Considering your next project? Dive into the benefits of .NET: robust scalability, cross-platform capabilities, and enhanced security.
The .NET development framework offered by Microsoft is an adaptable platform used by software engineers to build a variety of applications, including CRM systems, inventory applications, mobile applications, and websites. These apps can help businesses of all types reach the next level of success by streamlining the sales process, minimizing costs, maximizing efficiencies, increasing convenience, and more.
Due to its adaptability and other attributes, .NET is a great choice for many enterprise application projects. It is especially useful for those intended to be used enterprise-wide (such as an ERP application) or those that require cross-platform compatibility (such as an application for electric utility field workers to use to monitor vegetation growth near power equipment) or must be easily scalable (such as a retail subscription service that is expected to grow).
What is .NET?
Microsoft's .NET framework (pronounced “dot net”) allows engineers to create applications across a variety of operating systems and programming languages. Microsoft notes that it is designed to “provide a consistent object-oriented programming environment whether the object code is stored and executed locally, executed locally but distributed over the web, or executed remotely.”
The framework simplifies application development through the use of “building blocks” that can be deployed by developers across multiple projects. This object-oriented approach offers small snippets of code that are easy to include in any application. Every code segment has been tested, resulting in more streamlined development and greater reliability.
Using .NET alleviates software deployment and versioning issues, enables safe code execution, removes performance issues, and allows framework-based code to cooperate with other code. These benefits are crucial for any professional who meets the .NET job description, as they make .NET very adaptable and can be deployed to create a wide range of applications in both simple and complex projects.
#1 Ease of use
.NET was designed to make it easier for engineers to write applications, using the .NET standard library, optional application templates, and a common infrastructure. These elements work together to simplify the process. As mentioned above, the standard library provides code segments that can be used for standard programming tasks so that developers do not have to rewrite the same code every time they work on similar projects.
Using this feature, engineers can also more easily fix code when they encounter problems. This is because they can only address the section with the problem, without having to go through the entire code to find the problem. Ease of coding and updating allows .NET developers to work quickly, resulting in reduced time to market and lower development costs.
The .NET platform includes the Common Language Runtime (CLR), which compiles code written in any of the .NET languages into an intermediate bytecode known as Common Intermediate Language (CIL). The CLR also controls functions such as garbage collection and threading, which are essential for optimal application performance but tedious for engineers to manage.
#2 Flexibility
The most commonly used languages with .NET are C#, F#, and Visual Basic (which is typically used to develop client-server applications). But more than 20 languages can be used, including C++, Cobra, Fantom, Nemerle, Small Basic, PowerShell and X#. Hence, engineers with diverse coding skills can take advantage of this platform.
.NET offers the ability to install as part of the application being developed or separately. This “modular” concept is simple to implement and it is possible to have more than one version of .NET Core running on the same machine to support different projects. .NET Core is used to develop server applications that run on multiple operating systems.
The CIL code mentioned in the previous section can be used on different operating systems and platforms. Therefore, engineers can write code once for multiple deployments, allowing a high level of flexibility in how applications are used and lowering development costs. Microsoft lists the following types of applications as those that can be built with .NET:
- Cloud
- Workspace
- Game development
- Internet of Things
- Machine Learning
- Microservices
- Mobile
- Network
#3 Security and performance
.NET offers security benefits through its managed runtime. According to Microsoft, “a collection of services prevents critical problems such as incorrect pointer manipulation or malicious attempts to alter compiled code. Microsoft takes security very seriously and quickly releases updates when threats are discovered.”
Additionally, the platform is very fast, so applications operate quickly, allowing the company's employees and customers to perform functions easily and smoothly, with minimal aggravation, which can decrease employee efficiency and interfere with a frictionless customer experience (CX).
#4 Scalability
.NET is an excellent platform to use when scalability is required. This feature is important because many companies need applications that can grow as their customer bases expand. This consideration is one of the key benefits of custom .NET development services. With a high degree of scalability, a company can pay for a custom application once and not have to worry about “outgrowing it” and incurring additional development costs later.
The ability to scale without impacting user experience (UX) is also critical for retaining loyal customers who expect fast, seamless browsing.
#5 Support
According to Microsoft, “The .NET Foundation is an independent organization that promotes open development and collaboration around the .NET ecosystem.” This group supports the .NET community with open source projects, resources, and like-minded individuals. It has over 100,000 contributions, over 3,700 companies, 556 active projects, and 59,275 resources to assist engineers.
.NET is open source, so users can join the tens of thousands of developers and thousands of companies contributing to the platform. Participants can get quick answers to questions by interacting with the active community on Stack Overflow. These features allow engineers to quickly resolve any issues and create highly effective applications.
If you liked this, check out one of our other articles on .NET.
- Why use the .NET platform? Key benefits for 5 industries
- The Pros and Cons of .NET Development
- What is .NET Core?
- What is Xamarin and why you might need it
- When to look for .NET development services