1. What is .NET Core Framework?

.NET Core is an open-source web development framework that is the successor of

.NET and both are maintained by Microsoft.

.NET Core is also cross-platform meaning that you can use it on multiple operating
systems/ platforms- Linus, macOS, and Windows. Its important features include
sharable core libraries and others that come as NuGet packages. You can add the
packages as needed to optimize the performance of the application, make it easier
to maintain, and decrease its memory footprint. It follows a more modular approach
in comparison to its predecessor, i.e. instead of installing the whole of the .NET
framework, you can just install or use what is required. Also, .NET Core comes with
base class libraries whose code is largely similar to that of .NET Framework class
libraries.

2. What are the common uses of .NET Core?

Some important uses of .Net Core are:

 To create and develop server applications and web applications functional

across multiple operating systems.

 To write libraries in both runtimes using languages like C#, VB.NET, and F#.

 To build mobile backends, cloud applications, and IoT applications

 Desktop application development and to develop microservices out of large

enterprise applications

 Its flexibility, lightweight features, and high performance make it possible to

deploy .NET Core applications in containers extremely quickly.
3. Mention the latest version of .NET Core and any important features.

The latest version is .NET 6 which was released in November 2021. One unique
attribute of the version is that it unifies the base libraries, SDK, and runtime across
desktop, mobile, cloud, and IoT apps.

4. List the most important characteristics of .NET Core?

The most important features of .NET Core are-

Open-source platform: The framework as mentioned before is open-source i.e. the

source code is freely available, is maintained by Microsoft, and uses Apache 2 and
MIT licenses.

Supports multiple programming languages: The framework supports multiple

programming languages and can be used to develop apps across multiple
platforms.

Cross-platform: .NET core supports and is executable on multiple platforms- Linux,

Windows, and macOS. It is quite simple to port a code from one platform to the
other.

Flexible: It is flexible in terms that it allows you to include/ install desired codes on a
requirement basis.

5. What is ASP.NET Core?

ASP stands for Activ Server Pages which refers to any framework meant for
building web pages. In line with this, ASP.NET is an extension of the .NET platform,
that is, it adds tools and libraries to the framework for the specific purpose of
building web applications. ASP.NET Core, released in 2016, is a redesign of
ASP.NET.

ASP.NET Core is modular and leaner than ASP.NET. It merges ASP.NET Model-
View-Controller (MVC), ASP.NET Web Pages, and ASP.NET API in one application
framework.

6. Are ASP.NET Core and .NET Framework compatible?

Yes, ASP.NET Core works with both the .NET framework and the .NET Core
framework and is managed by Microsoft.

7. What is a Garbage Collector (GC)?

Garbage collection refers to the process of collection or removal of programs that
are no longer in use thus freeing up memory space. A garbage collector carries on
this function and may be thought of as an automatic memory manager.

8. Differentiate between .NET and .NET Core?

.NET Core Framework .NET Framework

Some of its components are open-

It is open-source
source

Runs across multiple operating systems- Windows, macOS, and Runs only on Windows, i.e. is not
Linux, i.e. is cross-platform cross-platform

Has better support Relies heavily on command line tools

Is flexible in installation, i.e. you can install components on a needed

Must be installed as a whole package
bases

Less effective in comparison to .NET

Is faster, high-performance, and easier to scale
Core

.NET Framework ships as a whole

.NET Core ships in smaller NuGet packages
package

9. What languages can you use on .NET Core?

Developers can use multiple programming languages including C++, C#, F#, Visual
Basic, etc to work in the framework and develop .NET Core applications. The
Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) and Common Language Infrastructure
(CLI) make it possible to transform any programming language into CPU-
independent instructions.
10. How is Mono different from .NET Core?

.NET Core is a part of the .NET framework developed and maintained by Microsoft
to facilitate the development of modern applications and other developer workflows.
Mono is also an extension of the .NET framework, but this has been optimized by
Xamarin, for Android, Windows, iOS, and macOS. The base library for .NET Core is
CoreFX Class Library, and for Mono is Mono Class Library.

11. What is CoreCLR?

The CLR is the execution/ run-time engine in .NET Core, that is, it is responsible for
the execution and running of programs in different programming languages. It
consists of the following major components:

 Garbage collector

 JIT compiler

 Low-level classes

 Primitive data types.

 CLS and CTS

The Common Language Runtime (CLR) performs the garbage collection and code
compilation functions etc.

12. What is CTS?

CTS or Common Type System is responsible for cross-language integration, high-

performance code execution, and type safety of a code. It defines datatypes, and
how these types are declared and managed during the runtime of a code or an
application. All programming languages have their own data type, and these cannot
be understood by other languages. But CTS enables the .NET framework to
understand all data types.

CTS is a single-rooted object hierarchy where the System object is the base type for
the derivation of all other types. Two major kinds of types it supports are:
 1. Value Types: These types are either allocated within the structure inline or
are stored directly in the stack. This includes built-in value types (standard
primitive types), types defined in source code, user-defined value types,
enumerations, etc.

