ASP.NET Core, the cross-platform and open-source successor to classic ASP.NET, offers several benefits over its predecessor. Here are some key advantages of ASP.NET Core:
1. Cross-platform compatibility: ASP.NET Core is designed to run on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. This allows developers to build and deploy applications on their preferred operating system, providing flexibility and reducing dependency on a specific platform.
2. Performance and scalability: ASP.NET Core is optimized for high performance and scalability. It introduces a new lightweight and modular framework, enabling faster request processing and reduced memory footprint. The modular design also allows developers to include only the required components, resulting in leaner and more efficient applications.
3. Improved performance with Kestrel: ASP.NET Core leverages Kestrel, a fast and lightweight web server, as its default web server. Kestrel is built on a cross-platform, asynchronous I/O model, which enhances performance and enables better handling of concurrent requests.
4. Middleware pipeline: ASP.NET Core introduces a new middleware pipeline, which provides a unified way to handle HTTP requests and responses. This pipeline allows developers to easily add, remove, or customize middleware components to handle various aspects of request processing, such as authentication, routing, logging, and caching.
5. Dependency injection: ASP.NET Core has built-in support for dependency injection (DI). DI simplifies the management of object dependencies and promotes modular and testable code. It enables loose coupling, improves code maintainability, and facilitates unit testing and mocking of dependencies.
6. Enhanced flexibility and modularity: ASP.NET Core offers a more flexible and modular architecture compared to classic ASP.NET. It allows developers to mix and match different components, libraries, and frameworks, promoting a more granular and tailored approach to application development. This flexibility also extends to the choice of front-end frameworks, enabling seamless integration with popular JavaScript frameworks like Angular, React, and Vue.js.
7. Cloud-ready and containerization support: ASP.NET Core is well-suited for cloud environments and containerization. Its lightweight nature, improved performance, and cross-platform compatibility make it an excellent choice for building microservices and deploying applications to cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
8. Open-source and community-driven: ASP.NET Core is fully open-source, with an active and growing community. This means that developers can contribute to its development, access a wide range of community-driven libraries and extensions, and benefit from continuous improvements and updates.
While classic ASP.NET still has its place and is widely used, ASP.NET Core offers a modern and more versatile framework with enhanced performance, cross-platform compatibility, and flexibility, making it an attractive choice for building web applications in today's technology landscape.
Though it’s a better choice in almost all the aspects,
you don’t have to switch to ASP.NET Core if you are maintaining a legacy
ASP.NET application that you are happy with and that is no longer
actively developed.
ASP.NET MVC is a better choice if you:
- Don’t need cross-platform support for your Web app.
- Need a stable environment to work in.
- Have nearer release schedules.
- Are already working on an existing app and extending its functionality.
- Already have an existing team with ASP.NET expertise.