.NET Framework vs .NET Core vs .NET vs .NET Standard vs C#

What is the difference between .NET Framework and .NET Core? Where does .NET fit in? Is .NET Standard another framework? What about the versions of C#? How do they relate to the .NET Framework/Core/.NET/Standard? These are the questions we are going to answer in today's episode of Dev Questions.
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[@droam129]

I’ve probably googled this question a dozen times over the past couple years, and this is the first time I’ve understood it. Thank you, Tim.

[@IAmTimCorey]

I’m glad it was helpful.

[@paldeusjaco9657]

@@IAmTimCorey You have the gift of explaining and teaching. Truly appreciate your time articulating so much knowledge. Wishing you the best, Tim.

[@GaryWee111]

@@IAmTimCorey Thanks for explaning! Finally understand the different after coding in C# for 7 years.

[@jaycelee8453]

@@IAmTimCorey god is bold

[@lifeisgameplayit]

why not bingit ;d

[@williamliu8985]

"William" has just finished this video. I still can`t believe that my question was answered here..!! Very clear answer for me. I appreciate it, Tim! ❤

[@IAmTimCorey]

Awesome!

[@AmbroseKTal]

Thank you. A friend has tried to explain this several times, but I still get confused. This really helps. I never thought to ask in here! Thank you again.

[@yunietpiloto4425]

Man why I didn’t have a university professor like you. Spot on!

[@tomthelestaff-iamtimcorey7597]

If they are at the university, than they are rarely in the real business world actually doing it.

[@dand4485]

@@tomthelestaff-iamtimcorey7597 Honestly this might be an over simplification, a number of my co-workers when I worked at Microsoft also taught classes at the University of Washington.

[@tomthelestaff-iamtimcorey7597]

@@dand4485 True, there are some exceptions. I did encounter one in my years a the university.

[@none_the_less]

In my opinion university professors spend so much time mastering subjects to the point where they lose touch with what is it like to be a beginner.

[@dand4485]

@@none_the_less That might be true but, but then again wouldn't expect universities the place for beginners, especially if the topic is on advanced topics, where the level of professors covering the hard stuff, more often they won't be teaching introductory classes? While some of the best teachers I had where the upper professors teaching the simple stuff. Found more often they cut out the chatter and presented stuff clearly in a way only a person with great understand might. Having as much mastery of a subject they really would make it that much simpler and earlier for other to understand. Hard having a person that doesn't really understand a subject themselves teach it too...

[@_rcs]

Tim, you were my go-to resource when I was stuck developing with WebForms and was trying to build modern skills. I'm glad you are still producing quality content. I hope it's going well for you.

[@IAmTimCorey]

I am glad my content has been so helpful.

[@ricardodelacruz8666]

Thanks for that great explanation! I speak English and Spanish and this is by far the best video in both languages that I’ve found on the web explaining the difference between all of the confusing concepts of .Net, I was so frustrated that I couldn’t found a video or document that explains all of that but you have done it in a easy and excellent way, thanks a lot!!!!!!!

[@IAmTimCorey]

I am glad it was so helpful.

[@digestingpuma5597]

Love this video and Tim's explanation. The way he explains it, his conversation pace makes it much, much easier for me to understand the topic.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thank you.

[@timneale5657]

Thank YOU!!! Being new to Developing this really helped answer a question I didn't even really know I had. Awesome explanation, can't wait to watch more of your stuff.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are most welcome. Thanks for watching.

[@E1987TO]

Shared this to the team to clarify the need for migration. Thank you, my man!

[@IAmTimCorey]

Great!

[@moneyhustle7462]

Tim I have been confused by this for so long. This was hands down one of the best explanations I have ever seen for such a complex topic. SALUTE!!!

[@IAmTimCorey]

I am glad it was so helpful!

[@williamFrSFO16]

Thank you, Tim! (Your videos on KZbin and classes at IAmTimCorey are great!)

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thank you!

