DOT NET Framework Evolution | .NET Versions History
Microsoft has begun the release of.NET Framework in November 2000 as its first beta version. Since then .NET has evolved as a very efficient programming platform, which simplified the developer programming efficiency unexpectedly.
The enhancements are ongoing and a newer framework version hits the market almost every year.
In this post I will try to give a brief explanation of the dot net versions released till now.
At the time of writing this article the latest .NET Framework versions released is dot net framework 4.6.2.
Version History Of .NET Framework
.NET is a software development framework from Microsoft which was mainly targeted to run on Microsoft Windows Operating system. DOT NET Framework is nothing but a set of tools and libraries that helps developers to develop secure software applications fast and easy manner.
.NET Versions
Even though the beta version was is November 2000 the official .Net framework version release was in the year 2002.
Various dot net versions and the respective features addition are listed below. So keep reading the brief version history of .NET Framework
Dotnet version 1.0
In the year 2002, the first official release of DOTNET framework version 1.0 was done. Dotnet Framework 1.0 contained the first version of the CLR and the first version of the base class libraries.
The core features of DOT NET Framework 1.0 are,
- CLR, Common Language run time 1.0.
- The new language, C# got introduced.
- An upgraded VB6 version for .NET, VB.NET was introduced
- ADO upgraded to ADO.NET
- Classic ASP (Active Server Pages)version 3 got upgraded to ASP.NET, which can directly use normal programming languages like C#,VB.NET etc for server side coding instead of scripting languages like VB Script.
- Introduced the WebServices
- Remoting, An alternate for Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) got introduced.
- Integrated Development Environment(IDE) Visual Studio 2001 introduced with excellent features to improve developer efficiency.Visual Studio is a common development platform for all dot net languages.
Dotnet Version 1.1
Microsoft released DOT NET Framework Version 1.1 in the year 2003..NET Framework version 1.1 extends the .NET Framework version 1.0 with new features and improvements in the existing features .You do not have to install the previous version of
You do not have to install the previous version of the .NET Framework or the CLR before you install the latest version. Each version comes with the necessary components.
The extended features of DOT NET Framework 1.1 are,
- Side-By-Side Execution (enables applications on a single computer to run against multiple versions of the CLR)
- ADO.NET Improvements ( Native Support for ODBC and Oracle Databases Communication, DataReader object exposes a HasRows property, EnlistDistributedTransaction method for connection object)
- Improved Web Services (Changes done to configuration, protocol, description, and discovery changes)
- Changes in .NET Framework Security (AllowPartiallyTrustedCallersAttribute,ASP.NET Security in Hosted Environments)
- IPv6(Internet Protocol Version 6) Support
- Improved Framework scalability and performance
- .NET Framework 1.1 incorporates the mobile controls and Visual Studio distributions also incorporate mobile controls.
- Along with V1.1 Microsoft released Visual Studio 2002 IDE with some improvements on its older Visual Studio 2001.
Dotnet Version 2.0
In the year 2005, Microsoft launched an improved dot net version, DOT NET Framework 2.0. With dotnet Framework 2.0 Microsoft introduced a new version of the CLR with additions to the base class libraries, including generics, generic collections, and significant additions to ASP.NET.
DOT NET Framework 2.0 Features and enhancements are,
- CLR 2.0 introduced with major change in old CLR 1.1
- C#.NET 2.0 with advanced features
- VB.NET 2.0 with advanced features
- Advanced ADO.NET 2.0
- ASP.NET 2.0
- ASP.NET AJAX(Asynchronous Javascript) got introduced
- Web Services Enhancements (WSE)
- Enhanced control on the behavior of the runtime with regards to multithreading, memory allocation, assembly loading with introduction of new APIs
- Full 64-bit support for both the x64 and the IA64 hardware platforms
- New personalization features for ASP.NET, such as support for themes, skins and web parts.
- .NET Micro Framework
- Along with Dot Net Framework Version 2.0, Microsoft released its IDE Visual Studio Version 2005 with many advanced features
Dotnet Version 3.0
DOT NET Framework version 3.0 released in the year 2006. Microsoft .NET Framework Version 3.0 is an extension of the .Net 2.0 Framework with the new revolutionary technologies Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Communications Foundation (WCF), Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), and Windows CardSpace.
