Custom .NET Application Development: A Complete Guide

.NET remains the most popular back-end development technology with 25.29% of developers using it. Backed by Microsoft, this framework delivers unmatched performance, development flexibility, a stable codebase, and support from a rich ecosystem. Such factors make .NET an ideal solution for building various custom applications, especially enterprise platforms or software that involves complex and resource-intensive algorithms.

In this article, we will uncover the key factors driving the popularity of .NET software development. Here you will find a comprehensive overview of the framework’s peculiarities, its ecosystem, pros and cons, and ideal use cases for business. We will also share useful insights and provide tips to help you efficiently run a .NET software development project.

.NET is a free, open-source, cross-platform framework designed for building various types of applications. It offers a comprehensive ecosystem with tools that address a wide range of software development tasks and challenges.

Originally launched by Microsoft in 2002, .NET has continuously evolved and is now actively maintained as an open-source platform. You can see a complete timeline of the most important events in .NET’s evolution in the image below.

The most significant turning point in .NET’s evolution came in 2016 with the launch of .NET Core, an open-source, lightweight, cross-platform successor to the original framework. This release introduced many of the modern benefits that define .NET today. Since then, Microsoft has been releasing a major .NET update with new features and patches once a year, with .NET 9 being the latest version of the framework.

One of the key strengths of modern .NET is that it can be used with a significant number of languages with a varying level of support. The most commonly used ones are C#, F#, and Visual Basic. This allows developers with diverse language expertise to build applications efficiently within the .NET ecosystem.

.NET is more than just a regular framework for building a software back end. This technology goes with a vast ecosystem of Microsoft-backed tools and services that support full-stack, cross-platform, cloud development, etc.

These are some of the most important technologies within the .NET ecosystem:

• .NET Framework. The original .NET platform for building Windows applications for web, desktop, and mobile.
• .NET Core. This name refers to the earlier versions of .NET Core before it merged with .NET Framework to simply become “.NET.” Think of it as the foundation for the new, unified .NET.
• ASP.NET. A web application framework built on top of .NET Framework for creating dynamic web platforms.
• ASP.NET MVC. A specific framework within ASP.NET that implements the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern for building structured web applications.
• ASP.NET Core. The modern evolution of ASP.NET, built on the newer .NET platform. It is used for creating high-performance, cross-platform web applications.
• Blazor. A framework for building interactive web UI using C# instead of JavaScript. It can also be used to create single-page web applications (SPAs) and cross-platform apps.
• Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). A framework for building desktop applications with a strong focus on user interface design and animations.
• .NET MAUI (Multi-platform App UI). The successor to Xamarin, which was previously Microsoft’s primary technology for cross-platform development. .NET MAUI allows development teams to build native mobile apps for multiple platforms (iOS, Android, macOS, Windows) with a single codebase.

With its maturity and focus on excellent app performance, .NET is a powerful contender among other back-end development technologies, such as Java, Python/Django, Ruby on Rails, and Node.js. While .NET has several downsides, its advantages outweigh them. In the next chapter, we will provide more insights on .NET’s strengths and weaknesses.

To understand the reasons behind the framework’s popularity and assess whether this technology fits your business needs, it is important to consider both the pros and the cons of .NET. Let’s start with the main advantages of this technology.

Based on our experience from over 100 successfully delivered .NET projects, these are the most valuable advantages of the framework:

