List of .NET Frameworks & Tools
List of .NET Frameworks & Tools
The .NET ecosystem includes various frameworks, libraries, and tools to build web applications, desktop apps, cloud services, APIs, and more. Here's a categorized list of essential .NET frameworks and tools:
1. .NET Frameworks & Runtimes
🔹 .NET (Core & 6/7/8) – Cross-platform, high-performance framework for modern applications
🔹 .NET Framework – Windows-only legacy framework (up to version 4.8)
🔹 ASP.NET Core – Modern web framework for building web APIs, MVC, and Razor Pages
🔹 Blazor – Web UI framework using C# and WebAssembly
🔹 Entity Framework Core (EF Core) – ORM (Object-Relational Mapper) for database interaction
🔹 WinForms (Windows Forms) – UI framework for Windows desktop applications
🔹 WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) – Advanced desktop UI framework with XAML
2. Web Development Frameworks
🔹 ASP.NET MVC – Model-View-Controller (MVC) web application framework
🔹 Razor Pages – Lightweight web framework for simple applications
🔹 Blazor WebAssembly – Runs C# in the browser using WebAssembly
🔹 Blazor Server – Runs UI logic on the server with real-time updates
🔹 SignalR – Real-time communication framework (WebSockets & long polling)
3. Microservices & Cloud Development
🔹 ASP.NET Web API – Framework for building RESTful APIs
🔹 gRPC for .NET – High-performance RPC framework for microservices
🔹 Dapr (Distributed Application Runtime) – Microservices runtime for .NET
🔹 Azure Functions – Serverless computing for .NET applications
🔹 MassTransit – Distributed messaging framework (supports RabbitMQ, Kafka, etc.)
🔹 Ocelot – API Gateway framework for .NET microservices
4. Databases & ORMs
🔹 Entity Framework (EF Core) – Popular ORM for .NET applications
🔹 Dapper – Lightweight, high-performance ORM for .NET
🔹 NHibernate – ORM framework for .NET (alternative to EF Core)
🔹 LINQ to SQL – Simplifies database queries using LINQ
5. Desktop & Mobile Development
🔹 WinForms (Windows Forms) – UI framework for Windows desktop apps
🔹 WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) – Advanced UI for Windows apps
🔹 MAUI (.NET Multi-platform App UI) – Cross-platform UI for mobile & desktop
🔹 Uno Platform – Cross-platform UI framework (similar to MAUI)
🔹 Avalonia UI – XAML-based UI framework for cross-platform apps
6. DevOps, CI/CD & Testing
🔹 Azure DevOps – Microsoft’s CI/CD and project management platform
🔹 GitHub Actions – CI/CD pipelines for .NET projects
🔹 NUnit – Unit testing framework for .NET applications
🔹 xUnit – Modern unit testing framework for .NET
🔹 MSTest – Microsoft’s built-in testing framework
🔹 SpecFlow – BDD (Behavior-Driven Development) for .NET
🔹 SonarQube – Code quality and security analysis
7. Logging & Monitoring
🔹 Serilog – Structured logging for .NET applications
🔹 NLog – Flexible logging framework for .NET
🔹 log4net – Classic logging framework for .NET
🔹 Application Insights (Azure Monitor) – Cloud-based monitoring for .NET apps
8. Security & Identity Management
🔹 IdentityServer – OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 framework for authentication
🔹 ASP.NET Core Identity – Authentication and user management framework
🔹 OWIN (Open Web Interface for .NET) – Middleware for authentication and security
🔹 JwtBearer Authentication – JSON Web Token (JWT) authentication in .NET
9. AI, ML, & Data Science
🔹 ML.NET – Machine learning framework for .NET
🔹 TensorFlow.NET – .NET wrapper for TensorFlow machine learning models
🔹 TorchSharp – .NET bindings for PyTorch deep learning framework
🔹 Accord.NET – Machine learning, statistics, and data processing library
10. Dependency Injection & Middleware
🔹 Autofac – Popular dependency injection (DI) container
🔹 SimpleInjector – Lightweight DI container for .NET
🔹 MediatR – CQRS and mediator pattern for .NET applications
11. API & GraphQL Frameworks
🔹 ASP.NET Web API – Framework for building RESTful APIs
🔹 GraphQL.NET – GraphQL framework for .NET applications
🔹 HotChocolate – Advanced GraphQL server for .NET
12. Serialization & Messaging
🔹 Newtonsoft.Json – Most widely used JSON serialization library
🔹 System.Text.Json – Built-in JSON serialization in .NET Core
🔹 protobuf-net – Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) serialization for .NET
🔹 MassTransit – Messaging framework for RabbitMQ, Kafka, Azure Service Bus
Which .NET Framework or Tool Should You Use?
✔ For Web Development: ASP.NET Core, Blazor, SignalR
✔ For Microservices: ASP.NET Web API, gRPC, Dapr, Ocelot
✔ For Desktop Apps: WPF, WinForms, .NET MAUI
✔ For Databases: EF Core, Dapper, LINQ to SQL
✔ For Logging & Monitoring: Serilog, NLog, Application Insights
✔ For DevOps & CI/CD: Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, SonarQube
Would you like recommendations based on a specific .NET project or career path? 🚀
