Announcing .NET 7 with New Updates

Being a leader in the .NET industry and Microsoft-certified partner, we always keep an eye on Microsoft products. And what we love about .NET is that it continually evolves and innovates; it’s always getting better and faster.

A few months back, Microsoft released the third preview version of .NET 7, along with DotNet Core 7 Preview 1 and Entity Framework 7 Preview 1. As Microsoft claimed, the latest version of .NET brings enhanced and better support for cloud-native applications and containers.

The development community is eagerly awaiting the release of .NET 7, which will finally integrate all of the fragmented developer tooling. The release was supposed to happen sooner, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed it back.

While .NET 6 was released by the end of 2021, it did not complete unification and lacked certain key components. The new version of DotNet will allow developers to create a wide range of web, mobile, and desktop apps, using the same Base Class Library, compiler, and runtime.

Meanwhile, the .NET previews have made the first impression on the next generation of .Net development services. Microsoft released the first .NET 7 preview in February 2022, as promised, and has now released .NET Preview 2 and .NET Preview 3.

Introduction to .NET 7

With a single collection of runtimes, base libraries, and a simplified development experience (SDK), .NET 7 seeks to improve developers’ productivity by building on the foundation of .NET 6.

The new .NET will focus on better support for cloud-native scenarios, as well as tools to help developers upgrade legacy applications. Morever, it will enable developers to simplify the development experience through seamless functionalities of containers.

.NET 7 also intends to improve the developer experience by creating secure authentication and authorization that is easier to configure. This method enhances the application startup and execution of runtime.

The .NET 7 Preview 3 has many things to offer like enhancements to observability, codegen, native AOT compilation, GC regions, startup times, and many more. Well, you can also download .NET 7 Preview 3 from its official website for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Now, let’s understand some .NET 7 new features and its latest updates in this release.

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Native AOT for Lighter and Faster Apps

In the previous versions of .NET, AOT was in the experimental zone. But with the resale of .NET 7, AOT has become an official functionality in the DotNET or runtime repo.

AOT is referred to as Ahead-of-Time. AOT compilation is considered a pool of technologies that create code during application build time but not at run-time. However, if you are a .NET developer, you should know that AOT is not a new concept.

ReadyToRun is now available for clients and server scenarios, and Mono AOT for WASM and mobile. Native AOT offers full native pre-compilation to .NET desktop server and client cases.

In fact, the Native AOT is the same as existing AOT technologies of .NET. However, it only offers native artifacts. Since everything in the Native AOT is platform-specific, the Native AOT runtime cannot read .NET assembly file formats. The underlying operating system handles the processing of executable file formats completely.

The key advantages of Native AOT are its faster startup time, lower memory usage, restricted platform access (no JIT allowed), and reduced disk size. Applications begin to operate as soon as the operating system loads them into memory. The data structures are designed to run AOT-generated code rather than compiling new code at runtime. Well, other languages like Go, Swift, and Rust compile in a similar way. Native AOT is best suited when startup speed is important.

Make Your Apps Native AOT Ready

Native AOT enables app developers and library authors to leverage the advantages by ensuring that their apps can be trimmed easily. As we know, trimming is an essential method for Native AOT compilation. Hence, it will help your apps get ready for Native AOT.

Crossgen tool is one type of app included in .NET 7 when compiled with Native AOT. Crossgen is a CoreCLR AOT compiler and part of the .NET SDK. It generates ReadyToRun executables.

Because Native AOT is a short-lived process, the startup overhead reduces the overall execution time. Therefore, Crossgen can benefit from:

In the future releases of .NET, native AOT compatibility will be improved, but there will always be reasons to favor JIT in many circumstances.

GC Regions

Region's functionality has been activated by default in .NET Preview 3, which should aid with memory utilization for high throughput apps. Regions are available for every platform except macOS and NativeAOT.

You can analyze further details on GitHub.

Cryptography: Parsing X.500 Names

This update makes working with certificates easier by introducing a class that clarifies the parsing of X.500 names. The CertificateRequest functionality considers an X500DistingishedName type as input for the certificate request subject in many of its constructor arguments.

