.NET Core 3 introduced new features and improvements across the board including streamlining ASP .NET integration, as well as further improving the surface area vis-à-vis .NET Framework such as the ability to run WPF and Windows Forms desktop applications (albeit only on Windows). We’ve also observed several key advancements on .NET Core that we believe significantly benefit organisations using F#.
With .NET Core increasing in maturity, we have seen an increase in successful cross-platform adoption of F# coming from development teams who have little or no .NET experience, including those using Python, PHP and JavaScript, on greenfield applications. These teams are also often switching to Microsoft Azure as their hosting platform, so the move to cross-platform also potentially means cost savings, most notably because applications can now be run on top of Linux instead of Windows, so there is no need to pay for a Windows licence.
Secondly, F# Interactive (FSI) is now bundled with .NET Core and is available on Windows, Mac and Linux. This is a significant milestone. During training courses, we have seen that attendees are able to start using F# following a simple installation of .NET Core, without depending on Mono or Visual Studio. Not only does this improve “first use” experience, but also increases trust and confidence in F# as a first-class citizen on .NET Core.
Also, .NET Core 3 comes with significant performance improvements across the board, which users receive immediately on upgrading. With all cloud providers, there is often a relationship between CPU utilisation and cost, so upgrading can result in immediate savings with performance improvements across the board of up to 400 percent possible.
To learn about more recent improvements to the F# and .NET Core, and to find out which we recommend you adopt and reject, download Compositional IT’s new whitepaper F# In 2020: The Road Ahead.
