What is a .NET Application?

.NET Framework (pronounced “dot net”) is a platform created by Microsoft that offers programmers a secure environment to build Web applications in a number of programming languages. Imagine that you have been engaged to build a house. You will need a range of materials common to all home builders: wood, bricks, mortar, plumbing, windows, and so on. In pioneer days, settlers needed to fell the trees and mix the mortar themselves. Now, however, you would plan the construction knowing that all of the primary materials that you will need are already available. And so it is for programmers who want to build a Web application today.

Ready-Made Codes

There are many pieces of code that pioneers in information technology needed to build from scratch. But, just like engineers don't need to manufacture their own bricks each time they build a home, programmers have made their lives easier by using ready-made codes that have been written to perform standard procedures. Those building blocks of code offer the programmer a “framework” to develop Web applications. The .NET Framework is intended to be used by most new applications created for Windows platform. That framework is part of the “platform” used to develop and run a Web application, which would also include the hardware, operating system, and programming language. (A platform is an environment that makes available all the resources available to develop and execute a Web application.)

Microsoft developed .NET to facilitate Web applications development within a Windows environment. It is a framework that offers developers a large quantity of useful code, called the Framework Class Library. Web developers draw upon that code just as the architect constructs his building with prefabricated bricks. We all know that the best way to avoid an error in transcribing text is to “cut and paste” rather than retype an entry. In the same way, programmers know that using the Framework Class Library of .NET eliminates any chance that they will inadvertently introduce an error into their application through a mistake in their code. Programmers build applications by combining the source code they write with the standard codes contained in the Framework Class Library.                             

The .NET Framework also offers interoperability across several programming languages. The applications written for .NET depend on a software program called Common Language Runtime, or CLR, that interfaces with the computer's operating system. The Framework Class Library and Common Language Runtime constitute the .NET Framework that supports programmers creating Web applications.

What Can .NET Framework Do?

The .NET Framework provides programmers with a consistent and secure platform for developing Windows-based and Web-based applications. .NET Framework goes beyond traditional Windows programming to allow programmers to create Web applications quickly and easily. Microsoft has been updating the .NET Framework since it was first released in 2000. Microsoft's first goal was to reduce the amount of boilerplate code that took up programmers' time. It then made the .NET Framework supportive of Windows Presentation Foundation, which strengthened its graphics capabilities.

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