Which industries benefit most from .NET development? Types of applications you can build with .NET

In order to meet the requirements for effective applications in the present digital realm, there are many new frameworks that are rapidly growing in the software development industry. .NET has proven itself as a versatile platform, which can be used for any kind of application development.

This blog post investigates different industries, such as healthcare, business, education, games, and internet of things (IoT), where .NET has contributed immensely. We aim to use practical examples in these industries to demonstrate how .NET enables developers to build feature-rich, robust, and scalable applications capable of handling the various requirements of today's rapidly changing digital environment.

Regardless of whether you are a developer who seeks a solution, or a business owner who wants to learn about technology alternatives, or just a person who is interested in the possibilities of .NET, this blog post will give you insightful views concerning .NET applications.

What is .NET application development?

When it comes to creating software applications with the .NET framework, this practice is known as .NET application development. The .NET framework was created by Microsoft as a comprehensive suite of solutions for developers. 

One thing about the .NET application framework is that it provides professionals with rich tools, libraries, and languages which they can harness in making many types of applications, such as web apps, desktop apps, or even mobile applications. Companies and industries look for .NET developers to design powerful applications that will help them streamline their business processes and make them more efficient.

The key components of .NET application development include:

• Common Language Runtime (CLR) offers a platform for code execution and memory management performing various vital tasks including security. It allows developers to write code in different programming languages like VB.NET, C#, F# and so forth, thus ensuring consistency and compatibility.
• Base Class Library (BCL) is a collection of reusable classes, types and APIs that provide various functions needed for application development. It contains data access, networking, file I/O components, security, user interface, etc.
• For .NET application development, Microsoft offers a robust Integrated Development Environment (IDE) called Visual Studio. In the various tools that Visual Studio has to offer, there are such features as debugging capabilities, code editors, project management, and integrated testing frameworks, which make it very convenient for developers to work on this platform. 
• There are a wide range of libraries and frameworks that expand the framework’s functionality in the .NET ecosystem. Examples include ASP.NET for web development, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) for creating desktop applications with sophisticated user interfaces, as well as Xamarin for developing mobile applications that can be used across different platforms among others. 

Development of a .NET application follows a systematic method that encompasses designing its architecture, coding in a specific programming language, for example, C#, employing applicable libraries and frameworks, testing it, and deploying it to the intended platform. Depending on the needs of an application, database management, web services provision, user interface generation are some of the activities that may be carried out during its development.

The current state of .NET among popular technologies

As per the 2024 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, .NET is the most used among other frameworks and libraries again this year for all developers; there were 45,841 participants in total who responded. It holds a share of 25.2% across all respondents in terms of usage.

The findings from the survey show where .NET currently is situated. 21.9% of the respondents wish they would use it in future (“desired”), although even more impressive is the fact that 71.1% out of this number involves people who have worked with this platform in the last year, and they would wish they could continue doing so (“admired”). For this reason,.NET is well positioned as a preferred choice by software developers who have good potential for performance growth.

.NET application examples in different industries 

.NET is an extremely strong and versatile solution for developers practically of any industry. Being a flexible framework, it can work with lots of different other technologies and support a wide variety of libraries to enhance complex app development projects.

Here are a few real-world examples of how .NET serves as the foundation for leading solutions in the industries:

• Healthcare 
• Business 
• Education 
• IoT 
• Gaming 

.NET use examples in healthcare

Application performance, security, and scalability are crucial in the healthcare industry. It must have the right technologies in place to facilitate the designing of a healthcare application that way. With the .NET framework, organizations can build strongly secure and reliable clinical and administrative applications that offer possibilities for an easy database integration over complex and massive data processing. This is possible because .NET supports modern web technology, can work with RESTful APIs, and maintains very strict security and data sensitivity capabilities.

Types of applications in healthcare:

• Electronic Health Records (EHR) Systems: These systems are mainly used for the management of appointment schedules, patient records, medical history, and many other things.
• Telemedicine platforms: Allow healthcare professionals to offer virtual consultations.
• Hospital Management Systems (HMS): Are responsible for the scheduling of patients, staff management, and handling the inventory of medical materials at hospitals.
• Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS): Parse patient data that then results in suggestions regarding medicinal cures. 

