Programming languages is an essential aspect that can determine the structure and usability of an application.
A programming language brings capability and scalability features with it. You can define what you want to do and how you want to do that to choose a programming language.
Today, we have veteran programming languages like ASP.NET, Java, PHP, JavaScript, and others.
We are going to discuss an interesting programming framework, .NET.
I will share why you should use .NET programming languages in 2022. But, before we dive into that, let's have an overview of what the .NET Framework is.
What is .NET Framework?
.NET Framework is built by one of the largest retail and commercial computer operating system manufacturers, Microsoft.
They started the development of the .NET Framework in the late 1990s, and by late 2001, the first beta version of .NET 1.0 was released.
As per Wikipedia, there are 25 versions of the .NET Framework released so far.
The latest version is 4.8, with CLR version 4; released on 18th April 2019.
Windows also provides Visual Studio, an enhanced IDEs where you can write and edit code for .NET.
The goal of the .NET Framework is to allow developers to make web and desktop applications with maximum ease.
To cover the broad spectrum of use cases and applications, .NET started supporting other languages as well.
Currently, it supports 60+ programming languages, out of which 11 are negatively developed and deployed by Microsoft only.
Those 11 programming languages are:
1. C++.NET
2. VB.NET
3. IRON RUBY
4. C#.NET
5. ASML
6. F#.NET
7. IRON PYTHON
8. JSCRIPT.NET
9. C OMEGA
10. J#.NET
11. WINDOWS POWERSHELL
Now let's dive right into the benefits of using .NET Framework in your programming language.
For the sake of this article, we will discuss the benefits in a brief and then dive right into where you can use .NET programming languages.
Why use .NET programming languages - An Overview
Here are the main advantages of using the .NET Programming Language in your projects.
- Excellent Memory Management
While working programming, memory management is an essential aspect, especially if you have several objects to manage the .NET development
In .NET, memory management becomes efficient, and developers can easily handle objects' lifetimes. As a result, the programs' overall execution, compilation, and running become seamless.
- Comprehensive Library
When you want to implement global features and enhanced performance in your program, you can create library files that implement those functionalities, methods, classes, etc.
Since .NET is an open-source platform, you can create your custom library file.
Most interestingly, all the popular use cases are already available in its Comprehensive Library collection, which makes everything a lot smoother and easier for you.
- Common Type System
This is my favorite feature of the .NET Framework.
When you go cross-platform and change the programming language, you have to change the data structures and redefine type systems as per the new environment.
When you are working in the .NET Framework, all the data types are defined with respect to .NET guidelines, so even if you go cross-platform and use another programming language in .NET, all the data types are default supported.
So you are time-saving, and interoperability skyrocket.
- Language Compatibility
When the snippet is written in a particular language, .NET creates a Common Intermediate Language at the run time.
What this means, the source code is translated to be read by other programming languages within the .NET Framework.
Therefore, programmers can utilize the CIL file and focus on writing the code instead of their compatibility problems while working in .NET.
- Version Compatibility
When you are using an application on the phone, you have to install its updates every time the developer launches an updated version of the app.
The update brings new functionalities and capabilities. This is also true for some programming frameworks.
You have to upgrade the source code as well to match it with the new version. This increases the dependency from the development standpoint.
While working with .NET, the source code written in older format is automatically supported in newer versions of .NET Framework. You don't need to update the code file every time a new version comes along.
- Efficient Multitasking
.NET Framework allows side-by-side execution.
It gives an opportunity of allowing multiple versions of runtime files to execute on the same local computer.
That means multiple versions of an application can coexist, and an application will run on whichever version of the .NET Framework it was built with.
Now, let's dive into where you can use .NET programming languages in 2022.
Where Can You Use .NET Programming Language in 2022
From different screen sizes to multiple operating systems, .NET has got it all!
Let’s explore every use case in detail.
1. Mobile
Mobile phones have become an integral part of all of our lifestyles.
The amount of time we spend using smartphones is immense, and the use cases that the device brings are enormous.
During the pandemic, the average time spent using a smartphone was 25% to 6.9 hours.
A phone can make someone more efficient if they know how to use it.
On mobile, you can do web browsing and use applications to execute daily tasks. Moreover, it brings scalability and portability, making it a good channel to target customers.
.NET has got programming languages and native support for developers to build smartphone apps.
With the help of ASP.NET Core and ASP.NET Web API, you can build mobile applications. In addition, Visual Studio has the App Centre allowing .NET developers to build, test, and distribute applications on Google Play Store and App Store.
You also get good support to run, test, and debug the source code in the .NET Framework.
2. Desktop
Desktop is our go-to machine of this age.
When we work for an extensive amount of time, around 8 to 9 hours, we need a performance and stability machine. And desktops do provide that.
Whether we are in-house or at working-from-home, desktop machines are the way to go. Whether you have a system at home or carry a laptop everywhere you go, a desktop is essential hardware for working professionals.
With .NET, you can create versatile and scalable applications for this essential hardware.
.NET has Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Forms, and Universal Windows Platform to create scalable and high-quality applications for the desktop.
Whether you want to develop a standalone application that works online or you want to create a native application that uses the internet to operate, all those objectives are achievable using .NET programming languages like C#, C++, and others.
3. Website
A website is an integral part of a brand's identity in this age.
