LEARNING MICROSOFT.NET 1

What is Microsoft.NET ?

Microsoft .Net is the first software development platform to be designed from the ground up with the internet in mind although .NET is not exclusively for internet development rather it provides a consistent programming model that can be used for many types of applications.

Microsoft’s .NET initiative is broad based and very ambitious. It includes the .Net Frame work, which encompasses the languages and execution platform, plus extensive class libraries providing rich built-in functionality. Besides the core .Net Frame work, the .Net Initiative includes protocols ( such as SOAP, simple object access protocol) to provide a new level of integration of software over the internet, and a set of pre built web based services called .Net My services.

Goals behind Microsoft .NET are :-

Many of the goals Microsoft had in mind when designing .NET reflect the limitations identified from earlier tools and technologies.

1. Creating Highly Distributed Applications:-

The trend in business applications is towards a more highly distributed model. The next generation of applications may have their elements distributed among various organizations. This contrasts with today’s dominant model in which all the elements of an application ( except possibly a browser based client) are located solely within a single organization.

2. Simplifying Software Development :-

Developers need to be able to concentrate on the business logic in their applications, and to stop writing logic for things like state management and scalability. Writing software for the internet should not require expertise in a long list of internet specific technologies. A related goal is to have development for other platforms. A Component accessed over a local network or over the internet should be manipulated with code very much like that for a component accessed on the local machine. The software platform should be able to take care of the details in transmitting the information to and from the component.


3. Better user interfaces over the web :-

User interfaces development also needs to be as similar as possible for the Internet compared to local access. While local, platform specific interfaces will always of offer more flexibility than a browser based interface. .Net makes those 2 types of interfaces as similar to develop as possible. By making web based user interfaces richer and more flexible than they are now, bringing them as close as possible to the richness of local, forms-based interfaces.

4. Simplifying Deployment :-

The problems of DLL Hell, and the need for large installs of forms based applications, are just two examples of current deployment issues. .Net makes it easier by just copying a compiled module over to a system and run it. No registration, no GUIDs, no special installation procedure.

5. Support for a variety of Languages :-

While the idea of one grand, unifying language sounds good in theory, in the real world, different types of developers need different tools. Microsoft .NET designed to support a multitude of languages, from Microsoft and third parties. This allow the development community to evolve languages that best fir various development needs.

6. An Extendable Platform for the Future :-

A new platform needs the capability to adapt to changing conditions through various extensions and variations. .Net is designed with greater extendibility and flexibility than any previous software development platform.

7. Future Portability of Compiled Applications:-

Operating Systems will make major changes and perhaps entirely new ones will be introduced in the future. Investments in software development need to be carried forward to those platforms. The goal of .Net is to allow applications to move from current platforms to future platforms, such as 64-bit operating systems with a simple copy, and no recompilation.