CoreFX is a foundational library of the .NET Core platform, providing a set of APIs for building cross-platform applications on .NET Core. It includes a wide range of functionality, such as file I/O, networking, cryptography, and XML processing. CoreFX is distributed as a set of NuGet packages that can be used by .NET Core applications, as well as by other .NET implementations such as Xamarin and Unity. These packages can be included in a project by adding a reference to them in the project file or using the NuGet package manager.
Some of the key features and benefits of CoreFX include:
- Cross-platform support: CoreFX is designed to work on multiple operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
- High-performance APIs: CoreFX includes highly optimized APIs that are designed for maximum performance and scalability.
- Modular design: CoreFX is composed of a set of small, composable packages that can be used independently or together as needed.
- Open-source development: CoreFX is developed as an open-source project on GitHub, allowing developers to contribute to its development and use it in their own projects.
So, the role of CoreFX in .NET Core applications is to provide a set of standard, cross-platform APIs that can be used by developers to build applications that run on multiple operating systems. By using CoreFX, developers can write code that is independent of the underlying operating system and can be run on Windows, Linux, and macOS. In addition, CoreFX includes highly optimized APIs that are designed for maximum performance and scalability. This makes it a valuable tool for building high-performance, scalable applications that can handle large volumes of data or requests.
Before it was called CoreFX, the CoreFX library was known as the .NET Core Framework. If you have experienced working with the earlier version of Dot Net, The .NET Core Framework was a collection of libraries and runtime components that were designed to provide a lightweight, cross-platform version of the .NET Framework. The main and revolutionary change in CoreFX was the capability of running the designed applications to run on a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. Besides, designing DotNet as a command-line tool was another step toward becoming a modern development platform.