[@t555d]

Wow man what an explanation! This cleared out my many questions. You are really wonderful professor. Thank you Professor Tim!

[@IAmTimCorey]

Awesome!

[@prakashpoudel7536]

The best clear and concise explanation ever came up with. You rock Tim

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thank you!

[@jeeshenlee183]

Thanks, Tim. That's a great summary. I wish to see more how-to video guides on migrating from ASP MVC (.NET Framework 4.8) to .NET 6 and migration from WPF (.NET Framework) to .NET 6

[@tomthelestaff-iamtimcorey7597]

I added it to Tim's list for topics to consider. Thanks for recommending it.

[@magicorpse]

@@tomthelestaff-iamtimcorey7597 Hey, just wanted to ask if it was possible to make a video about it? Thanks for the content you provide.

[@stevenbingham3061]

I would have loved some graphics to accompany this discussion, but even without graphics the representation was easy to follow. Nice job. I've worked with Microsoft software/systems since the 80's and one thing I can say is you really need to understand the historical progression of its systems to really appropriately understand where thing are. This simple discussion of the progression and reasoning behind going from Framework to Core is an example of how drawing that historical background is truly helpful.

[@IAmTimCorey]

I am glad you enjoyed it.

[@devjyotichakraborty9348]

Thank you so much for such a simple yet detailed explanation! This was so confusing before and now it is crystal clear.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Glad it was helpful!

[@vibhordhawan27]

The best video I have seen so far which explained these confusing terms in such an easy way. Thanks Tim :)

[@IAmTimCorey]

Excellent!

[@jasonfreeman8022]

Wondering why you haven’t mentioned the support libraries as well. I think this is what you meant when you used the term “abstraction layer”. Any language on a given platform requires all kinds of helpers to do things like open files, communicate via the network, print, and common tools like lists, stacks, numerical processing, etc. Framework required pre-installed libraries. These libraries tended to be monolithic (large and not very modular). Core modularized and packaged parts of the framework libraries allowing developers to pick and choose the parts of the “libraries” they needed for an application. This was necessary for a couple of reasons. One, cloud servers needed to be fast to spin up. Requiring that the entire set of framework libraries be present increased storage consumption and install time. Two, the framework had a bigger footprint because it was all one big thing and it would load and initialize things that the app may never use. So modularizing it and enabling the dev to specify only what was needed made application installation smaller and faster and it also made application startup smaller and faster. Framework = monolithic install. Core = modular packaging.

[@nugzila4170]

Thank you.

[@UrGuru]

thank you

[@AbhishekBali93]

Thank you 👍🏼.

[@akunformalitas]

Thanks but what about ".NET Standard"?

[@ChadiHD112]

It's not only about libraries, its also about how the language is written fundamentally ( indentation, use of brackets, Dense Matrix Multiplication)...so on. These are very important to be written and organised on the hardware memory using very low level languages (Assembly) or maybe C/C++. Most languages have their own unique way to write and organise that specific memory and having a Framework that unites all of these "Abstractions" is huge. So, instead of having to use 5 languages to write an application on different platforms, now you can use only 1. Which in our case C#.

[@gwog]

Fantastic explanation. Thank you!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@cccc7006]

Thanks for this Tim. Great content. I updated my setting for your channel to notify on all videos.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Awesome!

[@deepakbagate6211]

Wow !!! This is spot on fantastic explanation. Now I have clear picture about my learning path ahead. Thanks a lot, Tim. And as always you are Tim Corey !!!

[@IAmTimCorey]

I’m glad it was helpful.

[@skajlet9045]

As always a clear explanation. It would be great if you could create a video about CIL, CLR, JIT. What they are, what they do and how they depend on each other. Thank you for your commitment.

