It seems the Redmond giant believes that the holy grail of Internet
development has been found, and its name is ".NET Framework."
As Microsoft explains in its FAQ, the .NET Framework is an "environment
for building, deploying and running Web services and other applications.
It consists of three main parts: the Common Language Runtime, the Framework
classes, and ASP.NET."
But I, a mere programmer, view things a little more simply: The .NET
Framework is basically just a single platform that anybody can develop for,
using a system similar to Java/JVM. Only unlike Java/JVM, there's no language
barrier with .NET: The languages available to the developer upon
installation of the SDK (software development kit)
are Managed C++, C#, Visual Basic and JScript; even more are on the way.
That said, like Java/JVM, .NET comes with its own set of pros and cons,
something every developer needs to consider when it comes to choosing one
platform over another:
.NET Pros
- It offers multiple language support.
- It has a rich set of libraries, a la JVM.
- It's open-standard friendly (e.g., HTTP and XML) -- it may even become
a standard itself.
- Its code is compiled natively, regardless of language or deployment
(Web or desktop).
.NET Cons
- It's yet another platform to consider, which generally means rewriting
and learning new tricks.
- Microsoft tends to have good ideas, but mediocre implementation.
- Currently, it's only available on Windows.
- Microsoft claims C#, IL, and
CLR/CLS will be submitted to ECMA, but there's still no clear view on what
will be standardized from the platform.
In Summary
While .NET may not be the best solution for everyone (you may prefer to run
a Java and Unix solution),
it's definitely not vaporware; it's here to stay. But how far will it go?
In a worst-case scenario, it will never make it beyond the realm of Windows. The best-case scenario: We'll finally have a viable development platform alternative to JVM.
Still undecided about whether .NET is a good idea for you? More
nitty-gritty details about the what and why of
the .NET Framework can be dug up by visiting Microsoft's .NET FAQ,
the .NET site, the ASPNextGen
FAQ, or the streaming
interview with Anders Hejlsberg about programming in C#.
If it turns out you're like me and think the pros of .NET outweigh the
cons and it's worth your time to learn more, then let's take a closer look.
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