Software that addresses the Internet must be able to communicate. However, the Internet is not just about communication. This assumption has led the software industry down the wrong path in the past. Communication is simply the base requirement for software in an Inter-networked world.
In addition to communication other features must be established. These include, security, binary composeability and modularity (which I will discuss shortly), scalability and performance, and flexibility. Even these just scratch the surface, but they are a good start.
Here are some features that users will expect in the near future. Users will begin to expect to run code served by a server that is not limited to the abilities (or physical display window) of a browser. Users will begin to expect websites and server-side code to begin to compose themselves of data and functionality from various venders, giving the end-user flexible one-stop shopping. Users will expect their data and information to be both secured and to roam from site to site so that they don’t have to type it in over and again. These are tall orders, and these are the types of requirements that are addressed by the .NET Framework.
It is not possible for the requirements of the future to be addressed by a new programming language, or a new library of tools and reusable code. It is also not practical to require everyone to buy a new operating system to use that addresses the Internet directly. This is why the .NET Framework is a development environment, execution environment and Operating System.
One challenge for software in a highly distributed environment (like the Internet) is the fact that many components are involved, with different needs in terms of technology. For example, client software such as a browser or custom client has different needs then a server object or data-base element. Developers creating large systems often have to learn a variety of programming environments and languages just to create a single product.
Figure 1‑1 Internet Distributed Software
Take a look at Figure 1‑1. This depicts a typical arrangement of computers and software in a distributed application. This includes client/server communication on several tiers as well as peer-to-peer communication. In the past the tools that you used to develop code at each tier would likely be different, including different programming languages and code libraries.
The .NET Framework can be used to develop software logic at every point from one end to the other. This way you get to use the language and programming tools that you are comfortable with for each stage of the development process. Additionally, the .NET framework uses standards so that it is not necessary that each piece of the puzzle be implemented using the framework. These are the goals of the .NET Framework.
I will describe what all this means in detail shortly.
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