Understanding The Core Differences Between .NET Framework and .NET Core

While creating a server side application with .NET, you will find two supported implementations:  .NET Framework and .NET core. Both share similar components and you can also share the codes across the two. However, there are some fundamental differences between the two and it is your choice on what you want to attain.

In the year 2002, Microsoft released .NET framework 1.0 for the Windows platform as a proprietary software framework and it has been updating it regularly to meet the emerging trends in the software development. Recently, Microsoft has redesigned the core architecture of the .NET Framework to simplify the development process, testing and deployment of modern software applications. The company also released .NET Core 1.0 in the month of June together with ASP. NET core and the Entity Framework.

The .NET Framework:

The .NET Framework is one of the oldest implementations of the Common Language Runtime and it is the Windows-only implementation of .NET, which is based for many existing applications. The .NET Framework has a host of third party libraries and host of tools already in existence.

 

Also Read: How to Secure Your ASP.NET Web Application?

Many existing .NET applications are written on the .NET Framework. And Microsoft recommends to use .NET Framework when the existing application already uses it or when you need to access the .NET framework’s third party libraries. For example, some of the applications of ASP.NET, Visual Basic are not supported in the .NET Core.

When Should You Use the .NET Framework for Your Server Applications?

The application at present uses the .NET Framework. If you already have an application running on the .NET framework, then instead of migrating the existing application to .NET core, you can extend an existing application on the same.

The application uses any third party .NET libraries or the NuGet packages, which is not available in .NET Core. Libraries are embracing the .NET Standard that enables sharing of codes across all implementations including the .NET Core.

Your application uses the .NET technologies, which are not available in the .NET Core. Some of them may be available later in the .NET Core releases and some others don’t even apply to the patterns that are targeted by the .Net Core and many are not be available anytime.

The application is using a platform, which doesn’t support Windows, MacOS, .Net Core and Linux:

The .NET Core:

This is the latest version of the CLR and it is mostly preferred by the developers. It is better suited for cross platform needs and is supported on Windows, Linux and MacOS. In addition to this, Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure offers great support for .NET Core applications. Since they are lightweight than the .NET framework applications, it is faster and more scalable. The .NET Core applications can easily be deployed as micro-services on Azure and they also deploy well in the containers like the Docker.

 

Also Read: Why Developers Prefer to Opt for .NET Core

 

When Should You Choose .NET Core for Your Server Applications?

1. When should you use .NET Core for your server application:
2. Your application is targeting micro services
3. You have some cross platform needs
4. You are in need of scalable and high performance systems
5. You are in need of side by side .NET versions per application