Just like you need social media, email and other digital channels to grab the customer's traction, you need a website to redirect the web traffic and convert them into leads.
With the help of a website, you can scale your business operations to a whole new level.
Speaking of websites, .NET has the perfect blend of technical and creative support that allows you to create stunning and visually appealing websites to skyrocket the user experience like never before.
It does not limit you to sticking to traditional website elements; you can build everything from scratch and make it look professional yet dynamic to match your brand’s voice and look and feel.
Popular websites like Bloomberg.com, Unesco.org, USAtoday.com and Dell.com are built on ASP.NET programming language.
Microsoft has developed ASP.NET to create high-quality web applications and websites on the .NET Framework.
ASP.NET utilizes veteran programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It also allows you to create WebSockets to integrate more functionalities and features in your ASP.NET website.
4. Servers
While working with servers, you need sockets to implement all the necessary functionalities on the server side.
As discussed and mentioned in the previous section, ASP.NET provides WebSocket support and, therefore, can be used to write programs.
Similarly, you also get C# to create sockets and do server-side coding.
You no longer need to shift to a dedicated server-side programming language like Node.js, Java, etc.
You can use the same platform with the same team of developers to work with servers.
5. Console Apps
Console applications can effortlessly automate and schedule monotonous, important, and time-bound tasks.
Like updating your repository on the server-side or uploading your content in a scheduled time, console-based applications can help you do that with maximum ease.
Enterprise software and web applications can utilize console-based applications to schedule maintenance, test new features, and so on.
With the help of C# and ASP.NET, users can build console applications.
6. Windows
Windows is the major player in operating systems on computers and laptops.
As already discussed, Windows is the whole and sole of creating .NET Framework.
You can write programs for laptops, tablets, computers, Xbox, and others when it comes to Windows operating systems.
With the .NET Framework, you can create responsive and high-performance Windows applications that have native support with the operating system.
To develop apps for Windows, you have options to write code in C#, Visual Basic, C++, F# and others.
With .NET, you can build the simplest to the most complex and enterprise-level applications and software for Windows with .NET.
7. Mac
Thanks to ASP.NET's cross-platform nature, you can also build applications for macOS.
All you need to do is install Visual Studio on your macOS systems, on Windows for that matter, to start coding for macOS applications.
It allows you to create modular and scalable applications which you can also deploy on the cloud or a web platform. The Visual Studio interface works with .NET Core, .NET Core 2 and .NET Core 3.
8. Linux
If you believe in open source philosophy and also use an open-source operating system, then I am sure you are using Linux.
You have guessed right where I am heading in this section. .NET also supports the Linux operating system.
Visual Studio works on Linux.
That means the same usability in user-friendliness and the experience of writing codes that you get on Windows and macOS, and you also get the same experience with Linux.
9. Cloud
The developers of Windows have really built a scalable and cross-platform programming framework that, along with mobile, servers, websites, desktop applications, can also build scalable cloud applications using .NET.
.NET recommends Azure for building scalable cloud applications.
100+ Azure products have native .NET support.
They also give you templates for efficient debugging, powerful coding and lightning-fast publishing of your source code to the cloud.
The use case of .NET with cloud applications does not stop here.
If you have a .NET application lying in your local system, you can also migrate that application as a cloud service to Azure using the .NET programming language.
This way, you can efficiently build PaaS and SaaS platforms using .NET.
10. Machine Learning
For machine learning programming, you get ML.NET, an open-source and cross-platform machine learning framework, which is again supported across operating systems of Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Most importantly, with ML.NET, you no longer need to learn specific skill sets to write code for machine learning applications using .NET.
With your existing skill sets, you can implement machine learning functionality in your .NET applications even if you don't have existing machine learning programming experience.
You also get access to ML libraries like Infer.NET, TensorFlow and ONNX with ML.NET.
You can implement sentiment analysis, dynamic product recommendation, price prediction, fraud detection, object detection, customer segmentation, demand generation detection, image classification and sales forecasting in your .NET application with machine learning.
With this single Framework alone, you can enable high accuracy and custom dynamic solutions in your .NET applications.
11. IoT apps
Home improvement products are already on the rise because, in 2021, there will be more than 10 billion active IoT devices.
As the IoT industry is thriving with many popular products and successful brands serving customers at scale, you can also build IoT applications using C# and ASP.NET and work with Raspberry Pi, HummingBoard, BeagleBoard, Pine A64, and more.
Just like all the other libraries and frameworks, these libraries are also open source and can enable high-quality automations using IoT.
.NET can work with sensors, displays, and input devices that use GPIO, SPI, I2C, PWM, and serial port interfaces. (Source)
With IoT applications built and sustained using .NET Framework, you can dynamically connect, manage, monitor and enhance the capabilities of your devices.
12. Microservices
Microservices are independent models that perform specific tasks and communicate with each other to achieve a collective output at scale.
They have well-defined contracts through which they execute, communicate and enhance the operability of an application.
Moreover, microservices are easier and quicker to develop, test and deploy as isolated sections of an application.
Moreover, once the microservices are deployed, they can also be scaled as independent applications if needed.
.NET offers a hassle-free microservices development interface that can build microservices of any size.
It has lightning-fast performance and dynamic usability for all the use cases.
Over to you - how would you use .NET in your next project?
I hope you have found this article helpful and know more about where you can use the .NET programming language.
If you need a .NET developer, feel free to contact us.
