Mobile platform - the strongest with .NET
Microsoft .NET has recently emerged as one of the most mature and strongest platforms for Mobile Computing. Until sometime back, Windows Phone 6.5 was the only mobile that could see .NET applications host, but with limited functionalities. Windows Phone 6.5 though very strong on business computing could not leverage on rich UI that was promised by Windows Presentation Foundation and Silverlight Framework. This limited its reach to people who wanted a classic business phone and/or some odds like me who were passionate about .NET programming.
With integration of technologies stacks such as Microsoft .NET 3.5 Framework, Silverlight, WPF, Prism, Comet, REST Services and WCF with RIA, a new dimension to application programming was invented. Having a rich UI along with a high-performance application was no more a dream - no more trade-offs! And to add as a catalyst, Windows Phone 7 was launched in October, 2010. So that gave a perfect solution in any platform - Winforms, RIA, Mobile or Web! The definition of "Developer" and "Designer" became precise and exclusive. In true sense, a developer could focus on artifacts that could make his application scalable, maintainable, extensible (..... -ables) and better performing; while a designer could focus on the aesthetics and appeal (UED - User Experience Design) of the application.
What strikes more is.. the power of .NET and how it, today, emerges as a technology that has brought the difference. Not just applications on Microsoft Operating Systems are built on .NET, but applications on varied platforms today preferred to be developed on .NET.
DotGnu and Mono Project have opened doors for developing .NET applications on Unix and Linux; while MonoDroid (now Mono for Android) gives more options to port your applications on Android platform. With these companies now focusing on supporting .NET applications of open-source operating systems, imagine the market share Microsoft will draw after few years! Learning Objective - C might appear a task in your 'wish list', but if you are good at .NET programming sky is the limit. iPhone, iPod and Wii applications can be built with MonoTouch. Whether you want to build Xbox games or Windows Phone apps/games, XNA framework is an easy-to-implement framework.
So if you are willing to learn Mobile development, believe me .NET is the most strongest contender in the league.
And yet, we are still to reach the crest - .NET getting used in almost every other platform we touch, use, imagine and work in daily lives. Many more versions of mature .NET with many new features would make the journey a worth experience!