Companies that use .NET in healthcare:

• Epic Systems: The largest health software company that incorporates .NET into its electronic health record (EHR) systems to maintain the patient records, visits schedule, and simplify the appointment process. The great scale and safety characteristics of .NET allow their applications to manage large data sets effectively.
• Teladoc Health: A global leader in virtual healthcare services that employs .NET to power their telemedicine platforms. By using .NET's robust API integration capabilities, Teladoc Health ensures seamless communication and data sharing between patients, doctors, and healthcare systems. The platform includes features such as video consultations, prescription management, and health tracking, all powered by .NET’s reliable infrastructure and strong security measures.
• Oracle Health: Builds applications that enable healthcare providers to securely manage patient records, facilitate seamless patient-provider communication, and improve administrative workflows across large healthcare organizations. Known for providing cloud-based health solutions and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, Oracle Health uses .NET to support scalable, secure, and high-performance platforms. 
• Medtronic: Makes use of the power of .NET toward remote monitoring systems that keep track of the performances of medical devices. By using it, the physician can access the real-time data and decide upon how to plan, implement, and change their patient's care.

The importance of .NET takes in health management, including compliance with HL7 and FHIR data standards, allows it to maintain great control on patient data, even when faced with quite diverse and multiple systems.

.NET applications for business

Flexibility, security, and scalability are what differentiates .NET when developing any business application–from enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to customer relationship management (CRM) and business intelligence (BI) applications. It is a strong platform that builds business apps, can make them highly integrated with existing systems, support complex workflows, and be able to perform real-time data processing and analysis. 

Types of applications in business:

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems: Help businesses manage core processes such as supply chain, procurement, manufacturing, and finance, all within a single platform.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems: Track customer interactions, manage leads, and analyze sales data to optimize customer relationships.
• Financial management systems: Handle everything from invoicing and payroll to budgeting and forecasting.
• Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics solutions: Aggregate data from different sources, allowing companies to generate actionable insights and make strategic decisions.
• Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems: Help businesses monitor and optimize their inventory, shipments, and vendor relationships.
• E-commerce solutions: Support large-scale B2B and B2C transactions, secure payment gateways, and personalized shopping experiences.
• Document management systems: Streamline document storage, management, and collaboration in compliance with legal and regulatory standards.

Companies that use .NET in business:

• Microsoft Dynamics 365: A suite of enterprise-level business applications built on .NET, including CRM, ERP, HR, and finance solutions, used by companies to streamline operations and improve decision-making.
• SAP Business One: An ERP solution for small and medium-sized businesses, integrates with .NET to handle various business functions, such as sales, finance, and inventory management.
• Salesforce: A cloud-based CRM solution that integrates with .NET applications to enhance its capabilities in reporting, business analytics, and third-party app development.
• Netsuite: A cloud ERP solution used by businesses for financial management, supply chain optimization, and more, often powered by .NET for custom integrations and analytics.

Indeed, the security and speed of transactions that come with .NET are perfect for essential business functions. Other factors of business management would be integrated into various tasks, improving streamline operations, and facilitating better customer interactions that will aim to stimulate growth.

Education applications built with .NET

The education industry relies heavily on .NET to deliver learning solutions, manage students' progress, and facilitate communication between students, educators, and administrative staff. This comprehensive framework ensures scalability, reliability, and ease of integration with various educational tools and platforms. The rapid development of learning management systems (LMS) and student information systems (SIS) is made easy by .NET’s robust capabilities.

Types of applications in education:

• Learning Management Systems (LMS): Facilitate course delivery, student assessment, and communication between instructors and students.
• Student Information Systems (SIS): Help manage student data, grades, schedules, and attendance.
• Virtual classrooms: Provide real-time video and interactive experiences, facilitating distance learning and remote classrooms.
• Student performance analytics platforms: Process large datasets to provide insights into student performance and academic trends.

Companies that use .NET in education:

• Blackboard Learn: A web-based virtual learning environment and learning management system. Blackboard uses .NET technologies for several of its learning management solutions that handle course management, grade tracking, and communication tools for thousands of users.
• PowerSchool: As one of the most widely used student information systems (SIS), PowerSchool integrates .NET technologies to manage vast amounts of student data, including grades, schedules, attendance, and behavior tracking, and ensure smooth communication between educators, parents, and students. Additionally, its integration with third-party tools and reporting systems ensures a comprehensive approach to student performance management.

