.NET Pros and Cons

Introduction

.NET is a comprehensive and multi-purpose framework that belongs to the Microsoft family. It has been specifically developed for building and running a variety of application types including web and mobile, desktop, cloud, gaming and IoT applications.

Pros of .NET

Scalability

When using .NET to build applications, if done correctly, it can give you an incredibly scalable solution that makes it easy for your company to handle varying user demands by giving you the ability to add or remove users in line with workload requirements. Essentially, scalability is a measure of how well your system responds to differing variables such as workloads, users, new workstreams etc.

Security

Whilst .NET, like all frameworks has vulnerabilities it also has enhanced security features that allow developers who use it to take proactive measures to ensure the security of the application. The key security concepts can be found here.

Versatility and Cross-Platform Development

.NET offers Cross-platform development capabilities which in turn offers flexibility when you are looking to create an application that can span across multiple platforms and operating systems including Windows, macOS and Linux. 

Resiliency

Whilst any good developer could create their own resiliency framework, Microsoft already has an offering for this that works on the .NET framework. Polly, is essentially a resilience and transient fault handling library that holds extensive capabilities in faults-handling. Polly offers a wide range of ready built policies such as - Retry, Timeout, Fallback and Circuit Breaker so developers don't need to create their own from scratch, and thus, less development time is needed for the application to be developed.

Expansive Developer Community

The .NET framework has a large community of developers with the framework being widely regarded across the globe. Community members underpin the ecosystem and can provide resources, tutorials and support to other developers inside or outside of the community. 

Visual Studio

Visual Studio is the name of the official IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for .NET. Visual Studio provides an extensive and feature-rich environment for design & development, debugging and testing. It also offers enhanced tooling and support which helps to streamline the end to end development process and provides all round better performance.

Entity Framework

Entity Framework Core is an ORM (Object Relational Mapping) framework that enables .NET developers to work with databases using .NET objects. It's light touch, extensive and a key element of the .NET Core initiative.

Cons of .NET

Memory Leak Risks

There is the possibility of memory leaks due to the Automatic Memory Management system in .NET. The Automatic Memory Management System also has other risks associated with it such as performance overheads, limited control over memory allocation and/or deallocation timing & potential memory fragmentation It requires the developer to have a thorough understanding of garbage collection mechanisms in order to ensure optimisation.

A Steep Learning Curve

For developers who are new to .NET, there is likely to be a steep and intense learning curve due to the complexity of the framework and it's extensive features. Significant time and effort are generally required to become proficient in .NET development.

Dependency on Microsoft Support

Because .NET is a Microsoft framework, it goes without saying there is heavy reliance on Microsoft for updates bug fixes and support for the framework. This in turn mean there is a potential impact on development timelines and project continuity.

Framework Architecture

Some developers may find the architecture of the .NET framework to be overly complex and somewhat rigid. It is not as flexible as some other frameworks and often requires adherence to certain design patterns and conventions.

Conclusion

To conclude, .NET is a versatile and very well-supported extensive tool for web development, mobile applications, desktop applications, games and Iot. It is a popular choice with developers due to it's variety of features, security and reliability. It is important to note however that there are indeed drawbacks including it's platform dependency, time and effort to learn and rigidness where compared with some other frameworks. Decisions should be based upon your specific project requirements and the developers familiarity and experience with the framework.

Further Reading

What is .NET Development?

What does a .NET Developer do?

What is .NET full-stack?