[@alexisfibonacci]

The CLR is the runtime kind of like the JVM; just think of it as a Virtual Machine. Think of CIL as some kind of Assembly Code that the Virtual Machine understands. The JIT converts CIL to the instructions of the underlying hardware as the program runs. For instance, a program written in C# can be compiled to CIL just once (depending on your compiler switches) and then run on different architectures - x86, x64, ARM, ARM64. It is the responsibility of the JIT on the given platform to convert the CIL to actual machine code for that platform as the program runs.

[@tomthelestaff-iamtimcorey7597]

I a great explanation in other comments, but I still placed it on Tim's viewer suggestions list.

[@venkatajagadishkonari1811]

Just this single video cleared all of my confusion in dot net... Thanks man!

[@IAmTimCorey]

Great!

[@timviney2227]

Your content has been such a great help over the years!

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thank you!

[@karandhingra7808]

I've been scratching my head over this confusion for quite some time and this video finally put an end to that confusion. Thank you so much for this great explanation.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Glad it helped!

[@orange-vlcybpd2]

Relativity Theory < Quantum Theory < Valsiliev equations < abc conjecture < dotNET Framework Naming and Versioning System

[@IAmTimCorey]

Naming is hard.

[@fox_trot]

I just love this guy, unbelievably succinct!!

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thanks!

[@AlexxXRecorD]

Detailed and clear as usual. Thanks so much for the explanation!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@joshisushant]

this is probably the clearest explanation I have come across, and it was pretty damn useful, with all the naming convention etc.. Thanks

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@Rhapsodizenkharis]

Tim, it will have been nice to use the display devices behind you to give us illustrations that will go with your explanation! I had to do my own illustrations while you explained.

[@IAmTimCorey]

I don’t have a display behind me. That’s my bookshelf.

[@Rhapsodizenkharis]

@@IAmTimCorey :)

[@saikovvuri]

Hello Tim, excellent explanation, thanks clears several confusion points for me. I do have a question - what do they mean say ".NET Core X has support for 3 years" does it mean they will fix any bugs identified in that version or they will only be backward compatible for 3 years back

[@IAmTimCorey]

They will fix bugs in that version.

[@Xershade]

Usually a life time for something is the developer basically saying, after three year's we're not working on this except for major security patches, after five years we're done, it's dead, use at your own risk. The main thing to keep in mind is if three years from now a third party library is going to be updating to a new version, that's pretty much the number one thing that kills code when a version expires, the libraries ti depends on moving on to the latest version.

[@liswingeorge3185]

Thanks man. I don't think anybody would care to break it down more concisely than how you did in this video. 25 mins. Well put out.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thank you!

[@dmytroskydanenko5106]

Thank you for a brilliant explanation! And yeah, these things confused me while studying SC and only now I have seamless understanding of what's going on there. Great video!

[@IAmTimCorey]

Excellent!

[@evildoer1606]

Hey Tim, thank you for the explanation! What about ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core? Where and when did they come from?

[@IAmTimCorey]

Same thing. ASP.NET is the web project types in the .NET Framework. ASP.NET Core is the web project types in .NET Core.

[@irfanshaik1302]

@@IAmTimCorey So they use different abstraction layers or same? I mean does asp.net use .net framework and asp.net core uses .net core?

[@vaibhavpatil1719]

@@irfanshaik1302 Right Question

[@BM-jy6cb]

.Net Core - Naming confusion not helped by many libraries for. Net Framework having base components in libraries named along the lines of MyLibrary.Core. Also MS screwed up big time with their Identity libraries. TBH, I still can't shake the incompatibility impression of the original .Net Core release. All this isn't helped by the muddled online documentation.

[@tomthelestaff-iamtimcorey7597]

Yup, clear as mud.

[@bobweiram6321]

It's what happens when the marketing people get involved in technical matters.

[@SanderIwase]

Amazing explanation! I've been googling this for days and only now I could nail it. Thanks a lot

[@IAmTimCorey]

Glad it helped!

[@interelbrico]

Thanks Tim for this clear and easy to understand video. All your videos are just amazing. Thank you very much.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@bobweiram6321]

Why did Microsoft make this so damn confusing in the first place? They're terrible at communicating

[@IAmTimCorey]

I think I explained that in the video.

