ASP.NET Core (.NET)

ASP.NET Core is a modern, high-performance, and cross-platform web framework used to build cloud-based and internet-connected applications.

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🚀 Key Features

ASP.NET Core (.NET) is:

• Web Framework
• Open Source
• Cross-Platform
• Modular
• Cloud Optimized

It runs on top of .NET Core and the unified .NET platform, which supports:

• Windows
• Linux
• macOS

.NET Core was written from scratch to be:

• Lightweight
• Fast
• Modular
• Cross-Platform
• Long-Term Support (LTS)

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📌 .NET Core Versions

🔹 .NET Core 1.0

Initial Release – June 2016

Key features:

• Initial release of .NET Core
• Cross-platform support (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• Introduction of Command-Line Interface (CLI)
• CoreCLR (Common Language Runtime)
• CoreFX (Foundational framework libraries)
• Support for ASP.NET Core
• NuGet package manager for dependency management

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🔹 .NET 8

LTS Release – November 2023

Major enhancements:

• Performance improvements
• C# 12 integration
• Improved JSON handling
• ASP.NET Core improvements
• .NET MAUI enhancements
• Cryptography and security improvements
• Enhanced AI and Machine Learning support
• Extended Native AOT (Ahead-of-Time) compilation

Note:
The .NET ecosystem continues to evolve, with new versions introducing additional features beyond .NET 6 and .NET 8.

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🧩 .NET Core Composition

.NET Core consists of the following components:

• CLI Tools
  Tools for development, build, and deployment.

• Roslyn
  The .NET Compiler Platform for C# and VB.

• CoreFX
  A set of framework libraries that provide base functionality.

• CoreCLR
  A JIT-based Common Language Runtime responsible for:

  • Garbage Collection
  • Memory Management
  • Machine Code Compilation

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🛠️ Types of Applications You Can Build with ASP.NET Core

ASP.NET Core can be used to develop:

🌐 Web Applications

• ASP.NET Core MVC
• Web API
• Razor Pages
• Microservices

📱 Mobile Applications

💻 Console Applications

🖥️ Desktop Applications

(Supported from .NET Core 3.0 onwards)

🌍 IoT Applications

📊 Machine Learning (ML) Applications

🎮 Gaming Applications

☁️ Cloud Applications