• Unmatched performance. .NET ensures efficient processing of high-load workflows in different apps, ranging from web platforms to desktop and mobile applications. This is thanks to features like just-in-time (JIT) and ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation, as well as runtime optimizations, which allow developers to build fast and resource-efficient software.
• Compatibility with other Microsoft technologies. Whether it goes about software powered by Azure services, apps that use SQL Server as a database, or solutions integrated into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, .NET offers native interoperability. This enhances software productivity and simplifies system integration.
• Flexibility and scalability. .NET supports a variety of programming languages and architectural patterns. This makes it adaptable for developers with diverse skill sets and suitable for various types of projects. Moreover, .NET’s modular architecture and efficient code customization features make it an ideal choice for solutions that require long-term scalability and adaptability to changing requirements.
• Support for convenient and rapid software development. With its rich ecosystem, .NET is a highly convenient framework for quickly building applications of varying complexity. Development teams can use various pre-built libraries and tools like Visual Studio and .NET CLI to automate and enhance the development process. Features like automatic memory management, strong typing, and built-in security mechanisms allow developers to build software products faster, and enhance their time to market.
• Reliability and stability. .NET is a trusted framework for building critical business applications. This is thanks to the framework’s mature ecosystem and a long history of updates and optimizations backed by Microsoft.
• Large and dynamic community. As an open-source ecosystem, .NET has over 100,000 contributions from developers from over 3,700 companies outside of Microsoft. These contributions, along with extensive documentation and active discussion forums, make it easier for new and experienced software engineers alike to find support and share solutions.
• Cross-platform development capabilities. Since the release of .NET Core, the framework has proven itself as an efficient solution for cross-platform development. With tools like .NET MAUI, Blazor, and WPF, .NET can be used for building consistent and high-performing applications for mobile, web, and desktop.
• Excellent compatibility with cloud technologies. .NET is widely applied for cloud application development. The framework is built with the cloud in mind, especially Microsoft Azure. The community presents solid lists of practices for building .NET applications on AWS or GCP. Finally, .NET is well-optimized for building a microservices architecture in the cloud and supports various cloud development patterns like serverless computing, containerization, DevOps integration, etc.

Just like any other technology, .NET is not perfect and has some minor downsides. However, all these cons can be mitigated with the right approach. Here is the list of the main .NET disadvantages and tips on mitigating them:

• Challenges with cost estimation. The .NET ecosystem encompasses a range of services and tools, but most of them don’t come for free. In many cases, the final price of .NET application development can exceed initial projections due to the need for additional tools and services that arise during the project. To avoid significant budget overruns, pay close attention to detailed project planning and estimation, leverage open source and community tools, and focus on optimizing the tool usage.
• Complexities of compiled programming. .NET operates with compiled programming languages, where the code is often less concise compared to scripted programming languages like Python. This results in reduced app maintainability and longer development terms. To mitigate this issue, apply the latest .NET versions, which continuously improve language features and compiler efficiency to reduce verbosity and enhance developer productivity. In some cases, the choice of a more flexible mapping framework (e.g., Dapper instead of Entity Framework) can also make a difference.
• Front-end development limitations. While .NET provides front-end development options such as ASP.NET Core MVC and Blazor, it may not be the most optimal choice for highly dynamic or interactive user interfaces. JavaScript-based frameworks like Angular, React, and Vue.js often offer greater flexibility, performance, and ecosystem maturity for front-end development. However, .NET can be effectively integrated with these frameworks, which allows developers to leverage the strengths of both platforms in a single application.

Microsoft’s engineers are aware of the framework’s downsides. That’s why they address these issues in new .NET releases. With annual updates, the framework consistently introduces performance enhancements and productivity improvements for more convenient and rapid software development. In the next chapter, we will explore the framework’s latest major upgrade.

A key factor in .NET’s enduring popularity is its continuous evolution. The latest release, .NET 9, was launched by Microsoft on November 12, 2024, further advancing the platform’s capabilities.

In particular, the release of .NET 9 brings several crucial innovations to the framework and its ecosystem. These are the main benefits coming with this major upgrade:

• AI integration enhancements. The framework offers new AI building blocks that simplify integration with AI models. Microsoft also optimized .NET’s support for OpenAI, through better SDKs, APIs, or Azure integrations, which ensures more seamless connectivity with generative AI. There are also new coding patterns for more efficient machine learning computations.
• Optimized cross-platform development capabilities. The release of .NET 9 enhanced software development with .NET MAUI. Specifically, it introduced performance improvements and new UI controls for mobile and .NET desktop development. In addition, it brought useful enhancements to Blazor for more convenient hybrid and web software development.
• Performance upgrades. With Microsoft’s strong focus on .NET’s performance, the new framework release offers several major performance enhancements. For example, .NET 9 introduces dynamic memory optimization as a default feature for improved resource management. It also offers new code patterns to increase data handling efficiency for better software productivity.
• Updates for development convenience. With a new release, .NET software developers get new workload sets for optimized coding automation. Additionally, Microsoft has released improved logging and debugging tools for faster and more stable builds.
• Enhanced security. .NET 9 offers improved cryptographic tools and automated NuGet security audits to help businesses safeguard their solutions from security vulnerabilities.

