The release of “.NET 7” completes the vision of unifying Windows frameworks and universalizing .NET/C# started with the release of .NET 5 in 2020. Enough to allow companies to use their internal C# skills on all desktop and mobile platforms used in the business.
The .NET framework is central to many internal developments of companies under Windows. Since the emergence of its open source cross-platform version, the framework has reinvented itself, influencing not only more developers, but above all more projects, not only Windows, but also web and mobile, consolidating the C# language, which is closely related to it. For many companies, the adoption of the new open source .NET framework is motivated by the use of C# skills in addition to Windows development.
Moreover, the arrival of .NET 7 is also accompanied by the release of C# 11, which integrates various improvements in the handling of character strings, pattern lists and the creation of objects.
” .NET 7 gives your apps better performance and new features for C# 11/F# 7, .NET MAUI, ASP.NET Core/Blazor, Web APIs, WinForms, WPF and more explains Microsoft in a blog post. ” With .NET 7, you can also easily containerize your .NET 7 projects, implement CI/CD workflows in GitHub Actions, and achieve cloud-native observability. »
“.NET 7” refines the cross-platform and cross-device vision initiated by the two previous editions.
As a reminder, “.NET Framework” was born in the 2000s under Windows and in a closed and proprietary form. In 2014, the palace revolution, Microsoft decided to start from scratch and reinvent its framework in an open-source and cross-platform version under the name “.NET Core”, a version then essentially centered on server development.
In 2020, Microsoft decides to start unifying “.NET Framework Windows” and “.NET Core” by launching a “.NET 5” invites companies to migrate their Windows business applications to this new version.
In 2021, “.NET 6” marks another step in this unification effort by concretizing “Project Reunion” that aims not only to unify Windows frameworks, but also to open up the new “.NET” a bit more for Cross-OS Desktop and Mobile applications (Mac , iOS, Android …).
The arrival of “.NET 7” marks the culmination of the universalization and unification efforts undertaken in 2020 with “.NET 5”. Microsoft had always claimed that this effort would require at least two years and two developments.
Thus, “.NET 7” brings many improvements to “.NET MAUI” (which allows the creation of mobile and cross-platform applications), but also to Windows Forms and WPF, confirming the publisher’s desire to make “.NET 7” to the actual framework. for developing business applications under Windows for companies.
In addition, “.NET7” provides more comprehensive support for ARM64, which is essential both for bringing Windows developments to “Windows on ARM”, but also for the development of Windows and macOS applications across platforms, now that Mac ‘s have been switched to Apple M1 and M2 processors.
Also note several improvements (especially in the garbage collector) to optimize the operation and footprint of .NET in containers.
According to Microsoft, the development of this version 7 was heavily influenced by its community. It contains more than 28,000 contributions from 8,900 contributors. The .NET ecosystem now has over 330,000 NuGet packages. This gives a good idea of the growing importance of the new “.NET” framework.
Not to do things by halves, Microsoft also announces the launch of Visual Studio 2022 “17.4”, which officially supports .NET 7 and integrates .NET MAUI by default in both its Windows version and its MacOS version. Now developers can design mobile and desktop applications for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS from both a Windows machine and an Apple Mac! And of course, Visual Studio 2022 “17.4” is also now fully ARM64 native on both Windows and Mac.
Finally, Microsoft highlights key performance improvements on both .NET7 and Visual Studio for a more efficient development environment and faster cross-platform applications.
To download: Download .NET 7.0 (Linux, macOS, and Windows) (microsoft.com)
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