.NET 2015 Offers an Open Source Development Stack

.NET 2015, a collection of releases that comprises the next version of .NET Framework technologies, is available as a set of previews that will probably become generally available in late 2015. The updates to Microsoft’s managed code development stack bring a new offering called .NET Core, which is a subset of the .NET Framework. Microsoft is publishing .NET Core as open source software and porting it to Linux and Mac OS X, which could make .NET attractive to a wider development audience and sustain its longevity. However, Microsoft has not committed to publishing all of the .NET Framework as open source software.

.NET Core Subsets .NET Framework, Gets Linux Support

Microsoft released the first version of the .NET Framework in 2002 with the goal of providing a development platform that handles many of the routine tasks of application execution (such as memory management and error handling) automatically, reducing developer burden and improving application stability and security. This “managed” code environment delivered base class libraries (APIs giving access to basic programming elements such as variable types and OS functions) and a Common Language Runtime (CLR) supported on Windows OSs. Subsequent versions of the .NET Framework added new APIs and application frameworks addressing areas such as user interfaces, data access, Web development, application communication, and workflows.