2. Reference Types: These store value memory address references and are
allocated on the heap. They may be any of the interface types, pointer types,
or self-describing types. For example- class types and arrays like boxed
value types, delegates, user-defined classes, etc.
13. What is Kestrel?

Kestrel is a cross-platform web server that is enabled by default in ASP.NET Core

project templates. It supports- HTTPS, HTTP/2, opaque upgrade (to enable
WebSockets), and Unix sockets. It is supported on all versions and platforms of
.NET Core.

14. What is CoreFX?

CoreFx is the term used to refer to the foundational/ introductory class libraries for
the .NET Core.CoreFX consists of collection types, class types, consoles, XML, and
JSON for class library implementations. This results in platform-neutral code which
can be used as a single portable assembly.

15. Is Garbage collection an ongoing process? When does it occur?

Yes, Garbage collection is an ongoing process that occurs in any of the following
situations:

 Low physical memory

 When memory space used by allocated objects surpasses an acceptable

threshold

 When the GC. Collect method is called, however, this only happens in rare
testing situations since Garbage collection in itself is an ongoing process.
16. What is MSIL?
MSIL stands for Microsoft Intermediate Language. Whenever we compile .NET
codes, it is first converted to MSIL code, which then CLR interprets. The MSIL code
is hardware and operating system independent.

17. What is the key difference between Runtime and SDK in .NET Core?

The major difference between .NET Core SDK and .NET Core Runtime is that the
former is functional in the building/ development of applications, while the latter is a
virtual machine responsible for the application execution and running.

18. What is .NET Core SDK?

The set of tools and libraries used in the development process is referred to as
SDK. They help developers in creating .NET Core libraries and applications.

19. What do you mean by .NET Core middleware?

A middleware is a component of an application pipeline that handles requests and

responses. That is, the middleware component chooses whether or not to pass an
incoming request to the next component of the pipeline. And it is also responsible
for giving responses or processing the request before and after it passes the
pipeline.

20. What is .NET Standard?

The .NET standard is a set of APIs meant to establish unity in the .NET ecosystem.
It does this by compiling the base class libraries for different frameworks/ platforms.
In simple terms, it creates a single uniform layer and set of APIs which support the
whole of the .NET ecosystem.

21. Mention the main architectural components of .NET Core

There are 3 main architectural components:

  .NET Core Runtime- The main purpose is to ensure the smooth functioning of
the app/ program by providing type safety, native interop services,
assemblies, garbage collection, etc.

 Framework Libraries- These include base libraries with components like app
composition types and other fundamental utilities.

 SDK compilers (Roslyn) and command line tools- These facilitate quick
development of programs/ applications on .NET Core
22. What is meant by Razor Pages?

Razor Pages is a comparatively newer and more simplified web app development/
programming model. The Razor Pages follow a file-based routing approach thus
simplifying the "Model-View-Controller" architectural model of ASP.NET. The code
and the HTML are both in a single file which eliminates the need for separate view
models, controllers, action methods, etc.

23. What is unit testing?

Unit testing is the process of breaking the program down into small bits of code at
the functional level, called units. The units are then tested to ensure that they return
the value one expects. An advantage of the unit testing framework is that automates
the process and keeps testing the program as it is being built.

24. What are NuGet packages?

NuGet packages are parts of the package management system for .NET which are
essential to carry on any development on the platform. These packages contain
libraries and other descriptive metadata and are managed by NuGet.

In simpler terms, a NuGet package is a single zip file with a .nupkg extension. The
file contains compiled codes, files related to the code, and descriptions. Developers
can create and share these packages by publishing them to either private or public
hosts. They can also use the packages available and add to projects on an as-
needed basis.

25. What are Empty migrations?

When you want to add migrations without making any changes in the model it might
lead to the creation of code files with empty classes. These can be customized to
perform operations not related to the core Entity Framework (EF) model.

26. What is Explicit Compilation (Ahead of time)?

Explicit compilation refers to the process of converting upper-level language into

project code before interaction or project execution. This is why explicit compilation
is also referred to as ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation, as in, before interaction
between the CPU and program.

27. Mention a few benefits of AOT

Some benefits of AOT are:

 It leads to a smaller application size (exclusive of the angular compiler)

 Component rendering becomes quicker

 The template parse errors are detected early at the build time

 The program is more secure since there is no need to dynamically evaluate

templates
28. Explain Docker in .NET Core

Docker is a service container that is used to develop and publish applications.

Application developers can package their applications in docker containers which
can then easily be managed with git and can be synchronized across machines.
These containers are lightweight and include everything needed to run the
respective application without dependencies.

29. What is the IGCToCLR interface?

The IGCToCLR interface is used to communicate with the runtime environment. It

passes an argument to the InitializeGarbageCollector function.

30. What is a class library? Mention its types and methods.

A class library is a compilation of pre-written code templates and classes which
developers can refer to and use when developing an application. Any class library
that is developed with .NET Core supports the .NET Standard Library. It can then be
called onto by any platform which supports that .NET Standard Library.

