hello, I am a junior developer and our organization uses all four of these. I've asked seniors to explain a couple times, but I just don't understand what they are used for. I've already done some research on the web and know that one is a "framework to develop, run, and execute apps", and one is a "runtime" and one is a "developer platform to execute apps built for it" but the problem is that I only have school experience and have no idea what this means. Google just makes things more convoluted because the same word will have different meanings across multiple areas of CS. I would be so grateful if someone could help me understand what we're using these technologies for. Everyday we code in C#, but I don't see the .NET stuff in the code. Just when when we configure stuff through the package manager.
I think it's still best to ask how your senior developers are using the terms because I've seen some of the terms used interchangeably, but this is how I see it: .NET = .NET Framework which is a software development framework that supports various languages such as C++, C#, F#, etc. Primarily used to create console or Windows form applications. ASP.NET = Open source web application framework so that you can create web applications more easily. Successor to ASP (Active Server Pages). Includes MVC, Web Forms, Web Api, etc. .NET Core = successor to both above. Allows you to create either console or web applications for different platforms (i.e. Windows, Linux, macOS, etc.) .NET Core 5 or .NET 5.0 = attempt to unify all prior technologies going forward. So in some sense, think of .NET/.NET Framework as the foundation, ASP.NET came after that, then .NET Core, and then .NET 5. Or think of them as different libraries with some books in the library matching. Here are some links if you want a more descriptive explanation: Difference Between .NET and ASP.NET (With Table) – Ask Any Difference ASP.NET vs .NET | Top 3 Excellent Comparison to Know in Detail (educba.com) Not sure what you mean by this. If you're writing in C#, you're writing in .NET.
