The .NET Framework is Microsoft’s framework for building desktop and web applications. But it hasn’t received any new updates since 2019. Is the framework REALLY dead? Should you look for alternative solutions like windows tools for developers to develop applications in 2021? In this post, you will find all the details.
Table of Contents
What is .NET Framework?
.NET Framework is a platform for building and running desktop and server-side applications on Windows. It is compatible with different languages, including C#, F#, and Visual Basic. On the desktop, one of the UI solutions with .NET Framework is called WPF. For the web one of the .NET Framework solutions is called ASP.NET.
Is .NET framework really dead?
Back in 2019, Microsoft announced that the .NET Framework 4.8 would be the last release of .NET Framework. Also, the company declared that the successor of .NET Core 3.0 would be known as .NET 5.0. In other words, .NET Core would replace the .NET Framework. Eventually, .NET 5.0 was rolled out in November 2020. However, it does not contain all of the same features that .NET Framework did at the time of this writing.
With .NET 5.0, Microsoft aims to transform the .NET and .NET Core into a new cross-platform framework. However, there are some drawbacks. Developers have been using ASP.NET Web Forms for years to build web UIs. It is no longer supported on .NET 5.0. Instead, you would have to use Blazor. Even Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), the traditional communication framework for Windows, is deprecated. So, you will be forced to use alternative solutions, like gRPC or CoreWCF. This means there is no significant technical debt around legacy apps built-in .NET Framework.
Overall, Microsoft is unifying .NET and .NET Core frameworks by making drastic changes. So, you can no longer use the key features like the way you do with the original platform. In this sense, the .NET Framework is dead.
Microsoft’s controversial move on .NET framework had infuriated a large number of developers around the world. They feel that there is a significant gap between release and stability in the products of the software development giant.
One of the Y Combinator users, known as @TheRealDunkirk, vividly described the issue:
My problem with these kinds of Microsoft technology evangelism articles/videos is that it always seems like Microsoft has juuuust gotten their new hotness to work, and is telling the world that it’s awesome, and ready for production. Then you go to implement it, and as soon as you leave the perfect world of their demo, it all falls apart, and THEN you find out the docs were written for the beta version, and no longer apply, so you’re left guessing at the right invocation signature for the method you need.
What is the best alternative to .NET framework?
There are different alternatives to .NET Framework such as Electron and Delphi. However, the best one for the Windows operating system is Delphi (whitepaper). Unlike .NET framework, it is providing new releases and support for more than 26 years continuously. It also supports Windows, Linux, and Mac through it’s FMX framework. You can even build mobile applications for Android and iOS with FMX.
Why Delphi is the best alternative to .NET framework?
- Safe Future: Delphi has been evolving since 1995. It is being updated constantly. There is no possibility of seeing it abandoned anytime soon.
- .NET Compatibility: Delphi supports a compiler and a base class for .NET framework. So, you can build native .NET applications with the same class library and IDE.
- High Performance: Delphi is super-fast and well suited for graphics and math-intensive application development.
- GUI Designing Made Easy: Delphi supports a powerful GUI designer, which makes the process of creating amazing interfaces pretty straightforward
- Well Documented: Delphi supports comprehensive documentation. So, you can understand different aspects easily.
- Web Services: Delphi offers a wide variety of support for web services through REST and SOAP.
Should I use Delphi in 2022?
Right now, Delphi is the best alternative to .NET framework. It boasts powerful features and delivers a great performance. But more importantly, it will continue to receive support in the coming years. So, you should strongly consider Delphi for developing powerful applications in 2021.
Design. Code. Compile. Deploy.
Start Free Trial Upgrade Today
Free Delphi Community Edition Free C++Builder Community Edition
otimo post
Translation: “excellent post”.
Well the documentation get a bit behind lately. Some serious work to do to catch all the new features, methods and properties to document over the last years.
There is an initiative underway at the moment to address some of the areas where the documentation has not quite kept pace with the innovation and changes that are inevitable in the fast-moving world of tech (it seems like there is a new operating system, device or framework every minute). We can’t guarantee to have a whole digital firehose of new text but there’s certainly a desire to improve and augment what is there already.
I think Delphi is fantastic and I would love to be able to return here, however, the community version could be a little more generous in order to attract more developers, the open source world is still a decisive factor when choosing an IDE.
But without a doubt, Delphi for me is the smartest tool for development, everything is in one place.
I understand, cost can be a factor in making purchasing and spending decisions. RAD Studio has a substantial number of features, as you mention, which are extremely powerful and unparalleled by any Open Source alternatives. You mention the Community Edition and say it could be “a little more generous” in order to attract more developers. It is, in effect, 99% of all the features of the Professional SKU version of RAD Studio and the only real limitation is on people using the CE version for well-paid coding jobs. They’re perfectly adequate for learning and for hobbyist level development or those looking to develop something at the beginning or start-up business phase. If you’re working on an Open Source project which uses Delphi please get in touch since we have schemes which can help you with that kind of thing.
I really miss a web front-end option for Delphi (as there is Razor/Blazor for .net),
I know many have cited third-party web frameworks (Intraweb, Unigui, TMS Web core), but I’ve tested them all and except TMS Web Core, they are pretty obsolete and feature poor components.
It is indisputable that for desktop Delphi is the best but for web, (which is in great demand), Delphi leaves something to be desired, especially if compared to other solutions (asp.net, Angular, React, etc.)
I believe and dream of the day Embarcadero delivers a solid Web Front-end framewerok to compete in the market.
There are many projects using all of the Delphi web frameworks you’ve listed as well as RAD Server and home-spun solutions using Indy and built-in web components. I personally am involved in a substantial web product based entirely around TMS WEB Core and I’ve also worked this year on a widely sold web solution based on Intraweb. The latest versions of each use the most up-to-date HTML5, CSS3, and ECMA script along with the latest versions of Bootstrap (which we’ve used quite widely).
Hi there, your way of approach to content very useful to readers
thank you for your effort…
Thanks for sharing this informative article, Keep posting.
You are posting a very good article. Thanks for sharing this useful article with us. keep posting.
.Net is the worst framework from the ascpect of clean code. .Net is complety unreadable and thus you need exponetional more time to get into it than any other framework i saw in my 20 years as programmer and software architect.