Asp.Net or .Net Core

Question

We have an old Asp.Net Web Forms application. Since support for Web Forms has ended, we are thinking of rewriting this application using Entity Framework and MVC. It is a web application that runs on IIS and there are no plans to run it on windows, linux or mac as a application. We just want to be sure that we select a framework that will be appropriate and supported. Should we use asp.net or .Net Core?

Answer 1

MVC and Web Forms are ASP.NET applications. The same reason you do not want to continue with Web Forms applies to ASP.NET MVC. The .NET 4.X framework is not going away anytime soon. To put this into perspective, I support classic asp web apps built in the late 90s running on the latest Windows OS. Maybe upgrading is not necessary?

If you decide to upgrade, for any reason, then .NET Core is the clear choice.

Answer 2

as no new features are being added to the .net 4.*, if you want to move off web forms you should pick asp.net core, otherwise you would need to port again to get new features.

the suggested replacement for webforms is razor pages, but it a template approach rather than a component tree. If you want a component approach, then blazor may be an option.

if you think the port will tale more than a month or you can wait a month to start the port you should pick .net 6 (in preview now but release is scheduled for nov 9). .net 6 is a LTS version and has longer support than .net 5 (whose support will expire in 4 months).

Answer 3

Hi @Joe Green ,

You can check the following articles:

Choose between ASP.NET 4.x and ASP.NET Core
.NET vs. .NET Framework for server apps
Difference Between .NET and .NET Core

These articles provide guidance on when to use each.

Use .NET (.NET Core) for your server application when:

• You have cross-platform needs.
• You're targeting microservices.
• You're using Docker containers.
• You need high-performance and scalable systems.
• You need side-by-side .NET versions per application.

Use .NET Framework for your server application when:

• Your app currently uses .NET Framework (recommendation is to extend instead of migrating).
• Your app uses third-party libraries or NuGet packages not available for .NET.
• Your app uses .NET Framework technologies that aren't available for .NET.
• Your app uses a platform that doesn't support .NET.

In my opinion, NET Core (Asp.net 5 or Asp.net 6) is a better choice.

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Dillion

Answer 4

Since you want to rewrite your current application, it is always good to do this according to the latest release. Last year .Net team released ASP.Net 5.0 and this year, ASP.Net 6.0 will be released. The ASP.Net 6.0 previews are already out there.

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/aspnet/asp-net-core-updates-in-net-6-preview-7/

I recommend you to use ASP.Net 6.0, while both MVC and Razor Pages are continued to be supported in ASP.Net 6. However since your current application is ASP.Net web forms, using Razor Pages will be a good Idea.

https://www.telerik.com/blogs/razor-pages-the-natural-successor-to-web-forms

Answer 5

Hi @Joe Green

Since, you are planning to rewrite the solution, better go for asp.net core 6. It has several benefits and will be easy for you to upgrade to upcoming versions.

However, here is a guide to choosing.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/choosing-core-framework-server