.NET Development in the Backend - What's the Best Option for the Front-End?
Are your digital initiatives burning a big hole in your pocket, or are you content with your Return on Investment (ROI)? It's a good opportunity to start using the .Net framework if you're still having trouble with your web applications.
Your operation costs will drop significantly because of .Net's advantages of object-oriented development and reusable codes. It is a distinctive paradigm that is built more on facts and actions than on logic. It reduces development time as a result (less logic, less headache).
With a controlled code-sharing environment and side-by-side versioning (running several versions of your application on the same system), it is safe and guarantees simple deployment.
![Backend developer](./assets/backend-developer.webp)
.NET development has been the go-to backend web development framework for many years. It's no surprise that the majority of Fortune 500 organizations use .NET for their software projects given its extensive toolkit, open-source availability, robust community, and vast ecosystem. Most important, is Microsoft's ongoing support. .NET is supreme when it pertains to backend web development.
How .NET Development Is Changing?
Practically all of the intelligence in web programs back in the early days of web development was on the server side. The client just displayed the HTML pages that the server sent it, while the server handled all of the application functionality. However, with the popularity of the Single Page Application (SPA) strategy, the emphasis has switched from the server performing all of the work to the client's browser performing the majority of it.
The most popular programming language for creating browser-based SPAs has long been JavaScript. But things are starting to shift. There is a surge of interest in C# as a web development language. This is reflected in the most recent version of ASP.NET Core, which utilizes the same C# code on all platforms. New front-end frameworks, like Microsoft's own Blazor, are emerging as a result of C#'s newfound prominence in web development.
To fully comprehend the popularity and usage of .NET, let's take a look at some of its top statistics:
- The majority of those employed in the .NET development sector are in the 30 to 40-year-old age bracket, which accounts for 42% of the sector's overall workforce.
- To work as a .NET developer, architect, or consultant, you must have a diploma and the necessary abilities. 77% of the engineers working in the .NET industry are graduates, 19% are post-graduates, and the rest have high school equivalency or associate degrees.
- The .NET framework, which tops lists of most preferred and used development frameworks by Fortune 500 businesses, powers 34.2% of all websites and web apps.
With that backdrop, let's focus on a few of the most popular front-end development frameworks available today.
Which are the best Front-end Framework Options?
Let us now discuss which are the best front-end frameworks that can be used with .Net. There, the narrative is rather different. Several front-end framework choices are competing for supremacy. Others are technologically promising and growing in popularity while some are already widely used. None has emerged as the choice that is unquestionably the greatest thus far.
It's crucial to pick the best front-end framework for your application. After all, people engage with your program through a front-end. Your application serves as the front end in their eyes. How can you choose the front-end framework that will best meet your needs when there are so many possibilities available?
Let's start by taking a look at some significant trends in front-end development to respond to that question.
1. MVC, Blazor, and Razor
MVC, Blazor, and Razor fall under the category of Native .NET Development for Front-end Solutions.
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MVC (Model-View-Controller)
One of the most popular frameworks (or design patterns) for producing user interfaces is MVC (Model-View-Controller). Its key benefit is that it simplifies development and maintenance by separating the user interface (UI) (the view) from the data (the model) and the application logic (the controller).
Complex application development becomes a lot more manageable process thanks to the MVC architecture pattern. It enables multiple developers to work on the program at once.
MVC is still widely regarded as an excellent server-side solution. However, because there may be numerous controllers and views interacting, it is challenging to maintain MVC decoupling on the client-side of SPA implementations. Because of this, several well-known developers believe component-based frameworks like Angular and React to be a better option and have deemed client-side MVC to be outdated.
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Blazor
Microsoft's newest front-end framework, Blazor, is giving the client-side .NET development approach a fresh life. It is a framework for .NET-based client-side (browser-based) applications that run in WebAssembly. It allows you to use .NET end-to-end and all the advantages of a robust, contemporary single-page application (SPA) platform, including code exchange between server and client.
The biggest selling feature of Blazor is that it runs in two distinct deployment modes, client-side WebAssembly, and server-side ASP.NET Core, without the need for any additional plugins or add-ons.
