Regardless of whether you’re on Windows or Mac, there are two main choices, both of them good: So, I just updated Mono to its latest version, then took care of the most important part: the IDE. NET project, using C#, together with colleagues using Windows machines, using the same code base. This time, however, I needed Mono for much more: develop a. exe extensions can work this way on MacOS.) (A note of caution: only C# desktop applications with the. Yes, Mono can do that, with a simple command line: Apparently, I had it used for a different/minor reason: run a Windows. I was surprised to discover that Mono was already installed (this happens to you too, right?).

On the practical side, Mono’s installation is straightforward: just download the right installer here (Linux/MacOS/Windows/Docker). Along the way, even Microsoft started sponsoring the project, with parts of it included in the current iterations of. If you read “open-source” and hear alarm bells, here’s a soother: Mono’s community is highly dedicated and professional, and the project is very well maintained (with the latest version 6.12.

NET Framework based on the ECMA standards for C# and the Common Language Runtime”. So, what precisely is Mono? Here’s their own description: “Mono is an open-source implementation of Microsoft’s. NET version (also called: “the one that saved my day”). Not waiting for any official MS answer to their needs, in 2014 they started Mono – i.e., the third. NET Framework is so popular, there are software developers who (way before me) wanted to use it outside the Windows ecosystem.

NET Framework (the one not directly MacOS-compatible), so I had legit questions (and concerns).īut because the. In this specific case, for reasons beyond my choice, the project had to be built on the. They both run on the same runtime environment (CLR / Common Language Runtime), which is the equivalent of Java’s Virtual Machine (JRE).

It therefore works on Windows, Linux, MacOS. NET Core) was released in 2016 as the modular, lighter, cross-platform alternative. NET Framework (often referred to as ASP.NET) is an open-source framework, initially released in 2002, originally confined to Windows platform only. NET is a well-established software development framework, as it’s been on the market since the late-‘90s/early-2000s.

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