Navigating the development seas: a guide to building .NET Applications

What Are .NET Applications?

.NET framework is known for its versatility, serving for the development of various types of applications. You can see it being used for the purposes of web development, cross-platform development, mobile app development, and in the gaming industry. Desktop applications, APIs, enterprise software, and IoT solutions can also be built with .NET. So, whatever you have in mind, this framework will likely cope with the challenge!

Why should you pick .NET development?

What does .NET stand out with? First of all, it supports multiple programming languages, including C#, Visual Basic .NET, F#, and others. That provides you with amazing flexibility, as you can pick the most suitable language in terms of your skills and project requirements. 

Many also point to its security, which is gaining significance with the rise of cyberattacks. In recent years, their frequency has multiplied in most areas of the world, and .NET provides solid prevention against security breaches with features like code access security and role-based security, not to mention regular updates that patch up any vulnerabilities.

Which variant of .NET to choose?

When working with .NET, you can develop either traditional .NET applications, Visual Basic .NET Applications, or upgraded .NET Core applications. VB.NET is an object-oriented programming language within the .NET framework that facilitates quick learning with its easy-to-grasp syntax and structure.

NET Core is an upgraded version of .NET framework that emphasizes modularity and is built with cross-platform compatibility in mind instead of focusing on Windows users. It provides a single platform for various workloads, including ASP.NET Core, or Xamarin, and facilitates containerization. It has limited library support at the moment compared to .NET, but it is growing exponentially.

Maintaining your .NET application

As with any application, monitoring the lifecycle is essential to its healthy functioning. Even though the .NET framework stands out with its extensive security, make sure to regularly monitor its code and containers in search for potential vulnerabilities. The shift-left approach will minimize the number of potential threats and reduce the cost by moving code testing to the beginning of the process and preventing unnecessary fixes. 

Keep a vigilant eye on performance and monitor it with a set of applicable KPIs, optimizing whenever necessary. Make debugging an essential ritual and refactor every once in a while, avoiding costly rewriting.