by : Jeff Smith

.NET application development has simplified development and customisation of various enterprise level applications. Usually referred to as .NET framework, this product comes as a part of Microsoft's Windows Operating System. The .NET framework comes bundled with a lot of advantages, which makes it widely used tool for

• Easy deployment - .NET framework facilitates easy installation of the .NET application taking care that no performance issues arise due to any of the earlier installed software and that it fits in with the new requirements without any much hindrances.


• No language dependency - .NET application development in any .NET language is supported by each other's instances, as .NET framework is built on a Common Type System.


• Enhanced Security - .NET applications has a common security prototype for all the applications and effectively handles exposure to destructive software tools or utilities.


• Portability -.NET application development became popular as it made using the same application on different platforms easy. Thus it can be easily implemented with third party tools running on different platforms.


• Interoperability - .NET applications can work together with older versions of the application. .NET application development provides the feature of developing and executing programs out of .NET structure.


• Base Class Library & Common Runtime Engine - these are the two most important aspects in .NET application development. The engine favors runtime interpretation and compilation. The library consists of classes that collectively bring together many common functions required in .NET application development.

Though it may seem the .NET application development got simplified with the easy to use features of the .NET framework, there are some drawbacks that one must considered. The shortcomings will help in understanding the scalability of the .NET framework. A significant drawback is the over utilization of system resources. Also the lapse time in .NET applications is slightly greater than in the applications developed in other environments because of the garbage collection, which result in temporary suspension of memory. Other drawback is that .NET framework is not pre-installed in earlier versions of Windows, thus a fresh requirement may be required in some cases.

About The Author, Jeff Smith Jeff Smith is the managing director of Karma Technologies, a company that specialises in building quality websites, ecommerce sites, desktop applications and company Intranets. Jeff feels strongly about implementing ways to be green into their business practices, to a point they are almost a paper-free company. At Karma they feel strongly about green issues.