Getting to know the .NET framework
Tags: beginners, opensource, career, dotnet
Published: 2022-04-29 11:30:22

In this article, you will get to know the .NET framework, why it is an investment-worthy of your time, and what you can build using this technology. 

## What is the .NET framework?
Before we dive deeper into this article, let us get to understand what a framework is. A framework is a collection of already written code that helps the programmer solve some complex tasks that are part of the software development process. For example, writing code to authenticate users is more tedious and time-consuming, so time being one of the crucial factors in the software development business, developers came up with a solution to this by introducing frameworks that come with all necessary features out of the box.
According to Microsoft, the founder and creator of the framework, .NET also pronounced as dot net is said to be a software development framework for building and running applications on windows. The framework is C# based meaning it was built using the C# programming language, and my advice to those willing to learn this popular framework would be, to learn some C# basics, this will help you to get familiar with the syntax the framework uses, since it is C# like.

## Why the .NET framework?
Probably by now, you might be asking yourself questions like why should I learn this framework for my career development and is it really worth my time, and who is still using it out there, maybe I might be just one of those geeks using obsolete technology.  All these questions are understandable and they all make sense; it has been the norm for everyone new to any technology to ask lots of these kinds of questions. So why should you learn the .NET framework? Listed below are some of the reasons why you should learn this popular framework as an addition to your stack.

1. It offers better in-built user interface(UI) controls and supports other UI controls such as Telerik which is drag and drop.
2. it takes security seriously, for example, it offers cryptography for securing data, and its environment is highly secure.
3. It can be easily integrated with other Microsoft applications e.g. MS office applications, and emails.
4. It uses the MVC (Model View Controller) architecture just like the other popular web development frameworks e.g. Django, Laravel, and Ruby on rails.
5. It helps you to quickly deploy your applications

Listed above are just some of the reasons you should learn the .NET framework, I have not exhausted everything.

## Still doubting the .NET framework?
Just like the other popular frameworks available, the .NET framework has been around for some time and because it is mature and feature-rich, famous and big companies are embracing it as their primary framework for building their business solutions. Listed below are some of the companies that use the .NET framework.
1. Microsoft (founder and creator)
2. Dell
3. Stack Overflow
4. Accenture
5. Trustpilot

## What you can build using the .NET framework
.NET being a versatile framework, a lot of businesses are relying on it when it comes to building their quality and reliable business solutions. Businesses that have embraced this technology are now using it for building.
1. Web-based applications
2. Web services
3. Form-based applications

## Conclusion
In this article, you have learned what a .NET framework is, why you should learn it and what you can build after adding it to your stack.