What is .NET?

CyberBry writes "There's a great technical overview of Microsoft .NET over at arstechnica: "In a remarkable feat of journalistic sleight-of-hand, thousands of column inches in many "reputable" on-line publications have talked at length about .NET whilst remaining largely ignorant of its nature, purpose, and implementation. Ask what .NET is, and you'll receive a wide range of answers, few of them accurate, all of them conflicting. Confusion amongst the press is rampant. The more common claims made of .NET are that it's a Java rip-off, or that it's subscription software. The truth is somewhat different.""

Net

[DraKKon]

Pronunciation: 'net
Function: noun
Usage: often capital
Etymology: Middle English nett, from Old English; akin to Old High German nezzi net
Date: before 12th century
1 a : an open-meshed fabric twisted, knotted, or woven together at regular intervals b : something made of net: as (1) : a device for catching fish, birds, or insects (2) : a fabric barricade which divides a court in half (as in tennis or volleyball) and over which a ball or shuttlecock must be hit to be in play (3) : the fabric that encloses the sides and back of the goal in various games (as soccer or hockey)
2 : an entrapping device or situation
3 : something resembling a net in reticulation (as of lines, fibers, or figures)
4 a : a group of communications stations operating under unified control b : NETWORK 4
5 : INTERNET

Oh.. DOT net... how silly of me

.NET is...

[pq]

.NET is just a way to catch the .FISH!
Bwahahahahaha...

The truth behind the mystery...

[The G]

.NET is mlife.
--G

What IS the .NET?

[denzo]

Unfortunately, no one can be told what the .NET is. You have to see it for yourself.

.NET

[WndrBr3d]

I've converted the Article into a Word Document that can be found here [hosttown.com].

Wonderful article.

SAT time:

[base3]

.NET : MONOPOLY

o (A) government : tax
o (B) sponge : water
o (C) car : travel
o (D) tank : invasion
o (E) girder : bridge

This is a hard one! The good news is that the SAT has no guessing penalty.

Re:Question : what's the benefit ?

[__past__]

what does .NET offer me that C++ libraries & frameworks such as MFC, Powerplant, cocoa and others don't?

Hype?

Re:I honestly can't figure out

[PhotoGuy]

They seem to be touting portability, but what kind of portability? Certainly not inter-OS portability, that's for sure.

It cdertainly *is* portable across operating systems; I can count at least *six* operating systems I'm sure it supports:

• Windows 95
  
• Windows 98
  
• Windows ME
  
• Windows NT
  
• Windows 2000
  
• Windows XP
  

And I'm sure they will support several more operation systems (of their own creation, of course) in the future.

-me

Re:What IS the .NET?

[protein folder]

You know, I know this program doesn't exist. I know that when I try to use this program, .Net is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss.

i don't care what .NET is

[nameinuse2]

... i'm wondering why it has to .SHOUT .AOL .STYLE

Re:Real advantage?

[PurpleBob]

Or you can use Brainfuck.NET [soton.ac.uk] :)

(I didn't make this, but I find it highly amusing. Yes, Brainfuck is an actual language, and this is an actual package that makes it compile to .NET.)

Can I use BrainFuck.Net to write webservices?
No. Well, probably not.

Does BrainFuck.Net use the controversial Microsoft Passport system for authentication?
No. The Brainfuck language has only 8 commands, and none of them are related to authenticating remote network users.