What are some characteristics of .NET Core?

.NET Core is a modern, open-source, cross-platform framework developed by Microsoft for building a wide range of applications. Here are some key characteristics of .NET Core:

1. Open Source

.NET Core is an open-source framework, which means its source code is available for anyone to view, modify, and contribute to. It is maintained by Microsoft and the .NET community on GitHub under the MIT and Apache 2 licenses[7][14].

2. Cross-Platform

.NET Core is designed to be cross-platform, allowing applications to run on Windows, Linux, and macOS. This makes it highly versatile and suitable for diverse development environments[1][3][7].

3. High Performance

.NET Core is optimized for performance, making it suitable for high-performance applications. It includes features like Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation, Ahead-Of-Time (AOT) compilation, and a high-performance runtime[7][13][20].

4. Modular and Lightweight

.NET Core is modular, meaning it is composed of smaller, feature-specific packages that can be included as needed. This modularity helps in creating lightweight applications by including only the necessary components, which improves performance and reduces the memory footprint[7][14].

5. Flexible Deployment

.NET Core offers flexible deployment options. Applications can be deployed as self-contained, where the .NET Core runtime is bundled with the application, or framework-dependent, where the application relies on a system-wide installation of .NET Core[7][13].

6. Command-Line Tools

.NET Core includes a set of command-line tools that facilitate development, build, and deployment processes. These tools support various development workflows and continuous integration setups[7][13].

7. Compatibility

.NET Core is compatible with .NET Framework, Xamarin, and Mono through the .NET Standard Library, which defines a set of APIs that all .NET implementations must support. This ensures code reusability across different .NET platforms[7][14].

8. Support for Modern Development Practices

.NET Core supports modern development practices such as asynchronous programming with async and await, dependency injection, and microservices architecture. It also integrates well with containerization tec...