Its modular architecture provided smaller versions of the framework's core components, letting the developer download the additional components from the NuGet repository. This new framework didn't have the backward-compatibility constraints that the. In fact, its runtime ran on Windows, Linux, and macOS. NET specifications with cross-platform support in mind. The new framework was a complete redesign of the. In 2014, to pursue the goal of an actual cross-platform development framework, Microsoft started writing.
NET allowed you to build applications for Windows and Linux machines, for embedded devices, for the browser, and for iOS and Android devices." The cross-platform dream had not yet come true. Unfortunately, it could break at any point if it calls an API that wasn’t supported by the platform it is running on. NET assembly could theoretically be loaded in any. This fragmentation was a big problem for library developers. Applications are usually platform-specific. That wasn't much of a problem for those who were developing applications. You may think that it was amazing! However, the proliferation of different environments led to a fragmentation of the framework itself. NET allowed you to build applications for Windows and Linux machines, for embedded devices, for the browser, and for iOS and Android devices. In a few years, the MonoTouch project became the foundation for Xamarin, the framework for building Android and iOS apps with C# (2013). It was the first attempt to port the Mono framework (that is, the Linux implementation of the. NET to the browser, providing developers with a framework for building rich Internet applications similar to Adobe Flash. NET Compact Framework that could also run directly on the hardware. NET Micro Framework was launched: a more efficient version of the. It was a reduced version of the framework designed to run on devices with limited computing capacity, such as PDAs, mobile phones, set-top boxes, etc. NET Framework was born, Microsoft also released the. Microsoft on one side and other independent developers on the other side brought the. NET fundamental components were the first step towards the quick spread of the framework. This actually created some friction with the real portability of. In addition, the state of Mono development was usually not so aligned with the current state of the. NET Framework could be ported to Mono due to some strict dependencies on Windows. However, only the Mono Project attracted significant interest and generated a production-ready framework. NET on Linux were made: DotGNU and CrossNet, among others. In 2007, this paved the way for a project to port. NET runtime and the C# programming language. So pretty much anyone could implement the. Even better, they set them as open standards: ECMA-335 and ECMA-334. NET Framework runtime, and the C# language. One interesting thing is that Microsoft published the specifications of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI), that is, the.
But a huge amount of code runs on it, so you cannot consider it a dead framework yet. Its current version is 4.8, and it is the last version of the framework, as you will learn later. NET Framework is still alive and operative. Even if I'm speaking in the past tense, the. NET Framework only ran on Windows.ĭon't get me wrong. The framework granted a common API set, language independence, interoperability with the underlying operating system and other non-.NET applications, portability (at least in perspective, at the time), and many interesting features.Īlthough the long-term idea was to make. In 2002, Microsoft promised one framework to build applications with any programming language: C# (born for that occasion), Visual Basic, and many other languages. NET, you need to take a step back and trace its history, at least in broad strokes. But, as it happens in everyday life, the past has a great influence on the present and also on the future.
Many people prefer to know what and how to do things today. I understand that not everyone likes history, especially in the IT field. NET maze! If you don't want to get lost in it, you need Ariadne's thread. In that case, your application will also run on. NET Framework and cannot use it in your project unless you target your project to. Maybe you find an awesome library on NuGet, but learn that it is for the. However, there are issues are around the corner. Caught up in the excitement, you navigate to Microsoft's website and find the following definition:Ĭool! This platform looks great! You can build any kind of application by using C# or any other. Say you are a new developer that wants to approach. NET Standard, and similar, well, this article is for you. NET, or if you are not clear on the differences between. If you are confused in front of the different facets of.