Now that you’re familiar with the improvements in the latest .NET release, let’s explore the scenarios where .NET truly excels.

Thanks to its flexibility and a vast ecosystem, .NET is applied in a great range of projects of different sizes and complexities. However, there are certain use cases where .NET proves to be the ultimate back-end development solution.

Many of the world’s leading companies from different domains, such as GoDaddy, JPMorgan Chase, Intel, and Samsung use .NET to power their enterprise applications. The point is in the framework’s strong capabilities for processing significant loads of data and running multiple workflows simultaneously while maintaining stable software performance. In addition, NET is an efficient framework for building microservices architecture, which makes it a great choice for developing multi-tenant software oriented on different user categories.

.NET’s strong focus on performance extends to cross-platform software development with .NET MAUI. With its robust computational capabilities, .NET MAUI is a strong choice for building cross-platform apps that require resource-intensive features. Moreover, by using .NET MAUI in combination with Blazor, development teams can efficiently develop app front end and back end with a single language – C#.

Thanks to its high performance and support for compiled languages like C#, .NET is well-suited for applications that require heavy data processing and advanced calculations. It is frequently used for building unique features based on complex mathematical algorithms, especially in domains like engineering, construction, scientific research, and healthcare.

.NET is the natural choice for applications that need to integrate tightly with Microsoft products such as Office 365, SharePoint, Dynamics, or Windows-based infrastructure. This allows you to build a consistent and high-performing ecosystem of services that receive continuous support from Microsoft. All services integrate seamlessly and update simultaneously, which improves the such system’s maintainability.

For apps that use Azure AI services, like computer vision, language understanding, or cognitive search, .NET offers native SDKs and prebuilt connectors. .NET software developers can build AI-powered features and ML algorithms directly into applications. This ensures fast and cost-efficient development of AI-powered solutions with pre-built algorithms and AI building blocks provided by Azure.

While .NET excels at back-end development, it is most powerful when combined with other technologies for building front-end, cloud, mobile, and other application layers. Here we outline the best frameworks and tools that can complement .NET in custom software development projects. All the technologies are organized based on their purpose.

.NET seamlessly integrates with JavaScript-based front-end development frameworks. From our experience, one of the most efficient options is using Angular. It integrates smoothly with .NET via RESTful APIs, to ensure a convenient and well-structured development process. Both the Angular command-line interface (CLI) and its templates for single-page application development are fully compatible with .NET.

With its strong integration and focus on building highly dynamic user interfaces, Angular proves to be an ideal JS front-end framework for .NET-based projects. However, .NET can also be efficiently combined with other JavaScript frameworks, like React.js, Vue.js, Next.js, etc.

Another option notable for its growing popularity is Blazor, a Microsoft-backed UI platform that has witnessed an 184% increase in usage between November 2023 and December 2024.

As a part of .NET’s ecosystem, Blazor allows developers to unify front-end and back-end development under a single language — C#. Blazor integrates natively with the .NET ecosystem and offers seamless compatibility with Azure services, which makes it an efficient solution for .NET development.

Meanwhile, as a less mature technology, it might offer less community support and functional diversity compared to JavaScript frameworks. Fortunately, Blazor offers excellent interoperability with JS-based technologies. For instance, Blazor developers can reuse existing JavaScript libraries while gradually transitioning to a C#-based front-end architecture.

When it comes to building cloud-based apps with .NET, Microsoft Azure can be the ultimate solution due to their seamless compatibility. Developers can easily build, deploy, and scale applications in the Azure cloud using familiar tools like Visual Studio.

