Heard it right! 2 years back, the software giant, Microsoft has announced the release of .NET 5.0 that was going to replace the .NET framework and be the next version to .NET Core 3. It is a unique, unified platform that supports all .NET applications. Being in the run for almost two decades, .NET has delivered services to desktop applications, web applications, mobile applications, microservices APIs, etc. After .NET Framework and its multiple version in series, .NET Core was introduced with amazing feature options including light-weight, modular architecture, open-source, etc. And now, after the .NET Core, its updated next version is .NET 5.0 which got released in November 2020 includes all the competitive requirements in the current time.
Major Frameworks in One Coverage – .NET 5.0
The .NET 5.0 version got multiple major Microsoft frameworks under its roof and supports main .NET technologies. Desktop development with .NET 5.0 is possible with full support to WPF, Windows Forms, and UWP. Additionally, leveraging ASP.NET development services is easy along with cloud development with .NET 5.0 (Azure cloud development). The advanced version also shows compatibility with Xamarin for mobile development with .NET, Unity for Gaming, etc. Advanced tools like Visual Studio, Visual Studio for Mac, Visual Studio Code, Command Line Interface, and more are all part of the unified .NET 5.0 version which we are going to discuss in the next section.
Get into a Unified Version With .NET 5.0
As already mentioned, .NET 5.0 is a unified version as all major frameworks and technologies are available with a single platform and a unified set of Base Class Libraries (BCL). It has made it convenient for Windows desktop development, Android app development, iOS app development, and other .NET development services that can be integrated into a single project. Also, the cross-implementation compatibility in .NET 5.0 ensures that each library will work with every runtime implementation. Due to all these major supports and compatibilities, .NET 5.0 is also known as ONE.NET. The ultimate reason for a unified attribute in this release is performance improvement which can be attained with an enhanced Just-In-Time compiler, enhanced startup times, quicker algorithms, single-file applications, etc. We would learn more about newly added features to the .NET 5.0 release as we move further in this blog.
Feature Updates on .NET 5.0 and New Goals
The main agenda of introducing .NET 5.0 is for the performance improvement requirement which it has outperformed with new updates in its earlier .NET Core version. Let us go through some crucial feature updates on .NET 5.0 and have a slight overview of each.
APIs Optimization
To improve performance and consistency, some APIs like Use of regular expressions, HTML 1.1, HTTP/2 implementations, and operation on strings are optimized.
Language Updates
Here are mentioned some updates for runtime and language with .NET 5.0.
- Jupyter notebooks now integrate more options for interactions and analysis, thanks to F#5
- Increase in number of Visual Basic project types like Windows Forms, Class Library applications, WPF, Console applications along with the provision of porting Visual Basic .NET framework applications
- C#9 includes new features, record type that makes code concise along with convenient immutable data structures
Entity Framework Core Updates
The updates in the Entity Framework Core 5.0 include better SQL queries generation and support; more options for the database model that is described in code.
ASP.NET Core Updates
ASP.NET Core has fewer changes like –
- With the HPack header compression, Kestrel delivers better performance for HTTP/2
- The application can be bound to new endpoints without the need to restart when the configuration changes for ASP.NET development services
- Code can be run before or after Hub methods using SignalR Hub filters
ARM64 Updates
Some crucial updates in the ARM64 support for .NET 5.0 are mentioned below.
- ARM64 hardware intrinsic and specialized instruction sets are supported
- Algorithms are tailored or customized to the ARM4 architecture
- Just-In-Time compilers are optimized for ARM4
Cloud-Native Support
For cloud-native technologies, .NET 5.0 includes improvements for container workload as mentioned here.
- Better overall performance in containerized environments
- Image size reduction and wider images selection for single-page native application development
- Support to orchestration APIs (OpenTelemetry)
After the release of .NET 5.0, a new version (.NET 6.0 or .NET framework latest version) with Long Time Support, fully unified, cross-platform, Xamarin, extended Blazer support, and most crucial feature highlights has been recently released. The next two year projected plans (2022 and 2023) are for new versions, .NET 7.0 and .NET 8.0 with more supports and performance-driven attributes.
Advantages You Get opting .NET 5.0
If you are choosing .NET 5.0 as the destination to migrate from your existing framework or WinForms to .NET 5.0 development then you might have known some of the advantages of this unified platform. We are going to discuss some key features and advantages of opting for .NET 5.0 as the software framework for business applications requirements.
Faster Performance Improvements
Faster improvements with the tiered compilations method introduced quick initial compilations which is beneficial at the time of additional improvements as this time recompilation is performed with better quality.
Get New Target Frameworks
Target frameworks for .NET 5.0 are the successors to .NET standards frameworks. When an operating system is targeted with a complete set of .NET 5.0 APIs, additional APIs are also available.
Single File Applications
With Linux support, the application output display is improved by adding extra files to the single distributable file from which files can be extracted individually on the application access.
Microservices Support
This framework supports Microsoft Azure App Service and Azure Service Fabric with Ruby and Java technology support for microservices implementations.
Container Development
.NET 5.0 framework offers lightweight and modular containerized images for deployment and development.
Integrated Development Environment
With Visual Studio Code that runs on all operating systems including macOS and Linux, it is possible to develop applications with any chosen OS at a time utilizing third-party debugging facilities.
Apart from the above-mentioned advantages, the Microsoft .NET solution (.NET 5.0) is becoming the all-time favorite for developers as it as a Microsoft cross-platform solution supports side-by-side installation, all key features of .NET Core, Xamarin, and .NET Framework, small project files, and more.
Which Existing Frameworks Support for Migration?
The support lifecycle of the .NET framework depends upon the Operating System and for Windows Server 2019; it is supported through the year 2029.
Note: For projects with low change frequency, the .NET framework is apt as low maintenance is required and not often unless any big business changes happen. Also, Legacy technology migration has ended in August 2021.
For WPF, WinForms, and MVC Projects
These projects tend to perform better under the .NET framework as these have .NET equivalents to the framework. The transition process like WinForms to .NET 5.0 can be one-click and performed using technical documents keeping all efforts involved in the process in close analysis and even performing testing once the transition process is completed.
For WebForms Projects
WebForms projects support migration to the .NET framework though there is no urgent need for the upgrade as the Microsoft documentation is available now and the transition is at the client’s request. Also, WebForms development does not require or benefit from the new features in the framework and the transition costs also matters.
Do You Have Any Idea of Migrating? We Help You!
Many businesses have already adopted the .NET 5.0 for app development and utilizing its convenient benefits. If you are looking forward to this new technology and need a helping hand for the implementation to grow your business, contact our technology experts at CG-VAK, the ultimate resource for expert offshore .NET development services.