.NET debabbled
As a natural follow-up to last week's discussion of ASP, this week covers Microsoft's broader software services platform, known as .NET. To be honest, I seriously considered skipping this one, as .NET is one of the most hyped products on the software market and I've never fully understood what it does. On the other hand, what's the point of debabbling technology if I can't tackle the tricky ones?What is .NET?
One of the trends in modern software development is interoperability, which is a fancy way of saying that programs should be able to work together more easily. Primarily due to the internet, large programs that were previously completely independent started to need to "talk" to each other, usually to exchange information, but sometimes to tap into functions and features that other programs performed better.
To put it about as simply as I can, the .NET framework is Microsoft's attempt to help programmers develop software that can play nicely with other software. Theoretically, no matter what language you choose to program in, you should be able to use common techniques and share common features and functions that others have already built (that sounds obvious, but programmers historically have a habit of reinventing the wheel). Of course, it's not quite that simple, and some may argue whether or not .NET has achieved this goal, but it certainly does represent a significant step forward in software development.
What's in it for me?
While general software development is a bit beyond the scope of the Debabblog, the .NET framework also applies to server-side web scripting. ASP, in fact, has been replaced by ASP.NET, which taps into some of the shared features of Microsoft's new programming philosophy. If you already use ASP, you may be using the .NET framework without even realizing it. If you develop your website on Windows-based servers, ASP.NET is a logical choice, and the broader features of the .NET model are worth exploring.
