Most Popular .NET Libraries Every Developer Should Know
Introduction
.Net is quite a popular name, especially in the technological realm. More and more industry verticals are striving hard to gain a competitive edge by choosing the most significant, prominent or amazing technology and .Net is one of those. Today when it comes to developing unique, robust and highly scalable web applications, .Net core is the top name to consider. So what is .Net core and what are the top .Net libraries every developer needs to know?
.Net core is one of the leading cross-platform frameworks that is supposed to run successfully on different platforms such as Windows, macOS and Linux. Microsoft seems to have indulged quite a lot into the .Net core and it is growing towards making a severe mark in the development of modern apps. In fact, rumours are stating that the .Net core might be replacing the .Net framework entirely.
Core aspects of the .Net core technology include:
Cross-platform framework for developing modern, cloud-based and internet-connected applications.
Application components can be well managed due to Built-in dependency injection and seamless promotion of loose coupling.
Middleware architecture for processing HTTP requests
Supports model-view-controller (MVC) pattern
Unified framework for developing real-time functionality
Built-in support for containerization with Docker, facilitating application deployment and scalability.
Integration with Azure services for cloud-native development and deployment
In addition to all these, .Net core is an open-source technology so any web developer can easily alter, examine and work on when it’s needed. The technology offers immense cross-platform and cloud-based application development support which facilitates smooth and quick application development like never before. Also, you no longer have to go through upgrades every single time a new version is released. Another crucial aspect of considering the technology is that high performance is quite an integral aspect and not just that here performance, flexibility, and accessibility come guaranteed. And above all, .Net technology comes with a wide range of libraries which can be used for a wide range of purposes. So without any further delay, let’s get started with the top .Net libraries to consider.
Top .Net Libraries to Consider
The first and foremost .Net library to consider is Automapper. Now as the name suggests this one is an object-object transforming the .Net core library. So what does auto mapper do? It configures automated object transformation from one type to another. The only rule is that the object is required to follow its pre-defined convention.
Here you will also find a code mapping mechanism which successfully assists in testing the mapping in each app layer for resolving inter-layer conflicts. All you have to do is configure the app start-up file and this is it, nothing can stop you from making the most of the Automapper library. What else? All the tasks which require manual implementation of mapping the class properties can be eliminated, which means quite a lot of effort is reduced saving the project’s budget and time.
The next .Net library every developer should learn about is SignalR. If you are looking for a library that offers real-time web integration for developing an amazing range of .Netcore apps. Here it is possible to add data from the server in the app. In addition to this, SignalR offers auto connection management, concurrent messages to all users and seamless flexibility for handling traffic irrespective of the fact they are low or high, an entire group of users can be notified via one message.
One of the most alluring aspects of SignalR is that it is available under an open-source license and is highly accessible. Technically speaking, if you want to effortlessly push the server code toward client systems then this is it, SignalR is the ultimate .Net library to consider. No wonder most organizations prefer creating high-performing softwares especially in regard to gaming or GPS-based applications.
All you need to do is include in the code by configuring the SignalR API, so what happens next is remote procedure calls for the server-client architecture. So here you are bound to receive the best of both worlds, a communication channel as well as resources for seamless and accurate transfer. Now you must be wondering what is the secret behind seamless SignalR real-time data flow.
WebSocket
Long Polling
Server-Sent Events.
The next interesting .Net library to consider is LiteDB. This one is a NoSQL in-memory database. So what is so amazing about this library well it assures speed and power. It may quite interest you to know that this .Net library has the potential to perform up to 100x faster than SQL databases.
This .Net library works wonders with SQL code so all you have to do is find a developer who is well-versed with the SQL language. And with the help of an in-memory database and LiteDB, nothing can stop you from developing a successful project.
LiteDB tends to offer unconditional support to Microsoft.NET core which means it can be seamlessly available on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows.
So LiteDB can only connect to SQL? What else, it features a high-performance client library such as Lightspeed. So it can also be used as an alternative option to Entity Framework Core as well as NancyFx. Also, here you get flexible data storage options so there is a huge scope for improvement and that too without much cost.
The next interesting .Net library is Dapper. This .Net technology has to be on the list since it might seem like a simple mapper but works wonders when it comes to supporting SQL servers, MySQL, SQLite, SqlCE, Firebird, and much more. Dapper is a high-performance micro-ORM that is highly considered for installing the NuGet package. Moreover, the .Net library successfully extends the IDbConnection interface functionality.