[@PaulPaulPaulson]

To start with the obvious: .NET is a terrible name

[@IAmTimCorey]

Yep.

[@FaisalAfroz]

even the languages name of C# or F# . They need to get their naming sorted out so it is easy to google without special characters.

[@conor3087]

Thanks for the clarification! Really appreciate the time and effort you spent in making this video

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@geoffmreynolds]

I cannot stress enough what a great video this is. I have been confused with .net for the longest tome

[@IAmTimCorey]

Glad it helped!

[@AbhigyanGautam]

This is the best explanation to the differences between all of these. Thanks a lot!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You're very welcome!

[@nomanabid9394]

What an Explanation of a Complex Eco-System into an Easy to Digest hierarchy. Thank you for being on KZbin for Us

[@IAmTimCorey]

Glad you like it!

[@hollisross3561]

Thank you for clearing that up. I was so confused about all of these naming conventions.

[@tomthelestaff-iamtimcorey7597]

Thanks for looking to Tim for the answers!

[@ulviugur3605]

Great summary Tim ! 👍 One could have used a slide for the multiple layers and all but this worked also fine 👏

[@IAmTimCorey]

I’m glad it was helpful.

[@rajeshgokhale1975]

Best explation heard so far....Cleared most of the doubts... Appreciate it

[@IAmTimCorey]

Excellent!

[@maheshdeeti6922]

Thanks Tim, It was really a great way of explanation and makes me very very clear to remove the confusion on these terminologies.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@sajankumarvijayan811]

Well explained. Thank you TimCorey.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@vatnax2680]

Finally, a clear explanation! Thank You, great video!

[@tomthelestaff-iamtimcorey7597]

Thanks for trusting Tim in your coding journey.

[@davidboatengadams301]

Very detailed yet simple explanation. Thanks TIm

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@Zeila1]

give this dude a medal, you explained it so well and it's so easily understandble. well done my freind.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thank you!

[@wavewalnut9869]

Your explanation was very easy to understand. thank you! とてもわかりやすかったです。ありがとう！

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@trisapandey1311]

Thank you Tim. You're such a great teacher.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@trisapandey1311]

@@IAmTimCorey ☺️☺️

[@SiebeBosch]

Great explanation Tim. Thanks for clarifying!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@nachum800]

This was so clear! Great job Tim! Thanks

[@IAmTimCorey]

You're very welcome!

[@subhankarbhattacharjee6113]

Thank you for this brilliant Explanation, It has cleared my doubt.

[@onurguzel16]

I was sick and tired researching to resolve this confusion. MS really messed up so bad. Nice video. Thanks.

[@IAmTimCorey]

I am glad it was so helpful.

[@3dr1ch]

Thanks so much for this video - really helped me get back up to speed with things!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@jaxparrow1794]

Tim, once again, a job well done! Thanks!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@pedrofeltrin8774]

Essential video for someone just getting into the .NET world like me. Thank you a lot!!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@Shakti_Singh_Om]

thanks Tim for a wonderful explanation. I am sure it couldn't be done any better.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@janlamprecht9229]

Brilliant, crystal clear explanation, thank you. 👏

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@mamtasingh-jo2fo]

Thank you Tim for the wonderful video...It was always confusing to get the difference between these three..Now it is more clear..

[@IAmTimCorey]

Great!

[@sivaapss0015]

Thank you for great explanation I am a starting with c# and finally I can understand the difference between the different .net

[@IAmTimCorey]

Excellent! I am glad it helped.

[@auraSinhue]

Great explanation, sir. I just found your channel thanks to this video. In fact, I just installed .net core on my Ubuntu dev box just to see how it works. Thanks, man!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@mariusadrian999]

I searched for so long for a clear explanation of the differences between .NET versions that it became frustrating. Thank you for making this video and clearly explaining everything.

