Introduction
What is the scope of .NET? What is the future of .NET? What kind of applications can I build using .NET? Is C# better than Java?
These are some of the most popular questions beginners have on their minds when they graduate or start learning new technology.
In this article, I will try to answer these questions. Let's learn why .NET has a bright future.
Background
I began working with C# and .NET in 2000. Yes, this is when C#’s first compiler was made available by Microsoft. In 2001, Microsoft announced .NET, as a platform that can be used to build all kinds of software applications using the same programming languages, C#, VB, and F#.
It has been 20 years since I have been working with .NET and there has never been a problem getting jobs in .NET. The same is true for the next 10 years or even more. The current version of .NET is .NET 5 and the preferred programming language version is C# 9.0.
Note: .NET has a bright future. In this article, we are talking about .NET 5 and later versions.
Why .NET?
Each year, there are new technologies introduced in software development. Some technologies are here to stay and some disappear over time.
.NET is a full-stack platform
A typical software application has three layers – front-end, middleware, and back-end. In the case of a web application, the front-end is the web pages that are usually written in HTML and JavaScript hosted in ASP.NET. A middleware is usually written in C# as a library or API. A back-end is a code that runs on a Web server (IIS) and talks to a data source.
If you’re a front-end developer in the .NET ecosystem, you will most likely work with ASP.NET Core with a combination of HTML 5, CSS, JavaScript, and other JavaScript libraries.
If you’re a back-end developer, you will most likely to build libraries, APIs, business logic, and data access code using C# language.
The point here is, unlike several other frameworks, .NET 5 is a full-stack framework that can be used to build entire software applications from front-end to back-end.
.NET is unified
Today, software runs the world. Software is not just for web, windows, or mobile. Your car is managed by a software. Your TV runs on software. NET. New homes are powered by software that includes thermostats, bulbs, fans, security, internet, and door locks. Weather is monitored by software. Your watch notifications are a work of software.
.NET is a unified platform to build app kinds of software applications.
As you can see in the above image. .NET 5 can be used to build desktop, web, cloud, mobile, gaming, IoT, and AI applications.
.NET is modern
.NET is modern and designed to build modern software applications. .NET takes advantages of modern capabilities available in modern browsers, cloud, and other devices.
Cloud-native is a modern concept to design and develop software. A cloud-native app is designed to work and take advantage of modern cloud technologies.
Cloud-native is the future of software development. To learn more about cloud-native, watch this video.
.NET is blazing fast
.NET 5 is one of the fastest software development frameworks. .NET 5.0 is the fastest version of .NET released in the past 20 years.
.NET is evolving
As I said earlier, the current version of .NET is .NET 5 and the current version of C# language is C# 9.0. Microsoft has announced a clear path and evolution of .NET for the next several years. The following image shows the evolution of .NET and C# until 2023.
As you can see in the above image, Microsoft plans to release a major version of .NET each year.
.NET is open source
.NET and C# projects are open source and are managed by Microsoft and the open-source community. They are available on Github. .NET 5.0 supports both Windows and Linux operating systems.
.NET has a large community support
.NET community is one of the largest communities, with millions of software developers involved in contributions around the globe. C# Corner alone has millions of developers visit each month to learn and share to the .NET ecosystem.
.NET is friendly
.NET 5.0 is friendly with other frameworks and libraries. For example, if you’re building a .NET web application, you can easily use other popular open-source libraries and frameworks as a part of your .NET application. You can build a large web application using ASP.NET Core that can integrate with Angular, TypeScript, and JavaScript.
Is .NET for me?
Now, we know what .NET is. Let’s see if .NET is for you or not.
One of the biggest challenges of .NET is its fast-growing evolution. That is the challenge with software development in general. Software development technologies change each year and .NET is a platform that changes significantly each year.
To be competitive in the .NET ecosystem, you must read and learn every week. You need to be upgrading your knowledge with new updates and releases.
For example, C# 9.0 has change drastically since C# 1.0 and if you are still writing code in C# 1.0, you are probably driving Ferrari at speed of 20 miles per hour.
.NET is for developers who are constantly learning and upgrading themselves.
That is why communities like C# Corner exist; to upgrade developers to the latest technologies and their versions.
If you are not a member of C# Corner, join it today or follow on social media to get the latest updates on .NET, C#, and related software development technologies.
Conclusion
So, the conclusion is that the scope of .NET is wide. The future of .NET is very bright. .NET is a complete full-stack framework used to build entire large enterprise-scale and scalable software applications. .NET is modern, fast, flexible, and friendly and works well with other technologies.