Linked by Eugenia Loli-Queru on Wed 20th Feb 2002 18:45 UTC
A lot of people have trouble understanding what .NET really is and what its goals are. Mostly because Microsoft has done a good job of confusing everybody using terms that are not self-explanatory or with terms that mean more that one thing. This editorial will present my thoughts on .NET, what it really is, what its motivations and goals are, and why it is the next "big thing." Should we embrace it or fear it? Both, I daresay.
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I've been looking at .NET for quite soon time now and, although I haven't started any serious projects with it, I am firmly of the view that bits of it are a good thing - certainly from the point of view of a Windows developer mixing C, C++ and VB code.
For years I've looked on at Java and Borland VCL developers with envy because of the consistency, quality and richness of their class libraries. Unfortunately my company is very much a Microsoft shop and that has limited my choice of development environment and consequently has limited me to poor development libraries like the Win32 API (too big and too much legacy baggage - do I call function, functionEx or functionEx2?), MFC (just plain nasty, full stop) and ATL (now where did I leave my class factory?) From what I've seen of Windows Forms, admittedly only a small part of .NET but possibly one of the most important for existing Windows developers, developers using Microsoft tools have the same quality of class library as other developers have had for years. I'm not certain, yet, what to make of Web Services nor can I forsee an immediate need in my business. Then again, as a desktop applications developer, perhaps I ought to look at the rest of .NET very carefully and see what else I can get from this library.