What is a .NET application?

Software applications developed using the .Net developer platform are known as .Net Applications. .Net developer platform is created by Microsoft Corporation. It is a free, open-source development platform that supports cross-platform application development of many different types of applications.

.Net platform encompasses various tools, multiple programming languages, frameworks, libraries and editors to build web, mobile, desktop, gaming, IoT (Internet of Things), cloud and machine learning (Artificial Intelligence) applications. There are frameworks extended from .Net platform to build each type of application such as .Net framework, .Net Core, Xamarin, UWP, and ML.Net.

What are the types of .Net Applications?

These are the types of .Net applications available for different areas of application development.

Desktop application development

• Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) apps: Applications with a wide range of GUI (Graphical User Interface) elements that can execute on multi-platforms (Windows, Web, and Mobile).
• Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps: Responsive applications that support many screen sizes and interaction models (touch, mouse, pen, keyboard and game controller) which can execute on any Windows 10 device such as PC, tablet, phone, Xbox, HoloLens, SurfaceHub, and Windows 10 IoT core.

Web application development

• ASP.NET Web apps: Dynamic, secure, fast and scalable applications such as Web forms (for building Websites), Web applications (as server-side apps) and Single page apps (SPA).
• Microservices: Free and open-source, independently deployable, highly scalable resilient services built with Docker containers on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
• ASP.NET Web APIs (REST APIs): Web-based functionality that is accessed by a broad range of clients including, browsers and mobile devices.

Gaming application development

• 2D and 3D gaming applications built using Unity, MonoGame and CRYENGINE game development platforms for all major mobile and desktop operating systems.

Internet of things (IoT) application development

• UWP for IoT: IoT apps for Windows devices and IoT devices running Windows 10 IoT Core.

Cloud application development

• .Net core, .Net framework and mobile apps that are deployable in all major cloud platforms like Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, etc.