[@IAmTimCorey]

I am glad it was so helpful.

[@reyarqueza7627]

That was an awesome overview of the past 20 years!

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thanks!

[@packagegamesstudio1125]

This was such a great video, thank you so much for the content!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@tocobern]

Thank you for the history and easy explanation. Nothing is difficult, it's just how you are taught that makes it hard or difficult. You made it easy.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@andrewsterkowitz3930]

Loving the upgraded quality on the channel!

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thanks!

[@salihgursoy9036]

Perfect explanation video of .net history, it enlightened me a lot. Thanks a lot, Tim.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome!

[@mykolakriukov1252]

Cool, finally I have a clear vision what net standard is used for, thanks Tim!!!

[@IAmTimCorey]

Great!

[@asdf90091]

Thanks for the concise explanation. As a Java developer who hasn't kept up with .NET, I learned more from your video than I have Googling the topic in my spare time.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are most welcome. Thanks for watching.

[@HieuNguyen-td7ic]

Thank you professor Tim. The topic is really useful for me.

[@tomthelestaff-iamtimcorey7597]

We are glad you found it helpful

[@therealtulip]

Thank you for the detailed and very clear explanation!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@Manish7759]

Thankyou TIM for great explanation !! Best wishes from Nepal! ❤️

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@jlitodelcid326]

Nice. Your videos are always useful.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Great!

[@Lennard1998]

Thank you!! I have been puzzling with this for a couple of days

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@sachinjawale8328]

Very Well Explained Tim, I was confused about all these frameworks and their confusing names.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thanks!

[@davidpetty7014]

Answered a LOT of questions and cleared things up. Thanks

[@IAmTimCorey]

Excellent!

[@abdu9392]

Thank you for the Awesome explanations.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@krishna-kr5zp]

Perfect explanation, thanks!!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@absurd0000]

Great explanation! exactly what i was looking for

[@IAmTimCorey]

Glad it was helpful!

[@zush2305]

I've always been confused about .NET's names, great explanation thank you.

[@IAmTimCorey]

I’m glad it was helpful.

[@lgent2435]

I can't believe it. This is the most comprehensive explanation for .NET that I've ever heard. And it comes from The Big Show? Like really. Big thanks anyway!!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@brikimbran]

Thanks Tim. Cleared the air quite a bit.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Glad it helped.

[@hamm8934]

Exactly the video I needed! Thanks for this :)

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@climjames1677]

Very well done. Not everyone can breakdown things in a way that is easy to understand.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Thank you!

[@gcma1999]

I was so lost thinking that NET Core was different from plain .NET. Thank you so much, very detailed and patiently explained.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@maximumefficiency593]

Thank you!!! It all makes sense now

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@ashwanimishra1845]

Never understood this before I watch your video..Very very informative. Thank you.

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@sarathkruthiventy4872]

Great explanation Tim! Thanks

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@treebear0002003]

You have provided me an extraordinary answer to my boss why I need to start over and rewrite all my .net frameworks applications in my previous 10+ years.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Great!

[@StriveforGainz]

Thanks for the explanation!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@Nitrometutorials]

Thank you SO MUCH for this!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@jimread2354]

Thanks for the clarity. I spent over an hour in MS docs and didn't get this level of understanding.

[@IAmTimCorey]

I’m glad it was so helpful.

[@andiledumakude6135]

Good explanation thanks Corey

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@srikant67]

Great explanation, i have this question from months. Clarified thanks

[@IAmTimCorey]

I am glad it was helpful.

[@MrAlbertl]

Thanks for this great explanation!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.

[@user-dd1tz5rs2j]

thank you. After listening to the explanation, I was able to understand the changes in various .NET versions. And, it solved the confusion that comes from ignorance.

[@IAmTimCorey]

Awesome! I am glad it was helpful.

[@gnitin0384]

Very well explained Sir!! Thank You!!

[@IAmTimCorey]

You are welcome.