The Legacy of .NET Frameworks for Desktop Application Development

Quick Rundown: While the world has shifted towards cloud-based solutions, desktop applications remain imperative for many businesses. And .NET continues to be a cornerstone for building these applications. Discover how .NET's robust functionalities, vast community, and cross-platform capabilities make it a compelling choice for modern desktop app development. Read on to learn why .NET is the way forward.

The software development landscape today provides a range of technologies to build a robust IT ecosystem for your business. Multiple software development companies are offering cutting-edge tools, frameworks, and development environments for addressing different business requirements.

You will come across various desktop application development companies with a primary focus on Microsoft technology, especially the .NET frameworks.

Developed by the tech giant Microsoft in 2002, .NET is by far one of the best platforms for creating high-performing, scalable, and versatile desktop apps. In the late 1990s, Microsoft initiated the development of the .NET framework. The primary objective was to establish a platform centered around managed code, which could execute within a runtime environment. Developers love it for its resourcefulness and .NET desktop development is considered to be consistent and profitable for enterprises as well. Any software development company prefers .NET technology when its customer’s need is to have a higher level of coding with less complexity and cost-effectiveness.

You must be wondering why and when you should choose .NET development tools as a preferred desktop app development technology.

This article will walk you through the .NET framework and explain why it's one of the best options for creating robust desktop applications. You will discover the benefits of .NET, the use of .NET, and the challenges you may face if you choose to do so for your project.

Here we go!

What is .NET?

.NET is a software development framework that enables developers to create apps for desktop, web, mobile, cloud, microservices, Internet of Things, and other platforms. Since 2014, it has been free and entirely open source. This platform has more than 100,000 contributors globally and is used to create software for leading organizations like Infosys, HCL, Wipro, and Dell.

As a platform for developers, the Microsoft dot net framework offers libraries, reusable parts, programming languages, and a range of tools to build, compile, and deploy modern desktop application software for practically any industry.

Since people tend to get lost amid different .NET tools and versions. we will give you a brief overview of the languages and frameworks that are frequently used to create .NET-based apps.

What are .NET Programming Languages?

.NET frameworks give developers the freedom to work with their chosen programming languages. Apart from Visual Basic, F#, C#, and CLI languages, developers and tech enterprises have also created other coding languages for desktop application development.

• Visual Basic – It is a simple language with easy-to-understand syntax. It facilitates the development of type-safe .NET applications and supports object-oriented ideas. The ability to create Windows forms and UI-based apps quickly is one of Visual Basic's main advantages.

• F# - F# (pronounced F Sharp) is an open-source .NET programming language with a lightweight syntax, a convenient standard library, and a robust programming guideline system. Compared to other languages, F# needs lesser lines of code to create a mission-critical, reliable dotnet desktop application.

• C# - Desktop application development in C# is relatively easy as this object-oriented language is the best programming language for desktop applications. Programmers who are familiar with C, C++, Java, and JavaScript can use C# because of its similar syntax.

• CLI-Compatible Languages - The latest .NET technologies also support several additional languages, including PowerBuilder, IronPython, Eiffel, and ClojureCLR. This is due to the implementation of Common Language Infrastructure (a model for creating .NET-compatible languages) by. NET.

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What are .NET Implementations?

There are four primary implementations of .NET frameworks supported by Microsoft:

.NET 5 and Later Version

.NET 5+, formerly known as .NET Core, is a .NET implementation for cross-platform app development. Its aim is to manage cloud workloads, servers, and desktop applications on Windows, macOS, and Linux. The most recent.NET implementation is called.NET 7.

.NET Framework

The original .NET implementation has been around since 2002 and is called .NET Framework. Code that targets .NET Standard can execute on different versions of the .NET Framework that implement it (4.5 and later). Additional Windows-specific APIs are included in it, including the ones for Windows desktop application programming using Windows Forms and WPF. The .NET Framework is designed specifically for creating desktop Windows applications.

Mono

When developers need a small runtime, Mono is a popular .NET implementation. The runtime is primarily concerned with a small footprint and runs Xamarin applications on Android, iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS. It supports all of the .NET Standard editions that have been released so far.

UWP

Universal Windows Platform is another .NET implementation designed to create Internet of Things (IoT) software and touch-enabled Windows apps for various devices. It offers a set of Windows APIs to replace WinRT/Win32, an execution environment called AppContainer, and a unified app store.

On a side not, if you are confused about the difference between .NET Core and .NET Framework, this guide will clear all your doubts.

