Moving from .NET Framework to .NET Core
In its latest Skoolee release, White Mountain Technologies moved Skoolee student information and school management system from .NET Framework to .NET Core. .NET Core is an open-source development framework. It allows developers to produce cross-platform software products that can run on different operating systems and platforms. .NET Core is essentially cloud-oriented, as opposed to .NET Framework which is the choice for desktop application development. The importance of cross-platform, cloud-based frame of work is to build a software product once and run it anywhere. This means that the developer is not confined to writing the software application to only one platform, such as Widows, nor to installing it on a specific environment, such as a local Unix-based server. Rather, compatibility with operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and Mac OS, and open-sources platforms such as iOS, Android, and Windows phones through Xamarin, is ensured. Clearly, with .NET Core, development is focused on the web and mobile apps. In current years there has been a major shift from local desktop development to cloud-based development. Of course, this shift has been driven by the large technology corporations, providing cloud-based server farms, development platforms, and open-source applications. Slowly but surely, they are turning off any support for older technology, and .NET Framework will soon be phased out.
Advantages
The essential results of White Mountain Technologies moving Skoolee to the .NET Core is the incorporation of the latest technology with all of its advantages. It gives our products better performance, longevity, versatility, and mobility. Moreover, old platforms will soon not be supported and will become obsolete. So, moving to Core is both a good and inevitable decision. .NET Core has incorporated tangible enhancement in performance, maintenance, and support. Examples of technical advantages is that no updates are required anymore regarding Web Forms; Micro-Services and REST Services are supported; application performance is better; consumption of hardware and network resources is less; performance and scalability are higher; security is enhanced; stability is more solid; and maintenance is faster and easier. Along the way, we did a major update to Skoolee’s look and feel. The user interface is now more “cool” and “zeitgeist-ly”, reflecting the spirit of the age. Of course, regarding user experience (UX or UE), we go beyond appearance and appeal to focus on its other elements, such as usefulness, effectiveness, efficiency, usability, practicality, accessibility, and adoptability. A note here: User Experience is what the user experiences when using a software application, such as its look and feel, the ease of navigation through the software, intuitively finding the screen or function in the application, can the user reach the destination in minimal clicks, is the application friendly, is it structured well where everything is where it should be. More than that, UX goes to involve how the company supports the product and the user. Evidently, UX requires that the software producer has in-depth understanding of the user’s business, abilities, needs, and expectations.
Reach
With the move from .NET Framework to .NET Core, Skoolee is now seamlessly and effortlessly available to a broader reach of schools, directors, principals, teachers, students, and parents, without them having to move to any specific device. Computers, phones, and other devices can access Skoolee as they are, without the need to run on specific platforms. After all, it is our goal to make our users feel comfortable and to free them from needless hassle.