In addition, Azure provides optimized hosting, security, and performance for .NET apps. Finally, Microsoft’s cloud platform offers a variety of tools and services that can be used to cover different development needs. For example, Azure Functions can aid in developing .NET-based serverless applications, while Azure SQL Database may serve as an optimum database service for .NET software.

It is worth noting that .NET can efficiently work with other popular cloud platforms, such as AWS and Google Cloud. However, Microsoft Azure remains the preferred platform due to deeper integration.

.NET also works efficiently with cross-platform development frameworks, which allows using it in mobile software development. We suggest applying .NET MAUI, a cross-platform UI development framework from .NET’s ecosystem.

As a successor of Xamarin, it covers development for iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS, allowing software engineers to access native UI components of different operating systems and ensure a native-like user experience. .NET MAUI works well in combination with Blazor, ensuring excellent code reusability. This is especially important for projects where development speed is crucial.

Flutter can also be used alongside .NET in development projects. Although it doesn’t integrate with .NET as seamlessly as .NET MAUI, Flutter’s rich ecosystem of platform channels and custom plugins still makes it a compelling choice for building rich mobile interfaces in .NET-based apps.

Most .NET development projects involve either Entity Framework (EF) or Dapper as mapping frameworks that ensure efficient and reliable data access. These tools streamline how applications interact with databases. .NET software developers apply them to speed up coding and ensure error-free application performance.

In brief, we suggest using Entity Framework in projects that prioritize software maintainability and code transparency. As a more lightweight mapping framework, Dapper will be a better fit for projects where performance and development simplicity are vital.

In some .NET development projects, you may need containerization. This approach allows breaking applications into smaller, independent services that are simpler to maintain and scale.

We suggest using Docker for packaging .NET apps into containers because it is one of the most efficient and functionally advanced containerization platforms. Docker enhances the development of a microservices architecture and helps software engineers build consistent and isolated environments (e.g., production, testing, etc.). From the business perspective, this means greater flexibility and scalability, as well as the ability to enhance the app’s time to market.

Choosing the right tech stack for building a .NET-based product is vital, but there are other efficient practices that enhance .NET software development. We will discuss them in the next chapter.

At Leobit we use certain practices and shortcuts that help a software development team build a .NET-based product in shorter terms without compromising the final product’s quality. Let’s explore some useful tips relevant to most .NET app development projects.

.NET offers a wide range of tools for structuring code effectively. For example, developers can distribute application logic across various classes grouped in namespaces and build complex inheritance structures. It is vital to focus on clear architecture and core transparency to create reliable systems that can be easily customized.

To write clean and maintainable code, we at Leobit apply SOLID principles, a set of rules and standards for coding that help development teams write code more efficiently. This not only helps software engineers improve code quality but also accelerates development, allowing you to release the application in shorter terms.

.NET offers a rich set of built-in features that help software engineers automate application development. These include tools for authentication, authorization, routing, caching, dependency injection, logging, configuration management, file handling, and support for globalization and localization.

While some pre-built features may need project-specific setup, using them is still much simpler than building such functionality from scratch. Ultimately, .NET’s out-of-the-box capabilities help a development team save time and effort, accelerating a product’s time to market.

NuGet is the official package manager for .NET. It allows developers to discover and integrate pre-built libraries and frameworks into their projects. .NET software developers can use such libraries to enhance coding. For example, Serilog helps engineers build efficient logging mechanisms, and Swagger provides features for managing API connectivity.

Each annual .NET release introduces new syntax features that improve code quality and enhance the framework’s functionality. By using new coding methods, software building blocks, and performance-oriented features like dynamic garbage collection adaptation, developers can deliver more efficient code. With the latest version of .NET, your team can improve app performance, reliability, and speed up development.

An IDE is a software application that can enhance development with a rich set of tools for code editing, debugging, and build automation. All such features are available in Visual Studio and Rider, the most efficient IDEs for .NET development. Their use allows development teams to write cleaner code more quickly and deliver reliable, high-performing software within an efficient time to market.