Why Should You Choose .NET Desktop Development?

.NET is the best framework for desktop applications. It enables an all-inclusive development experience across the desktop, Windows Store, and Windows Phone. .NET frameworks offer an advanced level of coding and efficiency to plan, design, development, test, deploy, and maintain apps of any scale.

Leveraging the best desktop application development services with .NET, you can consistently develop foundational apps on the desktop and add thrilling new user experiences while reusing code between the device and applying your existing skills.

Suppose your need is to create a more customized and platform-oriented user experience on any device. In that case, Visual Studio Industry Partners allow you to reuse C# code and skills with non-Windows devices.

If the need is to have file/streams and networking communication features, .NET desktop apps offer the following:

• GUI technologies
• Runtime productivity and safety such as automatic memory management, type safety, taking care of exceptions, and threading
• Rich collection data types
• Serialization
• Data modeling (ADO, LINQ, WCF data services)
• Language Integrated Query (LINQ)
• Date and time library
• Web services
• Security and cryptography
• Parallel programming library

Dotnet desktop applications can choose between UI stacks. Data binding features in both stacks allow data-centric applications to display data. Dot Net Windows Presentation foundation is useful when a Windows-based desktop application needs UI complexity, and style customizations and the application is graphic-intensive. Developers can use Windows forms when the project requirement is less complex and requires user-friendliness.

.NET also allows you to carry out innovations, which enables your application to work on newer platforms without changes in the architecture. You can also reuse the code.

Key Features of .NET Development Tools for Desktop Application Development

The following features of .NET frameworks make it easier to build your desktop applications:

Model-View—View-Model Design Pattern (MVVM)

MVVM simplifies the task of developing an application. With this pattern, you can differentiate between application state, logic, and behaviors. This, in turn, results in writing clean and maintainable code that developers can easily share between multiple devices.

Portable Class Libraries

Implementing your client logic with .NET portable libraries will reduce the complexity of creating multiple experiences on multiple platforms. Developers can save time and effort because .NET portable libraries allow them to share binaries on desktops, Windows Store, Windows Phone, and other applications.

Memory Management

For efficient memory management on behalf of a desktop app, .NET desktop development includes the use of Common Language Runtime. The Garbage Collector program, which periodically scans for idle system resources to release memory, helps in this regard. Developers can assign and release memory while an application is running in many programming languages.

Side-by-Side Execution

Developers can avoid potential version conflicts by enabling various Common Language Runtime versions to coexist on the same platform, thanks to the .NET desktop app development framework. The side-by-side execution feature empowers developers to run many iterations of the same application on the compatible .NET version.

Use of Async/Await

.NET Frameworks and all of their classes, libraries, and third-party tools now support the asynchronous programming method. This is why .NET is faster than other desktop app dev frameworks as it works on an async architecture in the Kestrel framework.

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Web Socket Support

Client-server applications that communicate with one another are created using sockets. This is in charge of the browser's two-way communication. Additionally, the most popular chat applications are developed using .NET Frameworks. For example, client-server web applications can be created using normal socket programming.

Integrated Development Environments

Developers use an integrated development environment (IDE), such as IntelliJ IDEA, while creating applications. .NET desktop application tools offer a robust IDE that enables software engineers to create apps from scratch by simply dragging and dropping components.

Benefits of .NET Frameworks for Building Desktop Applications

There are obviously some important reasons why the desktop application development company chose the Microsoft dot net framework.

Below, we have taken a close look at the main justifications for why businesses use the dot-net platform over another technology:

Stability and Scalability

Compared to other frameworks, .NET offers greater stability and scalability. Its object interface enables you to reuse objects to build a new desktop app as well as modify the object code without affecting the whole software. As a result, you can easily scale your desktop apps whenever needed.

Platform Independence

It is possible to code and run apps on various platforms using .NET development tools since it is a platform-independent framework. Developers can write and execute code on several platforms using a single set of programming environments and development tools, thanks to the .NET framework and implementation.

Reliability and Security

The use of .NET frameworks for desktop development comes with high-end security erasures. It provides developers with a secure environment in which they can write code and create secure applications. You can also personalize authorization permissions and enable features such as Windows Identity Foundation, code access security, cryptography model, role-based security, and evidence-based security.

Multi-Language Support

There are over 60 modern desktop application development languages, including C#, Scala, Ruby, J#, Visual Basic, C++, and TypeScript, that .NET technologies support. The framework also contains a large variety of resources and library classes, making the desktop app development process quicker and easier.

