A New Era for .NET: .NET Core 5 Open Source

Just because this the Internet, it's only a matter of time before this happens:

"Does this mean that Microsoft is abandoning .NET?"

Nerd rage ensues.

 

If it does do the same things in terms of workflow then it's a distinct possibility.

 

Doesn't IL2CPP bring in a major performance boost?

 

AFAIK, they're only open sourcing the C# sources and not the whole .NET SDK. So unity need to still use the old mono, because they need the mono SDK for embedding (mono isn't only the .NET library, it is whole infrastructure with its own SDK). They could probably replace some of the .NET assemblies with open sourced one (if they're somehow compactible). But until microsoft will open the other parts of SDK, nothing is changing for the unity with respect to the mono. This is how I see it.

 

But it's not just C#. http://www.dotnetfoundation.org/projects

 

Where did MS say they would open source the .NET native compiler? I don't think they said anything about that.

Also people need to look at this article as it gets rid of confusion: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dotnet/archive/2014/11/12/net-core-is-open-source.aspx

IL2Cpp may still be very good for Unity3D as it may run a lot faster (or it may not). Also .Net Core is not going to be ready until April 2015. There is also another project called "SharpLang" that plans to compile .NET IL to LLVM: https://github.com/xen2/SharpLang

Also I really feel IL2Cpp should be open sourced as it would get a lot more community support.

About Xamarin... they are still very relevant for mobile App developers and there tool set it huge and lets people target native APIs in pure C# which is a huge time saver. It doesn't matter if even they dropped Mono and switched to .NET Core as there API set is still worth a lot of money to App/Tool/Services devs, just not as much to game devs.

 

They announced earlier that the Roslyn compiler would be made into open source.

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/04/microsoft-open-sources-a-big-chunk-of-net/

 

Roslyn isn't the native compiler though. But the compiler is only a small part. The runtime itself has to be not only open sourced (which it will), but also ported. Even if Unity did go the .net core route you wouldn't see it any time soon. It really would be a matter of years.

 

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/vstudio/dotnetnative

I think that's the native compiler.

 

Thanks, I was wondering about that and what they had besides Mono and a IDE. Since it seems inevitable that .NET Core will be ported to all the platforms Mono runs on I wonder if they might even just convert Mono to Core and opensource that so they maintain the popular option.

 

I think .NET Core and Mono will become almost synonymous. But, Xamarin will remain a separate technology. That being said, with the Runtime also open sourced it will open the door to Xamarin competitors.

 

I'm enjoying the new VS 2015 + Resharper 9 + new UnityVS, except for one thing... Resharper keeps suggesting I use all these cool new C# 6 features, and Unity of course doesn't support any of them. :~(

What I wouldn't give for that new null propagator operator!

 

Pure speculation, but Unity becomes a Microsoft acquisition target even more so now. They'd love to get this new effort underneath Unity I am sure and be the engine that is driving the app stores being newly reborn as developer focused. Microsoft would give some competition to Tencent(UE4). I have no idea why Microsoft wasn't more supportive of Unity in the past and a .NET/C# based workflow even if Mono. I am sure at least they will try.

Microsoft could come in, buy Unity. Then lower the price or make it entirely free or more competitive pricing. Then only require your app also is launched to the Windows Store and or Xbox One for the free or low cost license. They would simultaneously own the entire base engine of the mobile market and also grow their stores, selling more hardware. They recently bought Minecraft and have been buying developer love since the CEO change.

</speculation>

 

sounds like a plan...

 

No, I don't think Microsoft is quite that crazy now. It would be an insane move to spend a couple billion or more for a company only to alienate the majority of their user base (mobile development is a big reason to use Unity).

I suspect Microsoft would be interested in Unity for largely the same reason as Mojang - the user base. The product would likely be left alone for the most part.

 

I'm pretty sure MS doesn't actually want a massive avalanche of noobs submitting every single random thing they build in Unity to the Xbox One review team either. MS sets up roadblocks specifically to discourage random people from flooding their review team with half-baked games; they're not going to purposefully force people who don't even want their game on Xbox to do it.

 

Yes, roadblocks such as XBox Live Indie where you paid a small fee and were able to publish effortlessly.

 

They shut Xbox Indie down, and there's no equivalent on Xbox One.

 

Their easy button method of publishing no longer exists, but then it is no longer necessary for those independent developers who are serious about console development. They now have a far superior alternative for getting products onto the console.

http://www.xbox.com/en-us/Developers/id

 

So, what does it mean to Unity? I mean really... come on

 

The wise are those that see the signs. It is a god sign that unity editor should support linux.

 

Always make your words soft and sweet, just for this reason

This is awesome news.

Not the Microsoft of old, huh?

I have been guilty of "irrational" dislike of MS, dating from the era when you actually called Redmond, WA for support. Have at least once in the distant past referred to them as "M$"

Going for the iso now, and UnityVS.

Too many new toys... um... tools to play with!

 

Really excited to see what comes out of this

 

I suspect Microsoft Absorbing mono is already in the works. They've already openly stated their collaboration with mono on the .Net Core 5 development.

.Net Core 5, and .Net Native could also have a lot to do with their decision to buy out Mojang to acquire Minecraft... I'll bet money that their going to convert Minecraft to .Net Core 5 with .Net Native to be their flagship cross platform game to demonstrate the systems versatility/power and on one of the most played games in the world.

I mean would anyone really think Microsoft would maintain java development on Minecraft? I doubt it.

 

Microsoft cares about the user base surrounding Minecraft. If they were going to migrate away from Java they would need a viable alternative that allows the users to keep playing on their favorite platforms. Yes, this very much does include Linux.

We'll have to wait and see if .NET becomes that platform.

 

Yes. An important part of Minecraft are the mods, and they are too coded in Java. So changing to .NET would be like throwing away the 2.5 B$ they paid.

Also, MS would lose face if Minecraft.NET is slower or buggier than the original. And they have some experience with losing face on .NET flagship projects (google London Stock Exchange .NET). Don't think they want that again...

 

Nah, still the MS of old. It's the same game as Internet Explorer. Create an alternative to an existing product (Java), and do whatever needed to drive the competing product oit of business, even if you have to give away your product for free. The open source bit and free IDE are just them stepping up their game, since Java is still much more widely used.

If a corporation gives you free stuff, it's guaranteed that they expect to make money off it in the long run. Love the free stuff, use it, take advantage of it, but never mistake it for altruism.

Still, exciting news, and yet all the more depressing because we're still stuck far behind .net 5.0 on Unity, with no update in sight...

 

Looks like MS is positioning to create an advertising machine using games and apps. That's a smart thing to do as the majority of people never did use browsers or computers. Now many more people do use computers if only occasionally as telephones or tablets.