps.

Let’s take a closer look at the main advantages of using .NET and what does it mean for you:

Cross-platform:

Applications built in .NET can run on macOS, Linux, and Windows without the need for rewriting the code - the same code can be 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 developed 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.

Object-oriented programming:

Object-oriented programming is a methodology implemented in programming languages, for example, C# used in .NET. It means you can reuse many components to create applications that run on multiple platforms, accelerating the speed of coding and, as a result, the development process.

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LeanCode is an expert in .NET

At LeanCode, we gather experienced Backend Developers that have developed many web apps and portals for various industries.

From our experience, we can ensure you that .NET provides a great possibility to build highly-performing applications that are equally supported on Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems. Why do we call ourselves experts in .NET?

1. .NET is our core backend technology

We 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.

2. We have a CoreLibrary for .NET

We have a LeanCode CoreLibrary for building backend services. It's an open-source library that simplifies the development of applications by providing ready-made components that solve common problems. They accelerate work, impose standards, and provide solutions to the issues that are not the project's primary goal but occur "alongside" work on the project.

3. We create our own components for .NET projects

We have experience, thanks to which we create components such as authorization, chat, thumbnail generator, gif generator, feature flags, 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.

Refferals

Igor Pielas
CEO at Activy
If you decide to work with LeanCode, you will experience a lot more than a usual relationship between a client and a vendor. They have empathy combined with responsibility, and they are really lean - both for small and big clients.
Agnieszka Marevné-Waniel
Shell Commercial Lead
I enjoy working with LeanCode and the technological expertise they bring to our cooperation. I was impressed with their knowledge, commitment, and how they went beyond the agreed level of support.

When using .NET is recommended?

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: you are not limited to building applications that support only the Windows platform - Linux and macOS are also supported. .NET allows you to reduce app-development costs by its wide application.

The need for high performance: the project's best performance and scalability are obtained when developing applications based on ASP.NET Core. Performance and scalability will translate into a better experience for users visiting the application.

Application scalability using containerization is required: containers and microservice architecture are often interconnected. Containers can also be used to containerize web apps or services that follow any architectural pattern. .NET has built-in support for containerization.

The system needs to be based on microservices: .NET promotes service-oriented architecture. The application consists of a series of subroutines (microservices) designed to deliver a specific business case. Each of these services can be implemented independently and created in different technologies.

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