.net is number 23 in the CW/SSP list of top IT skills
What is it?
Microsoft .net is a mixture of Microsoft's own technologies and
industry standards such as XML, HTTP, Simple Object Access Protocol
and UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration), which
together form an environment that can be used to develop and deploy
web-based applications.
More specifically, .net will be used to create and support web
services - modular applications which can be searched for and
invoked across the web when they are needed.
Microsoft's products are being progressively rebranded with the
.net suffix, but as changes to Visual Basic and Visual Studio have
proved, this is far more than a rebranding exercise. With Visual
Basic .net, for example, Microsoft announced that it had dropped
the lifetime compatibility requirements, meaning that parts of
Visual Basic 6.0 applications would have to be manually modified to
upgrade to Visual Basic .net.
Where did it originate?
Microsoft began preparing the ground for .net in early 2000 with
talk of an internet-based platform of next-generation Windows
services (NGWS). Microsoft .net was announced in June 2000, and
version 1.1 of the .net framework comes out with Visual Studio. net
2003.
What is it for?
Ultimately, creating XML-based web services, but for now it is used
for Windows-based applications, with the full armoury of languages
found in Visual Studio.
Standard services, such as the ADO.net and ASP.net class libraries,
are available through the .net framework, which now includes
support for mobile applications.
What makes it special?
Microsoft .net is language-neutral. It includes a common language
runtime, which enables languages to interoperate and share objects.
Developers should be able to program in any language, although
currently it is confined to Microsoft-supported languages.
How difficult is it to master?
The goal is to make life easier for developers, but as the changes
to Visual Basic indicate, even existing users of Microsoft's
application development tools may face some challenges. The arrival
of Visual Studio. net has been described as the biggest change to
the Windows development environment since the launch of Visual
Basic. For the time being, Visual Studio. net and Visual Studio 6.0
can be installed and used side by side.
What makes it hot?
According to the SSP/Computer Weekly survey, demand for people able
to work with .net grew by 14% in 2002 as suppliers and users
readied themselves to work with the new technology.
Not to be confused with ...
.Netware, .Netscape.
What systems does it run on?
Microsoft .net support is currently confined to the latest versions
of Windows 2000 and XP. There is speculation that in future,
Microsoft's operating systems may incorporate a BSD Unix kernel.
There are also initiatives to implement .net on Linux.
Not many people know that ...
Cynics refer to it as "not yet".
What is coming up?
Until January this year, Windows Server 2003 would have been called
Windows. net Server. Microsoft explained the .net suffix had been
dropped "in an effort to clarify the naming and branding strategy
for .net".
The point, perhaps, is that .net is not about operating systems,
certainly not just about Windows, but works "regardless of the
underlying platform". Then again, they may revive the name when the
next major release of Windows 2000 is due.
Training
Samples of Microsoft's .net courseware can be found at:
microsoft.com/traincert/samples/developer.aspJobs and money
Employers currently pay a premium for those trained in ASP.net and
Visual Basic. net, but it will not last as other developers upgrade
their skills. One advertiser recently requested "one to two years'
ASP.net experience".