.NET Core Roadmap: Reasons to Use .NET Core Now and in the Future

.NET Core is an open-source, free, multi-platform framework from Microsoft; it replaces .NET Framework. .NET Core 3.0 was released in September 2019. In this post, I will present to you a .NET Core roadmap, and will discuss why to use it in your projects, and everything you should know about the future of .NET framework. 

 

.NET Core Performance Speed Stands Out

The open-source philosophy behind .NET Core, combined with its features, makes it increasingly popular with developers. .NET Core is one of the faster frameworks in the market. As far as APIs or Web services, .NET Core is in the top three in performance. Take a look at this performance analysis.

 

.NET Core and C# Provide an Alternative to Java

Another important aspect of .NET Core is its support of C#, one of the most popular programming languages currently in use. Many companies are now looking for alternatives to Java, because it will soon require a license for use. C#’s syntax is similar to Java, C++, and Javascript, and developers will find it easy to switch between Java and C#, so .NET Core makes an excellent alternative. 

 

.NET Core and API’s

.NET Core is used mainly for APIs to create endpoints to access the database. This is a safe and scalable way to do it. New projects are using React.Js, Angular, and Vue.js in the front-end, but choosing .NET Core in the back-end.

Earlier versions of .NET Core had issues related to compatibility and support for old libraries and components. Now, .NET Core offers more and more components and libraries for use. In May 2019, Microsoft announced WPF and WinForms under .NET Core, giving developers desktop application compatibility and the possibility to migrate old apps to .NET Core in the future.

 

.NET Roadmap Points to Continued Improvements

In September, 2019,  Microsoft released .NET Core version 3.0; this will be followed by version 3.1 (with long-term support) in November, 2019. 

The .NET Core roadmap indicates that Microsoft will release one version each year, beginning in 2020. This is a guarantee of support, maintenance, and improvement every year. Although the roadmap visual doesn’t show minor releases, the .NET Core team plans to provide them, depending on the needs, support, and security issues. 

Note that in the .NET Core roadmap,  the word “Core” disappears after 2020, with the product name becoming simply .NET. This is in conjunction with the inclusion of .NET framework compatibility in version 5.0. The name change will remove any distinction between .NET Core and .NET Framework. 

To find out more information about this upcoming release and the changes included, check out this .NET blog

 

.NET and the Unified Platform

The unified .NET platform released with version 5.0 in 2020 creates the ability to reuse code by .NET standard. 

The .NET standard is a library that supports many .NET Core features and can be shared with various types of projects including Web, desktop, and mobile. This provides an efficient way to reuse business logic and save time writing code.

 

Why .NET Core versus Other Frameworks?

If other frameworks provide similar features, why should developers use .NET Core? 

Microsoft provides a suite of tools for different platforms that are designed and optimized for .NET Core, such as Visual Studio for Windows, MAC and Azure—the cloud service provided by Microsoft that has many tools for deploying and building applications. This improves both the speed of typing and the ability to debug code. Azure also supports many programming languages and frameworks, however, .NET Core is the only framework that supports all of Azure’s features.

Additionally, Microsoft continues to develop additional open-source projects that aim to improve and add value to .NET Core in different areas. You can check out all the open-source projects for .NET Core in the official Microsoft repository.

Three currently popular projects for .NET include:.

• BenchMarkDotNet is a powerful .NET library for benchmarking.

• ML.NET is an open-source and cross-platform machine learning framework for .NET and is used often in Azure. 

• Reactive is the Reactive Extensions (Rx) for .NET. 

 

.NET Core Evolving Into a Strong, Reliable, and Unified Framework

The current and future status of .NET Core looks promising. Despite some issues with earlier versions, .NET Core has evolved into a strong and reliable framework. Desktop applications are now compatible with .NET Core, which will be unified with .NET framework. Microsoft’s roadmap indicates a strong commitment to continuous improvements. If we consider the entire Microsoft ecosystem and the integration with .NET Core, developers have nearly endless possibilities to create amazing, scalable projects with quality, reliability, and security.