Getting Started with .NET Core 3.1 - Part Two

Introduction

 
In this article, I am going to explain to you what’s new in .Net Core 3.1 and its benefits, why we use .Net Core and how to set Visual Studio for developing .Net Core 3.1 console applications. The latest version of .Net Core is .Net Core 3.1 and it was released on December 3, 2019.
 
Read my previous .NET Core 3.1 parts of this article series using the below links before reading this article,
Definition
 
In simple words, .Net Core is a Cross-platform, high-performance, unified, fast, lightweight, open-source framework for building modern, mobile, web, windows applications and services.
 

What’s New in .NET Core 3.1?

 
.NET Core 3.1 version was released on December 3, 2019. The most important features are that .NET core 3.1 is a long-term supported (LTS) release and it will be supported for 3 years. Visual studio 2019 updated version 16.4 is required to develop .Net Core 3.1 console applications.
 
Features
  • It supports partial class for Razor components
  • It passes parameters to top-level components
  • It supports new component tag helper
  • It prevents default actions for events in Blazor application
  • It stops event propagation in Blazor application
  • Detailed errors during Blazor application development
  • It has support for shared queues in HttpSysServer
  • Breaking changes for SameSite cookies
Platform Support
 
.NET Core 3.1 is supported on the following operating systems,
  • Alpine: 3.10+
  • Debian: 9+
  • Ubuntu: 16.04+
  • Fedora: 29+
  • RHEL: 6+
  • openSUSE: 15+
  • SUSE Enterprise Linux (SLES): 12 SP2+
  • macOS: 10.13+
  • Windows Client: 7, 8.1, 10 (1607+)
  • Windows Server: 2012 R2+
Note
Windows Forms and WPF apps are only functional when supported on Windows.
 

Chip supports

  • x64 on Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • x86 on Windows
  • ARM32 on Windows and Linux
  • ARM64 on Linux (kernel 4.14+)
Note
Please ensure that .NET Core 3.1 ARM64 deployments use Linux kernel 4.14 version or later.
 

Windows Forms Controls Removed

 
Below Windows Forms controls have been removed from .NET Core 3.1,
  • DataGrid
  • ToolBar
  • ContextMenu
  • Menu
  • MainMenu
  • MenuItem
Prerequisites
  1. Install Visual Studio 2019 updated version 16.4
  2. Install .NET Core SDK 3.1
Note
Asp.Net Core and .Net Core Both are different, just like Asp.Net and .Net Framework.
 

Why Use .Net Core?

  • Cross-platform - It can run on Windows, Linux and Mac.
  • Unified - It offers a single unified component like .NET Standard library for all platforms with the same code, same languages and same tools.
  • Better performance - .Net core does not depend on system.web.dll for communication between Browser-server. In .Net core everything is packages which we need for our application. Packages reduce the request pipeline and improve the application performance.
  • Lightweight - It is a lightweight framework. It allows developers to deploy libraries and components that are needed in a set of packages.
  • Dependency Injection - Dependency Injection is in-built in .Net Core.
  • Hosting- .Net Core application can be hosted on multiple Web server such as IIS, Apache, Docker etc. It is not dependent on IIS.
  • Open Source - It is a fully open-source framework. That means, it is free of cost and its source code is available.
  • Testability - Unit testing is very easy in .Net core applications.
  • Side-by-side App Versioning-.Net Core runs on .NET Core, which supports simultaneously running in multiple versions of applications.

Setting up machine for .Net Core 3.1 development

 
We need to install 2 Softwares, for developing .Net core 3.1 applications.
  • An Editor/ Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
  • .NET Core 3.1 SDK (Software Development Kit)
Step 1 - Download and Install an editor for .NET Core 3.1 Development
 
I am using Visual Studio 2019 updated version 16.4 as the editor for .NET Core 3.1 application development. You can use any editor of your choice. 
  • Visual Studio
  • Visual Studio Code
  • Sublime
  • Vim
  • Atom
  • Etc.
Download and install Visual Studio
  • I am using Visual Studio 2019, so I need to install Visual Studio 2019 Community Edition because this is free.
  • You can download Visual Studio 2019 from this here.

    .NET Core 3.1

  • To develop .NET Core 3.1 applications in Visual Studio 2019, please select .NET Core cross-platform development workload when installing.

    .NET Core 3.1

Step 2 - Download and install .NET Core 3.1 SDK 
 
You can download .NET Core 3.1 SDK from this link,
  • Depending on your operating system you have, download and install the SDK.
  • The SDK includes everything you need to build and run .NET Core applications.
  • The .NET Core Runtime is already included in the SDK. So, there is no need to install .NET Core Runtime
  • The .NET Core Runtime includes just the resources required to run existing .NET Core applications.

Conclusion

 
In this article, we explained the basics of .NET Core 3.1 and how to set up the machine for developing the .NET Core 3.1 console applications.