According to Gartner, IT executives identify the talent shortage as the most significant obstacle to adopting innovative technologies. In this context, developers’ skills and experience are vital for overcoming typical .NET development challenges and building a highly efficient software solution in a reasonable time. That is why one of the first and most important parts of a project is setting up a .NET product development team.

Typically, a team for a .NET-based project consists of .NET software developers, front-end developers, QA specialists, a solutions architect, DevOps engineers, UI/UX designers, a business analyst, and a project manager. If you need to build a mobile version of an app, your team will also include native or cross-platform mobile developers.

Let’s explore these roles in more detail:

• .NET developers. These are the fundamental members of the development team. They are responsible for building the app’s back end with the .NET tech stack. Depending on the complexity of your project and its particular tasks, you may need software engineers of different seniority levels. The table below illustrates seniority levels relevant to .NET developers, along with their key skills and responsibilities.

• Front-end developers. To build an interactive and convenient app UI and other components of its user-facing side, you need front-end developers in your team. We suggest relying on developers skilled in JavaScript technologies, such as Angular, or Blazor specialists.
• Mobile developers. If you want your app to run on mobile devices, you rely on native or cross-platform mobile developers, depending on your needs. If you want to build a native Android application, engage specialists skilled in Kotlin. For iOS apps, rely on Swift developers. Meanwhile, if you need a .NET-based application that runs across different platforms, involve specialists skilled in .NET MAUI or Flutter.
• Solutions architect. It is an essential member of a team, especially during mid to large-size projects. A solutions architect is a specialist responsible for transforming the project’s business logic into a clear vision of software architecture, system design, and development roadmap. This position requires strong technical expertise and skill because a solutions architect is responsible for project-critical decisions, such as choosing the architectural approach, tech stack, integrations with third-party services, etc.
• QA specialists. Software testing specialists prevent and fix bugs and ensure the solution runs smoothly. By applying manual, automated, and combined testing approaches, they help you avoid costly errors and application failures.
• DevOps engineers. If you want to streamline the software delivery process through automation of coding, testing, deployment, and maintenance, you will need DevOps engineers in your team. These specialists set up CI/CD pipelines, manage containers, and apply other DevOps practices to ensure stable performance and continuous optimization for your software.
• UI/UX designers. To ensure that your .NET-based app is intuitive and user-friendly, make sure to include UI/UX designers in your team. These specialists research user needs, create wireframes and prototypes, and collaborate with developers to bring designs to life.
• Business analyst. Some projects require in-depth analysis of requirements and business needs, typically addressed during the discovery phase. That’s when you need a business analyst responsible for reviewing functional and non-functional requirements, prioritizing features, supporting scope management, and aligning the solution with business goals.
• Project manager. It is a specialist who oversees task distribution, team coordination, and progress tracking, often using tools like Jira or Trello. Typically, a project manager acts as a communication link between you and the team, ensuring timely delivery and alignment with project goals.

Another important decision you should make while setting up a .NET product development team is to choose the most fitting engagement model. This choice depends on factors like budget, project timeline, scalability, required expertise, legal considerations, and team location. The most common options include building an in-house team, hiring a dedicated team from a vendor, or adopting a hybrid model through team extension.

While working with an in-house team, you directly employ specialists for your project. Such a team typically works in your premises (although such model may also imply remote work) and under your direct supervision. The pros and the cons of such an approach are outlined in the image below.

In the dedicated development team model, you partner with a .NET development outsourcing company that provides a team composed according to your goals and requirements. This approach gives you access to extra expertise and allows you to delegate the entire project to specialists who handle it from start to finish. Check out the table below for the advantages and disadvantages of the dedicated team model.

In a hybrid approach, you extend a .NET product development team with outsourced specialists. In this case, you may hire specialists for scaling your project faster or to cover particular gaps in technical expertise. The upsides and downsides of this approach are outlined in the table below.

You can get more useful insights on choosing the engagement model that fits you most in our recent article, where we compare in-house and dedicated software development teams.