With the help of the free, open-source Blazor framework, programmers can construct their whole stack, including the UI, in .NET, even though it is compatible with JavaScript. The main drawback of this framework is that it is still extremely young and does not yet have a solid foundation.
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Razor
With the C# or VB.NET programming languages, dynamic web pages can be created using the ASP.NET programming syntax known as Razor. In June 2010, Razor began its development phase, and in January 2011, it was made available for Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.
While Razor components run on the server, Blazor (whose name is a combination of the words browser and razor) leverages Razor templates to construct components that run in the client's browser. With little transition between HTML and code, Razor aims to provide an optimized grammar for HTML production utilizing a code-focused templating technique.
The design eliminates the need for explicitly specified server blocks within the HTML code, which decreases the number of characters and keystrokes and makes it possible for a more fluid coding workflow.
2. jQuery, ReactJS, and BackboneJS
jQuery, ReactJS, and Backbone.js fall under the category of JavaScript Libraries.
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jQuery
jQuery has been an excellent option for quick development with a low learning curve. The goal of jQuery is to make using JavaScript on your website more simple. With the help of jQuery, you can perform many basic activities that would otherwise require numerous lines of JavaScript code by calling methods instead.
However, JavaScript now has a lot of the characteristics that once gave it its special usefulness. 94.6% of websites whose JavaScript library we are aware of utilize jQuery. This represents 77.8% of all the websites on the internet. Additionally, jQuery is so big and so slow that experts no longer regard it as the forefront of .NET development.
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ReactJS
The most well-known and rapidly expanding JavaScript framework is ReactJS. It's essentially a JavaScript visualization library that may be used in MVC implementations in place of Razor as the view. 4.1% of websites whose JavaScript library utilize React. React.js is a favorite among developers for building stable, dynamic, and scalable front-end interfaces.
Component-based design, which results in less code (because components may be reused on both the server and client sides), and better maintenance, are some of its most salient features. ReactJS offers a sizable community and eco-system, is quick, and is SEO-friendly. Importantly, Facebook supports it and updates it frequently. The documentation frequently falls behind as a result of those frequent updates, which is its main flaw.
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Backbone.js
In contrast to jQuery, Backbone.js is extremely quick and has a small footprint. But writing a lot more code will be necessary due to its simple design. Use it for making compact, straightforward apps.
By utilizing JavaScript features, Backbone.js makes it simpler to design front-ends and applications. For putting together client-side web applications, Backbone.js includes a variety of building components, including models, views, events, routers, and collections.
3. AngularJS and VueJS
Angular and VueJS fall under the category of JavaScript Frameworks. In terms of the more well-known statistics, Angular has 56,586 stars.
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Angular
Angular was one of the first major front-end frameworks. Its newer version Angular 2, is gradually rising in demand. Newer versions use components as opposed to their first iteration as AngularJS, which concentrated on MVC. Angular is a fantastic option for building massive, enterprise-scale SPA apps, especially those with dynamic content. It is a full-featured front-end framework. However, there is a steep learning curve because it is so extensive, and smaller development teams may find it daunting.
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VueJS
VueJS is one of the front-end frameworks that is thought to be the most beginner-friendly It is quick, has a small footprint, has a wide range of tools, and has comprehensive documentation. 1.2% of all websites use the JavaScript library and that are ranked in the top 1,000,000 use Vue.js.
Since Vue.js focuses mostly on the view layer, developers may easily include it in their existing applications. VueJS is a great option for creating single-page applications (SPAs). Vue needs to be gradually included in an ongoing project because it is a progressive framework.
Conclusion
The .NET framework gives programmers a mechanism to create robust, flexible, and lightweight software. The front-end will always determine how nice the app is or if it is usable, even though the back-end is the part that has to receive the most attention throughout design and development. You'll need a good .NET development company with the necessary knowledge and experience to use .Net with any front-end framework to its fullest potential.
The above-mentioned frameworks work best as the front-end framework with .NET Development at the back-end. You should do your research well and choose the one that best suits your requirement.