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“Let me walk you through the key differences between .NET Framework and .NET Core, along with where I’ve used each in real projects. This will help clarify which to choose based on the application requirements.”
Platform Support
- .NET Framework: Windows only.
- .NET Core: Cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux).
E.g., I used .NET Core for an internal dashboard that needed to run on both Windows and Linux servers.
Performance
- .NET Framework: Slower in comparison, optimized for Windows.
- .NET Core: Higher performance, optimized for modern web applications.
In a microservices migration project, we saw ~30% reduced API latency after moving from .NET Framework to .NET Core.
Application Models
- .NET Framework: Supports Windows Forms, WPF, ASP.NET Web Forms (older technologies).
- .NET Core: Supports ASP.NET Core, UWP, cloud-native apps.
Used .NET Core to build REST APIs and containerized them in Docker for our CI/CD pipeline.
Modularity
- .NET Framework: Monolithic framework with all libraries included by default.
- .NET Core: Modular, allowing only required libraries to be included, making applications lighter.
Modern Development Support
- .NET Framework: Better for legacy systems, enterprise applications.
- .NET Core: Ideal for microservices, containers, and cloud-based applications.
This helped us create smaller Docker images with .NET Core — crucial for quick deployments.
Deployment
- .NET Framework: Framework must be installed on the host machine, shared among apps.
- .NET Core: Supports self-contained deployment, meaning no need to install the framework on the host.
This was key when deploying apps to customer machines that didn’t have .NET pre-installed.
Open Source
- .NET Framework: Partially open-source.
- .NET Core: Fully open-source, developed on GitHub with community contributions.
Future Development
- .NET Framework: In maintenance mode, no new major updates.
- .NET Core: Actively developed, merged into .NET 5 and newer versions.
Summary Table
| Aspect | .NET Framework | .NET Core |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Windows only | Cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux) |
| Performance | Slower, optimized for Windows | High performance, optimized for modern applications |
| Application Models | Windows Forms, WPF, ASP.NET Web Forms | ASP.NET Core, UWP, Console, Cloud-native |
| Modularity | Monolithic | Modular |
| Modern Development | Legacy systems | Cloud-native, microservices, containers |
| Deployment | Shared framework on host machine | Self-contained or framework-dependent |
| Open Source | Partially open-source | Fully open-source |
| Future Development | In maintenance mode | Actively developed (now part of .NET 5+) |
Conclusion
.NET Framework is best suited for Windows-based legacy systems and applications that depend on older technologies like Windows Forms and WPF. On the other hand, .NET Core (now .NET 5 and beyond) is ideal for modern, high-performance, cross-platform applications, microservices, and cloud-native apps.
.NET Framework still powers many enterprise legacy systems, but for any new development — especially if you’re targeting microservices, Docker containers, or cloud — .NET Core or its successors like .NET 6/7/8 is the way to go. I’ve personally led migrations to .NET Core for exactly these reasons.
