Microsoft .NET Framework

Since Windows Vista, .NET Framework is installed by default with the operating system from Microsoft. The framework is both a runtime en­vi­ron­ment for the execution and a library for the de­vel­op­ment of programs. In our guide, we provide you with the most important in­for­ma­tion about the platform. Then we show the basic steps for getting started with the ap­pli­ca­tion.

NET Framework is one of the main com­po­nents of the software platform pro­grammed by Microsoft .NET. Within this col­lec­tion of tools for de­vel­op­ers, .NET Framework fulfills two functions at once. Firstly, the partially open-source framework offers pro­gram­ming in­ter­faces, utilities and class libraries for the de­vel­op­ment of programs. Secondly, with its CLR (Common Language Runtime), it has a runtime en­vi­ron­ment at the ready, which enables software based on .NET Framework to run easily.

Since Windows Vista (2007), Microsoft has included the .NET Framework with its operating systems. The library and runtime en­vi­ron­ment are installed by default and au­to­mat­i­cal­ly kept up to date via Windows Update. Since not all versions of the framework are backward com­pat­i­ble, Microsoft’s systems usually install and maintain multiple editions of .NET Framework in parallel.

Working with .NET Framework is useful for program de­vel­op­ers for two reasons in par­tic­u­lar:

1. .NET Framework enables cross-language projects.

The platform makes it possible to work on the same project in different pro­gram­ming languages. In many cases, a simple code editor and the re­spec­tive compiler, which .NET Framework also provides, are enough for this to be possible. For example, you can write program parts in C++, C#, F# or Visual Basic and later combine and use them in an ap­pli­ca­tion. For this purpose, the Microsoft tool col­lec­tion makes use of the in­ter­me­di­ate language CIL (Common Inter­me­di­ate Language), formerly also known as Microsoft In­ter­me­di­ate Language (MSIL), which has a cross-language system with object-based data types.

1. Ap­pli­ca­tion execution guar­an­teed for Microsoft users

As mentioned, .NET Framework is now installed by default on Microsoft operating systems (with the exception of server editions). So if you develop a .NET Framework-based ap­pli­ca­tion, you’ll au­to­mat­i­cal­ly have the assurance that a large part of the potential user base has the ap­pro­pri­ate runtime en­vi­ron­ment. Otherwise, the framework, including its in­ter­faces and libraries, can be post-installed in a few steps to support the execution of the software in question. With the ad­di­tion­al edition .NET Core or the complete .NET suite, the necessary support on computers with Linux or macOS as operating system is also provided.

Just in time for the turn of the mil­len­ni­um, Bill Gates presented his vision of .NET Framework to the public for the first time in June 2000. As a language-unifying platform for the three pro­gram­ming languages that dominate Windows, C++, J++ and Visual Basic, the framework became an in­dis­pens­able tool even before its release. How was this possible? Several ex­e­cutable pre-release versions were used until Microsoft presented the first official edition in January 2002 with .NET (V1.0).

The biggest mile­stones in the version history of .NET Framework:

• 2002: Microsoft releases .NET (V1.0) and Visual Studio .NET 2002.
• 2005: .NET Framework 2.0 is released as the first major update to the platform, including a new runtime en­vi­ron­ment.
• 2006: In November, Microsoft releases .NET Framework 3.0, the first version of the framework to become a direct part of a Windows operating system (Vista).
• 2007: .NET Framework 3.5, one of the most famous versions of the Microsoft framework, arrives at the end of 2007. Like its pre­de­ces­sor 3.0, 3.5 draws on the second-gen­er­a­tion runtime en­vi­ron­ment, which is why .NET Framework 3.5 is backward com­pat­i­ble to 2.0.
• 2008: Microsoft publishes parts of the source code for the first time.
• 2010: After a beta phase of almost two years, .NET Framework 4.0 is finally released in April 2010. The numerous in­no­va­tions include a new runtime en­vi­ron­ment. There is therefore no com­pat­i­bil­i­ty with ap­pli­ca­tions from previous versions.
• 2012: .NET Framework 4.5 is released in August 2012 and becomes the standard version of the developer platform shipped with Windows 8.
• 2015: .NET Framework 4.6 arrives as an integral part of Windows 10.
• 2020: .NET 5.0 becomes the official successor to .NET Framework (now in version 4.8) and .NET Core.

The Microsoft framework .NET provides an excellent basis for pro­gram­ming ap­pli­ca­tions. The variety of pro­gram­ming in­ter­faces and libraries reduces the effort for de­vel­op­ers enor­mous­ly. Added to this is the advantage of not being tied to a specific pro­gram­ming language and certain pro­gram­ming paradigms which gives you a lot of freedom.

We have sum­ma­rized the most important facts for you to get started with .NET Framework.

.NET Framework was only available for Windows, so macOS and Linux users had to switch to the al­ter­na­tive .NET Core. Since the merger to .NET, this re­stric­tion has been lifted, so you can take advantage of Microsoft’s developer tools on the operating system of your choice. This platform in­de­pen­dence does not apply if you ex­plic­it­ly want to work with .NET Framework 4.8 or an even older version, as these were still developed ex­clu­sive­ly for Windows.

In addition, if you do not want to write your own .NET ap­pli­ca­tions from the command line using the .NET Software De­vel­op­ment Kit, you will need one of the following ap­pli­ca­tions:

• Visual Studio
• Visual Studio Code
• JetBrains Rider

The three main pro­gram­ming languages that you can use to program a .NET ap­pli­ca­tion are C#, F#, and Visual Basic. All three languages are supported by Windows as well as macOS and Linux. Windows users have another option with C++/CLI, a variant of classic C++ developed by Microsoft.

In addition, various other languages can be im­ple­ment­ed in the framework with the ap­pro­pri­ate compiler. For example, the PeachPie compiler, for example, allows you to work with PHP, while the Compiler Jurassic makes .NET pro­gram­ming with JavaScript possible.

Since Windows Vista, .NET Framework has been closely tied to Microsoft operating systems. However, the latest version is always rec­om­mend­ed for de­vel­op­ment with the platform, so a manual in­stal­la­tion is prefer­able here. For example, the current Windows 10 (as of July 2021) only has .NET Framework 3.5 and .NET Framework 4.8 pre-installed.

You can find the latest .NET version in the Download Center on the official Microsoft website. Simply select your system there - Windows, macOS, or Linux - and download the NET 5.0 Software De­vel­op­ment Kit (SDK).

Now create your own .NET app in a new directory (here: “myApp”):

Then open this app directory with the following command:

The main file of the newly created app is named Program.cs. It au­to­mat­i­cal­ly contains a simple “Hello World!” code that you can now play out. To do this, run your program with the following command: