If you are a beginner in the world, there may be confusion about ".Net", ".Net Core", ".Net Framework", and ".Net Standard". Let's take a look at the three major types of the .Net frameworks.
1) .Net Framework:
Microsoft released the beta version of .Net framework 1.0 in early 2000. Currently, .Net framework 4.8.1 is the latest version available.
It strictly runs in Windows environments only. Windows forms, ASP.Net, ASP.Net MVC, and WPF are the most popular features of the .Net framework.
2) .Net Core (.Net)
.Net core was released by Microsoft in June 2016. It is a rewritten version of earlier .Net frameworks however its specialty is that it can run in cross-platform environments such as Windows, Linux, and Mac. It is also an open source project.
It was called ".Net Core" until version 3.1 however, the 5th version is considered now as ".Net" instead of ".Net Core" the reason being there will not be further development of the original .Net Framework version 4.8.1.
Hence, the original .Net Framework and .Net Core become legacy and further versions will only be known as .Net
Microsoft recommends now upgrading these legacy frameworks to the latest .Net version.
Refer to this post for guidance related to upgrading the .Net framework:
https://dev.to/swapnilt/how-to-migrate-you-current-net-framework-to-latest-version-jf9
.Net 8.0 is the latest beta version currently available. ASP.Net core, Universal Windows Platform (UWP) are the popular features of it.
3) .Net Standard
.Net standard is a library framework. You can create non executable type library projects. Its speciality is that you can use these projects as packages or libraries with selective versions of .Net framework as well as .Net Core.
When you have both types of projects in production and would like to use common code in projects, you can use .Net Standard to address the issue specifically .Net Standard 2.0.
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