Open sourcing .NET: The how and why of the reinvention

 

Open sourcing Dotnet

Microsoft signalled a major departure from its long-held positions when it open sourced the base of .NET, its execution engine CoreCLR. It isn’t that Microsoft hasn’t opened up before, having already released the core libraries, but to open source .NET Core is ‘some’ shift. CoreCLR, that performs functions such as garbage collection and compilation to machine code, can servce as a base stack for a range of scenarios from console utilities to the cloud.

Microsoft has released the complete and up-to-date CoreCLR implementation, which includes .NET GC, RyuJIT, native interop and many other .NET runtime components on GitHub. The free code will run not only on computer servers that use Windows, but also machines equipped with Linux or Mac, Microsoft’s two main operating system rivals. This outcome can be construed as a realisation that Microsoft has come around to the reality that it needs to recognise the sizeable presence of its competitors in the market. As we know, .NET core would be the foundation of all future .NET releases.

Microsoft wanted to open up the code first as it wanted developers to feel the cross-platform experience with the Core CLR Repo showing up on a daily basis, similar to Core FX. For almost a decade now, Opensource has been the way the world builds and runs software, but why exactly is Microsoft wanting to make .NET open now? The answer is actually quite simple. Today, people who use .NET are actually stuck on a platform with a server environment that is deficient to Linux. So the only way to expand Microsoft’s development tools was to go opensource. The company already took its baby steps when it offered free versions of its Office applications for Apple iPhones and iPads, obviously to catch up with Android.

Looking purely at size, the coreCLR repo has about 2.6 million lines of code of c++ and c# and the JIT close to 360K lines. Well that means that when .NET Core will be fully available on GitHub, together the repos will definitely exceed 5 million lines of code. But the Opensource story will be complete only with Microsoft’s next version of Windows for computer servers that will run Docker, a Linux product.

Are you eager to learn more about Dotnet ? Here you go : Why .net may be just the right thing for you

The 3 Myths Stories of .Net Application Development

With the advancement in technology, no surprises there are n number of web development platforms coming up. Howbeit, .net application development is on the go offering a whole host of benefits to businesses as well as the developers.

ASP.Net is a server side web application framework marvellously designed to build dynamic web applications that run on the World Wide Web. Commonly known as Active Server Pages, it provides a well-structured model for the developers to build enterprise-class web applications.

However, there are many rumours and ignorance’s. Let’s see.

Misconception#1 Untrustworthy and Complicated

Microsoft- the world’s software leader is very particular about its products source code. So, naturally one might consider ASP.Net is a closed source and very complicated.

Did you know? The source code of .net framework is available for free and you can easily access the resource for developing your own application. Most importantly, it is absolutely possible to even create your own version. This isn’t. Microsoft offers ample access to the source code of the ASP.Net releases such as MVC, Web Forms and more through CodePlex.

Misconception#2 You Can’t Afford It

Many developers consider this is not preferable because it’s quite expensive as compared to the other platforms. I’m sorry.

When talking about the cost, it is important to know that the cost of development depends on numerous factors such as hosting as Window-based hosting is not so cheap. Hosting asp.net web applications is based on the popularity of the hosting services available and not the platform itself.

Misconception#3 .Net Is Meant For BIG SHOTS

There is this rumour prevailing that Asp.net is not suitable for building small business websites but is feasible for creating only huge websites.

Microsoft offers a class library in the .Net framework to create different business solutions. It has also released Web Matrix to help developers to create any kind of website in an easier and user-friendly way. Means, this framework is highly flexible to create small websites to fit according to your business needs.

Now, you get why more enterprises prefer dot net application development over others.