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Tarush Arora
Tarush Arora

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Essential .NET Core Libraries that Every Programmer should know

.NET Core applications have been in trend for a long time due to their platform-independent architecture and modern features.

With each passing day, stakeholders provide some new requirements, and to fulfill them; organizations have to revamp their apps. However, with .NET Core libraries, developers can extend the functionalities and add new features quickly.

There are various libraries that a .NET developer can utilize for different purposes.

By reading further, you will get to know what are some of the .NET Core libraries and how it benefits the dot net programmers during app development.

A Deep Dive into the Top .NET Core Libraries

AutoMapper

As the name suggests, AutoMapper is an object-object transforming the .NET Core library.

It helps developers configure automated object transformation from one type to another. The only rule is that both the objects must follow its defined convention.

Besides providing the code mapping mechanism, it also aids in testing the mapping in each app layer for resolving inter-layer conflicts. To leverage the AutoMapper library’s full benefit, you have to configure it in the app startup file.

As a result, you can eliminate the tasks for manual implementation of mapping the class properties and reduce the effort. It will save your project budget and time.

SignalR

If you want to add real-time functionalities to .NET Core applications, then SignalR must be your top library.

It is available under the open-source license and is freely accessible for effortlessly pushing server code toward the client systems. Most organizations prefer it for high-performing software, such as games, online voting, and GPS-based apps.

You can include it in your code by configuring the SignalR API, which creates remote procedure calls for the server-client architecture. In addition, it manages the communication channel and resources for seamlessly transferring data during high traffic.

Moreover, WebSocket, Long Polling, and Server-Sent Events are the three primary options for enabling SignalR real-time data flow.

SaaSKit

You must have been working with many SaaS applications, accessing them without installing them on your system.

Sanskrit is a popular .NET Core library, enabling engineers to craft SaaS applications with multi-tenancy capabilities. It allows various users to access the web application and utilize its services through a single instance.

You can use it for various purposes, such as:

  • Optimizing the resource utilization
  • You have to configure only a single instance in the production environment for easy deployment.

Furthermore, you can couple it with other libraries, such as SignalR, for extending SaaS software features. And with OWIN and Microsoft’s collaboration aids to generate OWIN Middle Components for streamlining the development process.

Swashbuckle

Swagger documents are an essential part of software projects, as it helps systems precisely define and read the app structure.

For producing the swagger documentation for .NET Core apps, Swashbuckle is an easy-to-implement technology. You can quickly learn it and use it for generating. NET-based Web API documentation.

Its overall functioning depends upon the three primary components, AspNetCore.SwaggerGen, AspNetCore.SwaggerUI and AspNetCore.Swagger. All three work in collaboration to provide JSON and XML-based files containing responses.

In addition, it synchronizes the server-client API documentation, leading dot net core programmers to improve API working. In addition, you can also use such documents for app reinforcement and migration purposes.

LiteDB

For linking a serverless database with the .NET Core app, LiteDB can ensure you a featherlight and high-performing NoSQL solution.

You can use it for various software, including mobile apps, desktop apps, and web apps. Moreover, it provides built-in modules for assigning an individual database to every user.

It comes in a DLL file, which consumes less than 450kb of memory and is compatible with .NET version 4.5. It offers the following features:

  • You can enable writer locks for each collection.
  • It allows cross-collection data communication, assuring thread security.
  • You can execute data insert, update and delete instructions using the SQL-based commands.
  • It provides a built-in Explain Plan mechanism for verifying whether the query will be reliable for an app or not.

Dapper

Dapper is another .NET Core mapping library focusing on the mapping between the programming language and database.

It is the second most popular ORM library, assuring high performance, speed, and impeccable configuration. You can implement it in the three easy steps. First, you have to generate an IDbConnection object, and then you have to write a query for CRUD operations. Further, you have to pass the query in execute method.

Once you complete all the steps, Dapper will start working within your ASP.NET Core application.

Which library does the .NET Developer Prefer?

Every .NET Core library performs a unique function and follows different mechanisms for getting adjoined in the .NET Core application.

To discover the most appropriate library, .NET developers go through the following steps:

Step 1: Check the requirement of the ASP.NET Core application.

Step 2: Analyze the features and modules of the .NET Core library.

Step 3: Verify requirements with the library features.

Step 4: Select it for the software development if the requisites align with the functionalities .NET Core library.

Final Words from Dot Net Programmer

.NET Core is a cutting-edge development technology offering various tools and libraries to expand the app functionalities.

From linking a serverless database to enabling mailing features and to automate object to object mapping process, it provides every essential feature to reduce workload. All the libraries are easy to implement and optimize the app’s performance.

Furthermore, every developer should learn the .NET Core library configuration to enhance productivity, reliability, and security.

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