The process of setting up a .NET product development team can be roughly divided into three phases:

• Phase 1 involves setting the foundation for both your team and the overall project. At this stage, you define project goals, scope, budget, timeline, and engagement model. If you consider outsourcing .NET development, you need to select a reliable .NET vendor. Consider factors like expertise, certifications, customer reviews, and a partnership with Microsoft.
• Phase 2 is when you onboard the team and establish processes. It involves assigning roles, preparing legal and work-related documentation (e.g., statement of work, non-disclosure agreements, etc.), selecting a project methodology, setting up communication channels, and planning risk management practices.
• Phase 3 is centered around continuous collaboration and is most relevant for ongoing projects. Maintaining clear communication and providing regular, constructive feedback are essential to sustaining team performance throughout the development lifecycle.

An experienced software development partner like Leobit will help you set up a development team that ideally fits your .NET-based project in short terms.

With our strong expertise in the Microsoft tech stack, Leobit holds the status as one of the leading .NET development outsourcing companies in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and worldwide, according to Clutch. We have been partnering with Microsoft since 2018 and are proud to be recognized as a Microsoft Solutions Partner for Digital App and Innovation. With over 10 years in .NET software development and a team including 78 Microsoft-certified engineers, we are also featured on the Clutch .NET Leaders Matrix.

Our developers are proficient in a broad stack of technologies that ideally match .NET-based projects, including Blazor, .NET MAUI, Xamarin, Azure, and Angular. We rely on our strong technical expertise to provide our customers with tailored solutions.

Here are some examples of our .NET-powered software development projects.

A Germany-based insurtech startup that specializes in selling insurance products contacted us with a request to build an AI-supported car warranty solution. Our team used the combination of .NET and React.js to build an Azure-based platform that leverages machine learning scripts to automatically calculate the price of vehicle insurance.

The platform provides comprehensive functionality for streamlining the customer’s sales funnel and claim management workflows. It stands out with a convenient UI/UX design, stable performance that relies on .NET, and an efficient integration with AI/ML services from the Azure stack.

A significant US-based company that specializes in real estate investment reached out to us with a request to build a comprehensive proptech platform for investors. We used .NET to build a cloud-based marketplace for buying and selling equity ownership interests in the commercial real estate industry.

Within a year, the platform facilitated over $1.4 billion in real estate purchases. It also delivered over 2,000 investment property wealth management plans to the esteemed clients. Therefore, a high-performing web solution with diverse functionality and excellent performance, powered by .NET, managed to surpass our customers’ initial projections.

Those are just some examples of our successful projects involving .NET. You can explore more.NET-based solutions developed by Leobit in our portfolio.

As one of the world’s leading back-end technologies, .NET offers businesses a great range of benefits. Known for its long history of continuous evolution and a vast ecosystem, .NET offers development teams a solid list of benefits.

Among them:

• Unmatched performance
• Compatibility with other Microsoft technologies
• Flexibility and scalability
• Support for convenient and rapid software development
• Reliability and stability
• Large and dynamic community
• Cross-platform development capabilities
• Excellent compatibility with cloud technologies.

While .NET has some downsides, such as challenges with cost estimation, complexities of compiled programming, and front-end development limitations, all such issues can be mitigated with certain best practices. In addition, Microsoft enhances .NET’s capabilities with each new release. The framework fits diverse use cases, such as building high-load and enterprise applications, high-performing cross-platform solutions, apps with unique and resource-intensive algorithms, software designed to work within a Microsoft ecosystem, and platforms that integrate with Azure AI services.

To fully leverage the benefits of .NET application development, it is essential to make wise choices on the tech stack that complements the framework in your projects. We also suggest following certain practices, such as paying attention to code transparency, using built-in .NET features, applying NuGet packages, relying on the functionality from the latest .NET versions, and fully leveraging the capabilities of the IDE.

Arguably, the most important step is setting up a strong .NET development team. You can rely on an experienced provider of .NET software development services to cover the entire software development life cycle. Leobit, a leading .NET development company with strong experience from successful projects and multiple designations, is ready to help.

Contact us to discuss your needs, and we will help you leverage the power of custom software development with .NET.