Choosing the right framework for developing a web app can be a critical decision that can greatly impact the success and maintainability of your project. A platform or as many call it  “Framework” is where a website or Web Application is made, for example in this book we will be using a Microsoft ASP.NET or  .Net platform (pronounced as Dot Net). The reason why we are going with the .Net (Dot Net) platform is that most of the users tend to use Microsoft products like Windows Computers and applications. ASP.Net is used to make Web Applications and therefore it has a huge documentation repository where you can research new features added and find a code base to incorporate into your application. If you are like me you are probably wondering what a Framework is. Look at it this way, when the house is built, the foundation is laid down first. This means that the foundation interfaces with the ground, in this case, the foundation is the Framework. However, the .Net Framework interprets the code a Software Developer writes in a machine language that is just binary language (Zero’s and Ones). The Binary language is hard for humans to understand therefore, the Programming Framework lifts all the heavy compilation for you. In lieu of choosing the right Programming Framework, it is important to understand what heavy lifting the Framework will be doing for you. For example, Garbage Collection and Memory management, most of the heavy stuff the Framework will be doing is out of the scope of this book. Knowing what Software architecture to use in the planning phase is very important, this will give a clear picture of what System components will be needed to accomplish the build. Of course, picking the right platform will give an opportunity to explore its strength and weakness and help optimize for a website's performance as well as scalability. It would most likely be that the first website or Web Application made won’t be as perfect as the second one, moreover, many Web Developers don’t even plan on System Architecture instead development just takes place and planning comes when development is in progress. However, choosing the right platform and having solutions to the problem firsthand will save a lot of time down the road. Here are more reasons why we are choosing ASP.NET Core as a Framework of choice to build our application. ASP.NET Core is a popular and powerful framework for building web applications, and it can be a suitable choice for developing a social media application for several reasons: Cross-platform Support: ASP.NET Core is a cross-platform framework that allows you to build web applications that can run on Windows, Linux, and macOS. This gives you flexibility in choosing your hosting environment and allows you to target a wider range of platforms. High Performance: ASP.NET Core is designed to be fast and efficient, with built-in performance optimizations. It includes features such as asynchronous programming, middleware pipeline, and runtime compilation that help improve the performance of web applications, making it a good fit for building high-performance social media applications that may require handling a large number of concurrent users and data processing. Scalability: ASP.NET Core is built with scalability in mind, allowing you to easily scale your web application horizontally across multiple servers or containers. This makes it suitable for building social media applications that may need to handle increased traffic and user activity as the application grows. Modular and Flexible: ASP.NET Core follows a modular and flexible architecture, allowing you to choose only the components you need for your application. This makes it easy to create a custom solution tailored to the specific requirements of your social media application, without unnecessary overhead. Security: Security is a critical aspect of any web application, especially for social media applications that handle sensitive user data. ASP.NET Core includes built-in security features, such as cross-site scripting (XSS) and cross-site request forgery (CSRF) protection, data validation, and authentication/authorization mechanisms, making it a secure choice for building social media applications. Modern Web Development Features: ASP.NET Core includes modern web development features, such as support for MVC (Model-View-Controller) pattern, Web API for building RESTful services, and support for client-side libraries and frameworks like Angular, React, and Vue. This allows you to leverage the latest web development technologies and practices to build a modern and interactive social media application. Large Community and Ecosystem: ASP.NET Core has a large and active community of developers, with extensive documentation, tutorials, and community support. It also has a rich ecosystem of third-party libraries and tools, making it easy to find solutions and resources to support your development process. Backed by Microsoft: ASP.NET Core is backed by Microsoft, a leading technology company with a long history of providing robust and reliable software development tools and frameworks. This provides a level of confidence in terms of support, stability, and longevity of the framework. Integration with Azure: ASP.NET Core integrates well with Microsoft's cloud computing platform, Azure, providing a seamless experience for deploying, hosting, and managing web applications in the cloud. This can be advantageous if you plan to deploy your social media application on the Azure cloud platform. Familiarity with C#: If you are already familiar with C#, a popular programming language from Microsoft, then using ASP.NET Core for your social media application can be a natural choice. ASP.NET Core allows you to leverage your existing C# skills and knowledge, making the development process more efficient and productive. Overall, ASP.NET Core offers a robust, scalable, and modern framework for building social media applications, backed by a large community and supported by Microsoft. It provides a wide range of features and benefits that make it a viable choice for developing a social media application with high performance, security, and flexibility.