A Brief History of .NET

.NET started back in the early 2000s when Microsoft decided, “Hey, Java looks cool, let’s do that but… Microsoft-y.” The result? The .NET Framework, which was basically Windows-only, heavily object-oriented, and came with a massive runtime that scared off casual developers.

Then, in 2016, Microsoft had an epiphany: “What if we made .NET cross-platform and modern?” Enter .NET Core, the lighter, faster, and open-source sibling of the original .NET Framework.

Fast forward through the versions, and we got .NET 5, which merged the best of .NET Framework and .NET Core. Then came .NET 6, .NET 7, and now, in 2024, we have .NET 8—Microsoft’s most optimized, feature-packed, and downright exciting release yet.

What’s New in .NET 8.0?

Let’s break it down by some of the coolest features:

1. Performance Gains (Faster Than Ever!)

.NET 8 has seen massive improvements under the hood. The Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler is smarter, Ahead-Of-Time (AOT) compilation is more efficient, and garbage collection is faster. Translation? Your apps run like they’ve had six shots of espresso.

Example: AOT Compilation

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using System;

Console.WriteLine("Hello, .NET 8!");

You might be thinking, “That looks like regular old C#.” Well, with AOT, this can now be compiled into native code ahead of time, making startup times lightning-fast.

2. ASP.NET Core & Blazor Enhancements

Blazor just keeps getting better. With .NET 8, you can mix server-side and client-side Blazor components in a single app. Also, Blazor’s rendering speed is now ridiculously fast.

Example: New Blazor Rendering Model

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@page "/counter"
@inject IJSRuntime JS

<h3>Counter</h3>
<p>Current count: @count</p>
<button @onclick="IncrementCount">Click me</button>

@code {
    private int count = 0;
    
    private void IncrementCount()
    {
        count++;
        JS.InvokeVoidAsync("console.log", $"Counter: {count}");
    }
}

Now, Blazor components can be hybrid—meaning you get the best of both server and client rendering. This means smoother performance and better scalability.

3. C# 12 Features (More Sugar for Developers)

.NET 8 comes with C# 12, and there are some really cool quality-of-life improvements.

Example: Primary Constructors (Because Less Code = More Happiness)

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public class Person(string Name, int Age)
{
    public void PrintInfo() => Console.WriteLine($"{Name} is {Age} years old");
}

var p = new Person("Alice", 30);
p.PrintInfo();

Look at that! No more manually declaring properties. Everything is built-in and easy to read.

4. Native AOT for ASP.NET Core (Goodbye, Slow Bootups)

Native AOT (Ahead-Of-Time compilation) is now available for ASP.NET Core. This is huge because it means smaller binaries and super-fast startup times.

Example: ASP.NET Core Minimal API with AOT

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var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
var app = builder.Build();

app.MapGet("/", () => "Hello, AOT-powered world!");

app.Run();

Compile this with Native AOT, and it launches instantly. No more “waiting for the runtime to warm up.”

5. Enhanced Container Support

Microsoft is making .NET 8 even more container-friendly. The SDK now produces smaller container images, and there’s better support for setting memory limits.

Example: Running .NET 8 in a Container

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FROM mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0 AS runtime
WORKDIR /app
COPY . ./
ENTRYPOINT ["dotnet", "MyApp.dll"]

Smaller, faster, and more efficient. Just how we like it.

Key Ideas

References

• Official .NET 8 Release Notes
• C# 12 Features
• Blazor in .NET 8
• Native AOT