
.NET is a cross-platform development framework created by Microsoft. It supports building applications across desktop, web, mobile, gaming, IoT, and cloud platforms. This post outlines how .NET is structured, what you can build with it, and how to get started by writing a simple console app using C#.
.NET is an open-source platform that supports multiple programming languages, most commonly C#. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS and consists of the SDK for development and a runtime that handles app execution, memory management, and compilation.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
class Program
{
static List<string> todos = new List<string>();
static void Main()
{
while (true)
{
Console.Clear();
Console.WriteLine("📝 Your To-Do List:");
for (int i = 0; i < todos.Count; i++)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{i + 1}. {todos[i]}");
}
Console.WriteLine("\nAdd a task (or type 'exit'):");
var input = Console.ReadLine();
if (input.ToLower() == "exit") break;
if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(input)) todos.Add(input);
}
}
}
dotnet new console -n TodoApp
cd TodoApp
dotnet run
C# was developed by Microsoft for .NET. It is statically typed, supports modern features like async/await, and is designed to work across the .NET ecosystem. Most libraries and tools in .NET are tailored for C#.
This post covered the basics of the .NET ecosystem and walked through a minimal C# app. The console To-Do app shown here can be extended into web, GUI, or mobile forms using ASP.NET, WPF, or MAUI depending on the requirements.
– Mohammad