Especially by supporting cloud computing, .NET would allow just about any institution in education to scale. This ensures that both teachers and students are able to enjoy what is offered and be satisfied with its quality.

.NET application examples in gaming

Developing a game requires a quick-response system that should maintain high quality and provide an involving user experience. To ensure integrated networking capabilities, real-time multiplayer functionality, and an intuitive user interface, .NET framework becomes imperative for creating gaming applications. Many designers prefer Unity, which is built on C#--the primary programming language for .NET.

Types of applications in gaming:

• Game engines: Are used to create interactive gaming experiences across different platforms.
• Multiplayer gaming platforms: Enable multiple players to interact and compete or collaborate in a shared virtual environment
• Gaming backends: The server-side architecture for gaming applications, which allows managing player data, game sessions, and in-game transactions.
• Game analytics: Enable to track user behavior, game performance, and monetization strategies in real-time.

Companies that use .NET in gaming:

• Unity Game Engine: One of the most widely used game engines for both mobile and console games that uses C# (the language of .NET) to handle game logic, rendering, and multiplayer functionalities. The power of .NET combined with Unity allows for high-quality, cross-platform gaming experiences.
• Minecraft: While the core version of Minecraft is built using Java, various custom server implementations, mods, and backend services make use of .NET to handle the multiplayer environments and in-game data processing.
• Fortnite: One of the most popular multiplayer games worldwide that leverages .NET technologies to handle critical aspects of its backend architecture. While the game itself is built using Unreal Engine (which primarily uses C++), Fortnite integrates .NET to support matchmaking, player data management, and in-game interactions. The system handles player sessions, leaderboards, in-game transactions, and player statistics through .NET-based services, ensuring real-time synchronization and scalability. 

The key to building scalable, cross-platform gaming experiences is the versatility and performance of .NET, which supports running games on multiple platforms (PC, consoles, and mobile).

.NET application development in IoT (Internet of Things) 

IoT applications must have scalability, reliability, and real-time data processing functionalities, which are well known from .NET framework use. The benefits of .NET technology to the IoT industry are many, as this technology perfectly integrates hardware and software. It is, therefore, very flexible to allow for changes or scaling whenever an adjustment is needed. 

On top of that,.NET manages devices in a very effective manner while ensuring every communication is secured. It has the ability to accommodate vast amounts of related data connected to the devices–all of which are a requirement for IoT solutions. Beyond the integration of Azure IoT into .NET, it also has a cloud-based service for better IoT data management and analytics. 

Types of applications in IoT:

• IoT data management systems: Are designed to collect and analyze data from IoT devices and sensors, helping businesses make informed decisions in real-time.
• Device monitoring solutions: Allow managing and monitoring IoT devices through custom applications that track performance, status, and alerts.
• Smart home solutions: Enabling users to control smart devices like lights, thermostats, and security cameras remotely.
• Predictive maintenance systems: Analyze sensor data from industrial machinery to predict maintenance needs before failures occur.

Companies that use .NET in IoT:

• Siemens IoT: is a global provider of industrial IoT applications that uses .NET and Azure IoT solutions to monitor equipment health, predict failures, and optimize performance in manufacturing environments. The .NET-based platform integrates sensors and data analytics for predictive maintenance.
• Philips Hue: Is a popular smart lighting system that leverages .NET to manage the communication between devices and enable users to control the lighting remotely. The system relies on .NET for handling device-to-cloud interactions and delivering a smooth user experience.
• Raspberry Pi: Although Raspberry Pi is more commonly associated with Python and C++, it is increasingly used with .NET Core for IoT development. By integrating .NET Core with Raspberry Pi’s GPIO pins and sensors, developers can create robust IoT solutions like home automation, environmental monitoring, and remote device management. 

Integrating assets with Azure IoT cloud has ensured that IoT developers can securely and efficiently use data from connected devices in real time through .NET.

Conclusion

.NET, with its excellent versatility in application development, is a framework that is indispensable even in the most diverse sectors. Toward this end, the industries of healthcare, education, business, and games, as well as Internet of Things, can all find their specific use cases with .NET. This is possible mainly due to the framework's range of services, which can vary from networked data acquisition to high operation performance. 

Flexibility, security, and a large user base continue to make .NET popular in the ongoing development and the future of technology within these industries. Whether you're building a scalable healthcare solution, an engaging gaming experience, or an IoT system, .NET is the framework that brings power, reliability, and speed to your development process.