To make the most of Dapper, one must install the NuGet package and successfully extend the overall functionality of the IDbConnection interface. It may quite interest you to know that the stack overflow website makes use of the Dapper library.
Another open-source and cross-platform.Net core library is NLog. Now this is mainly considered for logging and comprises of some of the most robust features such as:
Extensible
Easy configuration
Template formation
Structured logging
This .Net library is highly considered for developing apps in Xamarin and is free, easy to build and grow. Here you are bound to find easy-to-use logging apps with efficient management features, and log routing. So if you require a high-performance logging system, then this is it.
The next interesting library to consider is FastReport. This one is a pretty useful reporting tool which is successfully developed with C#. FastReport works wonders with object-oriented programming and seamlessly gets along with different databases. FastReport is quite lightweight and easy to use.
The .Net library assists developers in developing applications, especially the ones which require reporting capability. Moreover, reports can be successfully generated by calling their methods or properties; no need for any coding while generating reports.
The fast report successfully generates all types of data because of its low memory footprint. Now even if so, there is no difference in the system performance especially when running on different production servers. Another advantage of using this library is the caching feature as the name implies all the previously available reports can be taken care of here especially those which have not been modified, as a result, this saves quite a lot of time from re-generating them again.
Another library is Unit conversion which is designed to handle all the relevant challenges of different measurement units in .Net core applications. The library can assist developers in effortlessly switching between different units resulting in data consistency and doesn’t matter in regards to what measurement is used.
With Unit Conversion, it is possible for developers to successfully skip all the complicated work of adapting their apps for a wide range of languages and regions.
This library displays all the relevant information to end users in a simple manner which is successfully understandable as well as recognized to ensure that everyone can communicate effectively with no issues or difficulties. The unit conversion library is pretty compatible with both .Net and dotnet core frameworks and has the potential to handle a wide range of conversions such as:
Converting time
Switching distance units
Changing mass units
Adapting area units
Altering volume units
This .Net library successfully records metrics in applications and works wonders on both .Net core and full .Net framework including .NET 4.5.2. What’s so amazing about App Metrics is it handles storing metrics data such as InfluxDB, Prometheus, Graphite, Elasticsearch and more.
It seamlessly collects as well as summarizes data in memory and is designed to push the data to the chosen storage place at specific times.
The following library comes with different types of metrics to measure a wide range of aspects such as Apdex, Gauges, Counters, Meters, Histograms, Timers and a lot more.
This one is an audio library which is made in C#. Now this one is new but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be considered among the top .NET libraries across the globe. Also, it may quite interest you to know that this C# library features lots and lots of amazing stuff such as playing and recording audio, converting different kinds of audio formats, adding effects, and more!
This library is open source as well as cross-platform and can operate seamlessly on every OS be it Windows, Linux and macOS. Also, another interesting aspect to consider here is extensible architecture. So in other words easy and quick customization is possible with the least amount of effort taken. Some of the most amazing features offered by this library include:
Generic equalizer
3D audio support
Audio quality adjusting
Custom processor creation
Audio encoding and decoding
Real-time audio data processing
Streaming source voice implementation, etc
The last one is NetOffice. Now this one is more like a toolbox of libraries. NetOffice results in seamless creation and automation of different Microsoft Office programs. With this library, one can seamlessly create apps such as PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Outlook, etc. Some of the most alluring features of NetOffice include:
Choose .Net framework 4.0 or newer
Develop without attachments to a specific version
Codes can be neater and leave all the complicated stuff for the library
Also, one no longer has to worry about complicated stuff or registering anything
Things are way easier with NetOffice
It’s all in one package.
Well, this is not it there are several other .Net libraries available such a s Swashbuckle, SaasKit, CacheManager, Polly, LiteDB and the list goes on. As mentioned, each one is of a kind, so you better choose on the basis of your needs and requirements.
Final Words
And we are done, for now, of course, this is not it, there are several other bunches of .Net libraries available across the world but the aforementioned ones are the best in very many ways which I am sure you have discovered by now. So I hope you found our well-compiled list of the most popular libraries for 2024 in the following article. We would also like to know your experience if you have tried using any of these libraries in your previous projects. In case you have any further doubts or queries, feel free to mention them in the comment section below, we will reach you in the least possible time.
So good luck with your upcoming. Net-based development project we hope you won’t be disappointed, all you have to do is hire a reputable and reliable development company featuring amazing knowledge and strong technical expertise at your service. Also, it would be great if they have developed highly robust, scalable and dynamic web applications for their valued clients.