DOT NET Framework 3.0 Features are,
- Common Language Runtime, CLR 2.0 retained same.
- No update in Programming Languages, ADO.NET and ASP.NET 2.0
- Introduced Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
- Introduced Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
- Introduced Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF)
- Introduced Windows Card Space
- Visual Studio 2005 IDE retained same , but service pack made available to incorporate the 4 additional components.
Dotnet Version 3.5
Since Visual Studio 2005 not integrated WCF, WPF, WWF and Windows Card Space within it directly, these 4 components didn’t receive the expected attention and market coverage.In the year 2008, Microsoft released DOT NET Framework 3.5 with these 4 components integrated within new Visual Studio IDE.
Besides, that added new features such as AJAX-enabled Web sites and LINQ. Also, the SP1 update added the .NET Framework Client Profile, Dynamic Data, and a small set of additional enhancements.
DOT NET Framework 3.5 Features and enhancements are,
- C# 3.5 with new features
- VB.NET 3.5 with advanced features
- ADO.NET 3.5
- ASP.NET 3.5 with new advanced features
- The new version of AJAX, ASP.NET AJAX 3.5 built-in support in Visual Studio.
- WCF 3.5 integrated within Visual studio
- WPF 3.5 integrated within Visual Studio
- WWF 3.5 integrated within Visual Studio
- The new concept of Language Integrated Query (LINQ) got introduced with .NET Framework 3.5
Dotnet version 4.0
Dot Net versions 4.0 Features below,
- Introduced CLR 4.0
- Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF)
- Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR)
- Task Parallel Library
- Visual Studio 2010 introduced
Dotnet version 4.5
Dot Net version 4.5 major features are,
- Features Enhancements to CLR 4.0
- Async Support
- Support for building Windows Store apps
- Features Enhancement to WPF, WCF, WF, and ASP.NET
- Advanced Visual Studio 2012
Dotnet version 4.5.1
The main Feature of dot net version 4.5.2 are,
- C# Version: 5.0
- Incorporated performance and debugging improvements
- Support for automatic binding redirection
- Extended support for Windows Phone Store apps
- Async Programming
- Caller Info Attributes
- Loop variable Closure
- Visual Studio 2013
Dotnet version 4.5.2
Major Feature of .NET version 4.5.2 are,
- Introduced RyuJIT, a new JIT compiler for 64-bit systems
- Introduced Open Source .Net Framework Packages
- Support for Code page encodings
- Improvements to event tracing
- Visual Studio 2015
Dotnet version 4.6
Major Feature of .NET version 4.6 are,
- C# Version: 6.0
- Compilation Using .NET Native
- ASP.NET Core 5
- Event Tracing Improvements
- Support for page endings
- Task-based API for Asynchronous Response Flushing
- Model binding supports Task-returning methods
- HTTP/2 Support
- Support for the Token Binding Protocol
- Randomized string hash algorithms
- 64-bit JIT Compiler for Managed code
- Assembly loader improvements
- SIMD-enabled types
- Enhancements to garbage collection (GC)
- Compatibility switches
- Task-based asynchronous pattern (TAP)
- HDPI improvements
- SSL Support
- Sending messages using different HTTP connections
Dotnet version 4.6.1
Major Features of .NET version 4.6.1 are,
- Support for X509 certificates containing ECDSA
- Always Encrypted support for hardware-protected keys in ADO.NET
- Spell checking improvements in WPF
- Native Image Generator (NGEN) PDBs
Dotnet version 4.6.2
The .NET Framework 4.6.2 includes new features in the following areas,
- Cryptography enhancements
- Including support for X509 certificates containing FIS 186-3 DSA
- Support for persisted-key symmetric encryption
- SignedXml support for SHA-2 hashing
- Increased clarity for inputs to ECDiffieHellman key derivation routines.
- Support for converting Windows Forms and WPF apps to UWP apps.
- ClickOnce support for the TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2 protocols.
- Using directives to import static members
- Exception Filter
- Indexed Members
- Element Initializers
- Await in catch and finally block
- Collection initializers
Summary
In this article, we summarized the features of all the released dot net versions. This would be helpful as a quick reference to have an idea of the evolution of .NET framework versions and the features included in different version net. Give your valuable feedback, question, or comments about this article in the comment section below.