To answer the interview question about the differences between .NET Core, Portable Class Libraries (PCL), .NET Standard, .NET Compact Framework, Universal Windows Platform (UWP), and Portable Class Libraries (PCL), here is a detailed comparison:
.NET Core
Description: .NET Core is a free, open-source, cross-platform framework for building modern, cloud-based, and internet-connected applications. It supports Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Key Features: High performance, scalability, modularity, and side-by-side versioning.
Use Cases: Suitable for new projects, especially those requiring cross-platform capabilities, microservices, and high-performance applications[1][2][3].
Portable Class Libraries (PCL)
Description: PCLs are libraries that can be used across multiple .NET platforms by exposing only the APIs that are common to all the targeted platforms.
Key Features: Allows code sharing across different .NET platforms like .NET Framework, Silverlight, Windows Phone, and Xbox.
Use Cases: Useful for creating reusable libraries that need to run on multiple .NET platforms, though they have been largely superseded by .NET Standard[6][14][20].
.NET Standard
Description: .NET Standard is a formal specification of .NET APIs that are intended to be available on all .NET implementations. It aims to provide a uniform set of APIs across different .NET platforms.
Key Features: Ensures compatibility and code sharing across .NET Framework, .NET Core, Xamarin, and other .NET implementations.
Use Cases: Ideal for creating libraries that need to be used across different .NET platforms without modification[7][14][17].
.NET Compact Framework
Description: A version of the .NET Framework designed to run on resource-constrained devices such as PDAs, mobile phones, and embedded systems.
Key Features: Uses a subset of the .NET Framework class libraries and includes additional libraries specifically for mobile devices.
Use Cases: Suitable for developing applications for mobile and embedded devices running on platforms like Windows CE and Windows Mobile[12][13].
Universal Windows Platform (UWP)
Description: UWP is a platform for creating applications that run on Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices, including PCs, tablets, Xbox, and HoloLens.
Key Features: Provides a common API surface across all Windows devices, supports modern UI features, an...
