comComparing the free .NET implementations Mono and DotGNU

LOTS OF DOTS

Article from Issue 61/2005
Author(s):

The Open Source projects Mono and DotGNU open Microsoft’s .NET platform to Linux developers. This article investigates how well-suited these alternative implementations are for building simple GUI applications.

In 2002, Microsoft launched a new system for platform-independent development that they dubbed .NET (pronounced “Dotnet”). The .NET pro-ject aims to simplify the development of network and Internet applications. It supports object oriented programming and comes with a unique class library suitable for use with multiple programming languages, such as C# and VB .NET for example. In the course of launching .NET, Microsoft has discontinued support for its previous favorite, the MFC library for Visual C++. All future Microsoft products will be based on the new technology. Free .NET? Despite the platform-independent approach of the .NET framework, Microsoft is highly unlikely to release a Linux implementation, and this lack of Linux support has prompted two projects to step into the gap: Novell’s sponsored Mono project [1] and the open source DotGNU [2] project. Both Mono and DotGNU are aiming to provide as complete an implementation of the .NET platform as possible. The goal of both projects is to allow developers to exchange software across operating system boundaries.

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • DotGNU

    Write C# programs in Linux with the free and vendor-neutral DotGNU.

  • Java and .NET Intro

    In today's heterogeneous environments, it is hard to escape the influence of Java and .NET. So why not come prepared? This month we examine some tools and techniques for integrating the Java and .NET frameworks with Linux.

  • Mono 2.0 is Ready: Compilers for C# 3.0 and Visual Basic 8

    The developers of Mono, the free implementation of the .NET framework, have achieved a major milestone with version 2.0.

  • Novell Releases Mono 2.6 and MonoDevelop 2.2

    The Mono framework compatible with Microsoft's C# .NET is available in version 2.6. Developers also upgraded its associated MonoDevelop environment to version 2.2.

  • Boo

    Hooked on Python's "wrist-friendly" syntax? Enamored of .NET architecture but equally appreciative of C#'s strong typing? Boo offers the best of three worlds.

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News