The introduction of .NET 8 by Microsoft allows for cross-platform development on both Windows and Mac systems. The .NET framework, initially developed in the late 1990s, included languages such as C#, F#, and Visual Basic.NET. C# was officially released in 2000, with subsequent development and standardization through ISO and Ecma International for the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI).CLI provides a common infrastructure for all Microsoft-developed languages, ensuring consistent runtime behavior regardless of the technology used. Microsoft’s Common Language Runtime (CLR) and compilers are based on the CLI. C# offers simplifications to reduce development time, code size, and complexity. In 2002, Microsoft also introduced the ASP.NET framework for web development, replacing the original Active Server Pages (ASP).
.NET Core, introduced in 2014, allowed for cross-platform and web development on Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. The release of .NET 8 in November 2023 made it the current version, with .NET MAUI introduced in .NET 6 for building mobile apps and desktop apps using C#.
New features in .NET 8 include Microsoft’s Aspire, a cloud-ready framework and tools for multi-cloud development. Aspire supports Blazor for web app development and utilizes various web technologies and databases. Other improvements in .NET 8 include NuGet package support, JSON serialization, memory garbage collection, .NET on Linux, WPF and diagnostics enhancements, and more. Microsoft also released Visual Studio 17.8 for Windows to coincide with the .NET 8 release, alongside a new AI tool called Windows AI Studio.
Installing .NET 8 on Mac and Windows can be done by downloading the components from Microsoft’s website or GitHub page. Additionally, Homebrew can be used on macOS to install .NET using Homebrew .NET formulae. For Windows, a separate .NET Desktop Runtime needs to be downloaded and installed.
Overall, the release of .NET 8 and the promise of the Aspire project show potential for simplifying multicloud development. Resources such as dotnetconf.net and its YouTube channel offer tutorials and introductory videos for developers.