Improved Performance

Performance and speed are the hallmarks of the .NET desktop application framework. It increases development time and productivity with just-in-time compilation. Better functionality and quicker development are also the results of Generics, common APIs, asynchronous programming, Language Integrated Query, and a broad variety of library classes.

Object-Oriented Framework

.NET is an object-oriented framework, meaning it can break down codes into multiple components. This largely simplifies the process of building enterprise-grade desktop apps since developers now can easily write new code and add functionalities

Easy Integration

Developers can seamlessly connect the dotnet desktop application to a range of Microsoft products, including servers, cloud platforms, email, applications, etc. As a result, you can automate the app with just a single login portal, leading to hassle-free data sharing and team communication.

A Few Challenges of .NET Desktop Development

We have talked about the main advantages of .NET Frameworks so far. However, there are some drawbacks as well that you should consider before you hire .NET developers and start a desktop app development project with this technology:

Insufficient Object-Rational Support

Although .NET has the Entity Framework (an object-relational mapping system for .NET), it still does not have the needed flexibility to work with various database designs.

Licensing Costs

Despite the fact that .NET frameworks are open-source, licensing fees for Visual Studio and related Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) technologies make developing apps a costly affair. The ideal platform for .NET development is still Windows, even though it functions on Linux and Mac, which results in extra license fees.

Memory Leaks

.NET has received a lot of criticism from developers for its handling of memory leaks. For detecting and resolving this kind of problem, it contains a built-in garbage collector. And identifying and resolving these problems often requires extra work from developers.

Limited Documentation and Unstable Releases

Usually, early versions of new .NET versions were unstable. Additionally, it was lacking in many areas to provide sufficient documentation. For coders, this was extremely challenging. Beyond that, it proved impractical for many enterprises to transfer their current apps due to the large breaking changes in the .NET to .NET Core migration.

Vendor Lock-in

Although several technologies, including Xamarin, .NET Core, .NET 5+, etc., are open-source programs, a significant chunk of the .NET Framework ecosystem is still mostly exclusive to Microsoft. This implies that our relationship with a particular vendor may be fixed. The future transition to a different vendor will also be challenging.

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When Should You Use .NET Frameworks for Desktop App Development?

Here are some scenarios when using .NET programming languages and frameworks to develop modern desktop apps that can prove to be a strategic and win-win proposition for your project and business goals:

Enterprise-Grade Solutions

.NET is the best framework for enterprise app development. It was primarily created by Microsoft for enterprise use. And they make sure it offers the broadest toolkit and a strong enterprise mobility ecosystem available for developing and integrating cross-platform enterprise solutions, both internal and external.

Multi-Platform Need

Since the majority of platforms are supported by .NET, you can reduce development effort while extending your desktop or mobile app to other operating systems in the event that you require an app that works across platforms. Additionally, .NET can be used in niche engineering fields like the creation of AR applications and video games.

Scalable Apps

.NET offers a scalable environment that enables ongoing applications to be redesigned in order to meet the expanding needs of the business. Typically, business needs are growing, and your software must scale with it.

The Future of Desktop App Development with .NET

The Future of the .NET ecosystem is brighter than ever before. With the help of a framework like this, both large corporations and small organizations can create scalable, reliable, and powerful desktop applications. We predict that .NET will have a solid and promising future given the way the framework is currently developing.

Moreover, what do you think about the future of .NET development tools?

We share Microsoft's ambition for a robust, practical, and reasonably priced framework that can handle anything from desktop software development to AI and IoT. This vision is what Microsoft is selling us with the latest .NET 6 and beyond.

As we create software development solutions for our clients, we are excited to see what the .NET ecosystem has to offer us in the upcoming days, and we will be keeping a close eye on it as it develops.

Develop Bespoke .NET Desktop Applications with RadixwebWhen a client approaches a software development company to build software solutions for its business, they expect to get the right advice from skilled developers in terms of technology and budget. It is up to the software development company to provide consultation which adds value to the customer’s business.We wanted to do the same even before you reach out to us. We hope the features and benefits mentioned above will give you an idea of why .NET frameworks are the most popular desktop application development technology.And the best way to hire a competent .NET development partner is to exclusively look for a software development company that can provide the best services according to your needs and characteristics.Radixweb is a reliable and competent .NET development company with over two decades of developing scalable and goal-oriented .NET desktop apps that meet your brand’s image and fulfill your organizational objectives in the long run.Let’s have a quick call and understand your project!