Skip to content
FantoDocs
Home Page

.NET Framework Studies

What is .NET?


.NET is a development platform (or Framework) created by Microsoft.

Completely free and open source, it lets you build the following kinds of applications:

  • Web (using ASP.NET Core).
  • Desktop (using Windows Forms or WPF).
  • Mobile (using .NET MAUI).
  • Cloud (using Azure).
  • IoT
  • Games (using Unity, a platform that runs .NET with C#).
  • AI and Machine Learning (using ML.NET).

Main components


.NET has many parts and components. These are the main ones:

  • C# language → The main language of Microsoft and .NET.
  • F# and VB.NET → Also supported languages.
  • .NET SDK → Development tooling to install on the Operating System.
  • NuGet → The .NET package manager, used to install third-party software.
  • Visual Studio → IDE (Integrated Development Environment), a program for writing and managing code using C# and .NET.
  • .NET CLI → Command-line interface to build, test, and publish projects.

.NET History


.NET went through 3 major changes and innovations that made a big difference to the platform, so we should always pay attention to the differences.

.NET Framework


  • Release year: 2002.
  • Still active today.
  • Latest version: .NET Framework 4.8 (still used, no new features).

.NET Core


  • Release year: 2016.
  • Cross-platform, usable on Windows, Linux, and macOS.
  • .NET Core versions: .NET Core 1.0 and .NET Core 3.1 (LTS).

Unified .NET


  • Release year: 2020.
  • Unification of the Framework and Core.
  • Starts with .NET 5 in 2020.
  • The current LTS version is .NET 8, released in 2023.
  • Today it is at .NET 10, scheduled for November 2025.

Details of each version:

.NET 6 (LTS - 2021)

  • Goal: Unification of .NET Core + Xamarin + Mono
  • Main improvements:
    • Full unification of all runtimes.
    • C# 10: added global using, file-scoped namespace, record struct.
    • .NET MAUI: replaces Xamarin.
    • Minimal APIs: build REST APIs with less code.
    • Hot Reload: real-time updates in Visual Studio.
    • Crossgen2: new pre-compilation tool.

.NET 7 (STS - 2022)

  • Goal: Performance, Modernity, Simplicity
  • Main improvements:
    • C# 11: added required members, raw string literals, generic math.
    • Native AOT: native executables without IL or JIT.
    • System.Text.Json: polymorphic serialization and custom contracts.
    • LINQ: performance improvements.
    • .NET MAUI: map control, faster rendering.
    • Blazor: improvements in interactivity and performance.
    • ARM64 support.

.NET 8 (LTS - 2023)

  • Goal: Cloud-ready, faster, and more productive.
  • Main improvements:
    • C# 12: primary constructors, default interpolated strings.
    • .NET Aspire: new stack for distributed and observable apps.
    • Blazor Full-Stack: front end and back end in C#.
    • Native AOT: faster and with a smaller footprint.
    • EF Core 8: support for JSON, HierarchyId, and complex types.
    • System.Text.Json: serialization of private members.
    • MAUI: new controls, gestures, and navigation.
    • ASP.NET Core: improvements in Minimal APIs, SignalR, Kestrel, and HTTP.sys.

.NET 9 (STS - 2024)

  • Goals: Cloud-native applications and extreme performance.
  • Main improvements:
    • Runtime: adaptive garbage collection, Arm64 vectorization, loop optimization.
    • LINQ: added CountBy, AggregateBy, Index.
    • Cryptography: support for KMAC, HashData, AES KeyWrap.
    • TypedResults: typed HTTP responses for Minimal APIs.
    • .NET MAUI: Blazor Hybrid support, improved Hot Reload.
    • .NET Aspire 9: integration with OpenAI, Milvus, and persistent containers.

.NET 10 (November 2025)

  • Still in development.