Navigating the .NETverse: From Assembler to Open Source Marvel with Scott Hunter
Nov 3, 2023
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Formerly known as The .NET Core Podcast, Scott Hunter talks about the dynamic world of .NET, open-source, and related technologies. They discuss the benefits of dev containers and the acceptance of community contributions in the .NET ecosystem. They also touch on dealing with negativity in the open-source community and the exciting features of .NET 8. The episode concludes with gratitude, future episode ideas, and a reminder to check show notes and leave reviews.
Open sourcing .NET has allowed for community contributions and led to significant performance improvements.
.NET 7 brings substantial performance enhancements with higher request rates and reduced CPU usage.
.NET's performance improvements have been accelerating, reaching over 1,000 enhancements in .NET 7.
Deep dives
The Benefits of Open Source for .NET
.NET's transition to open source was driven by the need for companies to have control over their applications and the ability to make modifications and fixes if needed. Open sourcing .NET also allowed for community contributions, resulting in performance improvements and bug fixes. This collaboration between Microsoft and the community has led to impressive results, with significant performance boosts in each subsequent version of .NET. The scalability of .NET, proven by running platforms like Microsoft Graph and Azure Active Directory, translates to cost savings and improved efficiency for users. Overall, open sourcing .NET has empowered developers and companies to harness the full potential of the platform.
Performance Boosts in .NET 7
The newest version of .NET, .NET 7, brings significant performance improvements compared to previous versions. Benchmarks and measurements show that .NET 7 has achieved higher request rates and reduced CPU usage for major workloads. For example, Microsoft Graph experienced a 37% decrease in CPU usage, leading to a considerable decrease in costs. These performance enhancements are supported by the continuous efforts of the .NET team to optimize and refine the framework's capabilities. The growing number of performance improvements in each subsequent version of .NET underscores the commitment to delivering a high-performance platform for developers.
Accelerating Performance Improvements in .NET
The performance improvements in .NET have been accelerating over the years. Notably, .NET 5 had over 250 performance improvements, growing to over 550 improvements in .NET 6, and now surpassing 1,000 improvements in .NET 7. These enhancements cover various aspects of the framework, including database operations, JSON processing, and communication protocols like gRPC. The continuous refinement of .NET's performance demonstrates the dedication to delivering a fast and efficient platform for developers. As a result, applications built on .NET can benefit from increased throughput, lower response times, and improved scalability.
Benefits of Dev Containers for Application Development
Dev containers provide a convenient way to develop applications for Azure by isolating dependencies within a container. This allows developers to easily set up development environments by simply pulling the project from GitHub and opening it in Visual Studio Code (VS Code). The container installs all the necessary dependencies, such as Ubuntu and Java, and developers can work on the project without impacting their local machine. Dev containers also offer flexibility in terms of using specific versions of tools or frameworks based on customer requirements. Overall, dev containers streamline the development process and provide a consistent and isolated environment for Azure application development.
The Advantages of Ahead-of-Time (AOT) Compilation in .NET 8
Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation is making significant strides in .NET 8, offering benefits such as faster startup times, smaller application sizes, and reduced working set memory usage. By compiling an application using AOT, a self-contained binary can be created that runs without any dependencies on the target machine. AOT compilation is particularly useful for scenarios where fast startup time and minimal working set are critical. The .NET team is continuously expanding AOT support and making libraries AOT-aware, which enables developers to choose between Just-in-Time (JIT) or AOT compilation based on their specific needs. With ongoing improvements in AOT and other performance characteristics, .NET is evolving to cater to a broader range of development requirements.
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Show Notes
Welcome to The Modern .NET Show! Formerly known as The .NET Core Podcast, we are the go-to podcast for all .NET developers worldwide and I am your host Jamie "GaProgMan" Taylor.
In this episode, I spoke with Scott Hunter about the dynamic world of .NET, open-source, and a bunch of the related technologies that Microsoft have released. Things like DevContainers:
"Yeah. So I would tell people that listen to this: please check out dev containers. I waited way too long to check them out. I knew they existed for a long time and just was too busy and never actually dug deep into it. And now that I have, it's a really cool feature" - Scott Hunter.
Along the way, we touch on the fact that .NET is not just open-source but actively accepts contributions from the wider development community - something unheard of in the .NET Framework days. As an example, .NET Seven had over 1,000 contributions from the developer community - not counting the changes that Microsoft's engineers made to it.
We also touch on some advice that Scott has for participating in open-source communities, along with some hints as to how Microsoft helps to lead the community around their open-source projects. There's some great advice here, from someone who works in enterprise-lead open-source everyday.
Music created by Mono Memory Music, licensed to RJJ Software for use in The Modern .NET Show
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