Allow me to give you an example with the code here.

This is usually fine, except when subjectName contains a comma, a quote, or anything else that affects the parser. The X500DistinguishedNameBuilder class was created to remedy this issue.

There is no ambiguity in parsing because each method only works with a single relative differentiated name (RDN). You no longer have to guess what "CN" stands for ("Common Name") because the RDN identifiers have been increased.

Breaking Changes

The most up-to-date list of breaking changes in .NET 7 may be found in the Breaking changes in .NET 7 documents. It breaks down major changes by area and release.

ASP.NET Core, Windows Forms, .NET Core libraries, and serialization are all affected by six major changes.

As previously stated, .NET 6 was an LTS version with extended three-year support, but .NET 7 will be a Current release with 18 months of free support and fixes.

.NET 7 release will be compatible with the following architectures on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) version 8, in terms of OS:

• AMD x64
• Intel x64
• ARM (aarch64)
• IBM Z
• LinuxONE (s390x)

Following are some of the amazing features that set .NET 7 apart:

Orleans

Comprehensive documentation and increased integration with cloud services such as Azure App Services and Azure Container Apps will result from additional investments in the .NET cross-platform framework for creating distributed apps.

Enhanced Performance

It enhances the application startup and runtime execution performance.

Simplified Configuration

It makes configuration easier, ensuring secure authorization and authentication.

Cloud-Native Architecture

The major goal is to enhance the scale in large applications by developing self-contained systems (microservices) that can be installed and scaled independently while minimizing long-term expenses. Microservices architecture is adaptable and built to evolve in a way that monolithic architecture cannot.

Better Containers

Microsoft wants to improve telemetry to enhance container observability and make container images robust, secure, smaller, and faster. It is preferred for many enterprises to deploy cloud-native apps and microservices.

Enhanced .NET Upgraded Assistant

.NET Upgrade Assistant now comes in a better way. It is used to assist developers in upgrading their application portfolio with confidence and efficiency. The update will include more analyzers, code fixers, and support for more app types.

.NET Multi-Platform App UI (.NET Maui)

.NET Maui is the future of cross-platform native UI with .NET, and it's a big element of .NET 7. It will improve internal development loop performance, support the latest .NET SDK tooling, enable faster app performance, and share more code when it ships for .NET 7.

Hot Reload

It is a long-awaited and much-requested feature that will simplify the app modernization process.

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How to Install .NET 7 Preview 2 or Preview 3?

You can download and install .NET 7 Preview 2 or Preview 3 from Microsoft's official website. Here we are installing .NET Preview 2. Now, let’s understand the installation process of .NET 7.

Step 1

Double click on the Installer on your macOS and Windows desktop and install the setup by clicking on the Install button.

Step 2

This will lead to the installation process. However, it will be completed in a short time. Once it’s installed, click Close.

Step 3

Well, the above steps have led you to install .NET 7 Preview 2 or Preview 3. If you want to check which .NET version is running, then type the below command in the Command Prompt.

Upgrade Your Legacy Projects to .NET 7

.NET came into existence with the internet revolution in which distributed systems communicated over the internet. It was at the forefront of innovation, with many languages, one runtime, and a base set of libraries and APIs that were all integrated. However, like everything else in technology, .NET has also had to evolve.

On the 20th anniversary of .NET, Microsoft is changing the playing field after years of resisting open-source with .NET 7. Microsoft puts the .NET community at the center of everything they do, and they actively welcome fresh ideas and code contributions. The goal is to make the .NET ecosystem the platform of choice for developers all around the world.

The new functionalities and features of the platform iteration are open sources and cross-platform, putting Microsoft in a good position for the future. The general release of .NET 7 is scheduled for November 2022, and based on the previews, it appears to be a big success.

So, if you still plan to migrate your legacy apps to .NET 7, we have got your back. Our .NET developers will help you with a detailed approach. Also, if you hire .NET developers, they will help you migrate your existing .NET app into the latest version as per your needs.

So, without any waiting, contact us now!