The method to create a class library is- Right click on the solution, select Add -->
New Project --> .NET Standard --> Class Library and select a class library template.
Then give the project a name and select a folder to store it, this will create the
library. You can then add properties to the library and change its settings as
needed.

Visual Studio, the integrated development environment for Windows supports four
types of class library templates- .NET Framework, .NET Core, .NET Standard, and
Universal Class Library.

31. What is the purpose of webHostBuilder()

The webHostBuilder() as the name suggests is a factory used to create a web host
for a web application. This function also configures the bits needed by the web host
to run the application. It is a part of Microsoft.AspNet.Hosting namespace.

32. Why would you generate SQL scripts in .Net core?

When you want to add migrations, you will have to deploy and apply them to the
database to bring it to action. This is where you need to generate SQL scripts that
ensure accuracy in the application of the migrations and consequent schema
changes of the databases.

33. How do you decide when to use .NET Standard Class Library as
against .NET Core Library

When you use the .NET Standard library type you will reduce the .NET surface area
and at the same time increase the number of apps that are compatible with your
library.
You should use the .NET Core library type when the motive is to increase the .NET
API surface area. But remember this also limits the compatibility of the library to
only .NET Core applications.

34. Explain the difference between Task and Thread in .NET

In simple terms, a task is something you want to get done, and a thread is a way to
accomplish it. So in this sense, a thread is a part of the task.

A thread represents the smallest unit of code processing at the OS level, with stacks
and kernels. You can exercise a high degree of control over threads with Suspend()
or Abort() or Resume() a thread. ThreadPool, as the name suggests is a wrapper
comprising a pool of threads maintained in the runtime environment by CLR.

A task in comparison is executed by a TaskScheduler and cannot create its own OS

threads. A default scheduler runs on the ThreadPool and also lets you know when
the task finishes and returns a result.

36. What's the difference between RyuJIT and Roslyn?

Roslyn is a .NET Core compiler that compiles VB or C# code to the intermediate

language (IL). Whereas, RyuJIT as the name suggests is a Just-In-Time compiler
that works the other way around i.e. compiles the IL to native code.

37. Explain the meaning of state management

In simple terms, state management refers to the technique or process of

maintaining the state of a page or application till the time the user's session ends. In
.NET, state management refers to the object that controls the state of an object
steady through different processes. Some common approaches followed for this
include- cookies, cache, temp data, query strings, etc.

38. Give a brief about Garbage Collection

Garbage collection is one of the most important features of high-level programming
languages and frameworks. The feature is carried on by a garbage collector which
automates the process of memory allocation and management.

There are three generations in the memory heap- zero (for short-lived objects), one
(for medium-lived objects), and two (long-lived objects). The collection of garbage
then refers to the collection of all the objects in different generations, that are no
longer in use. The collector frees memory space by collecting these objects thus
functioning as an automatic memory manager.

Garbage collection occurs in three situations- one when the physical memory is low,
when the acceptable threshold is exceeded, or when the GC method is called on.
The major benefits of this are that developers don't need to manually free up what
memory space, or worry about efficient allocation of objects on the managed heap,
and it ensures security/ safety by blocking one object from using the content of
another object.

39. What is the hosting environment?

The hosting environment contains application-specific details such as application

functions, where it is stored, services for app management, etc. A
HostingEnvironment is created in the ApplicationDomain, before the ASP's creation.
In other words, a hosting environment is responsible for application management
and app-specific functions.

This feature of .NET Core makes it possible for the developer to work with multiple
environments, without creating any friction.

40. What is .NET Core CLI?

CLI stands for Command Line Interface, which is a toolset used for developing/
building, running, and publishing all applications. You can also build .NET
framework compatible libraries and Console applications with the command line.
You don't need to install the CLI on the machine, since it is a part of the .NET SDK.

41. What is JIT and how many types of JIT compilations do you know?
Programs called compilers to convert all source code into executable code before it
is brought to action. This is called compilation, which is when compilers convert
application code into machine instructions (also object code). There are two steps to
the whole process- first where the source code is converted to IL by language-
specific compilers, and the second is converting IL to machine instructions by JIT
compilers. These are called JIT compilers because only the executed IL code
fragments are compiled to machine instructions, that too at the runtime, or should
we say just-in-time for execution.

The .NET has three types of JIT compilers, namely,

 Pre-JIT Compilers

 Econo JIT Compilers

 Normal JIT Compilers

42. Why is the Startup Class?

The Startup class in .NET Core contains the Configure methods and Configure
services. Of these, the former helps configure the request processing pipeline, and
the latter helps configure the required services.

43. What is the purpose of the IDisposable interface?

IDisposable interface is defined in the System namespace and it contains a single

method- Dispose(). The purpose of this method is to release unmanaged resources
from the application or class library. Some of these unmanaged resources might
include database connections, fonts, streams, files, etc.

44. What is the difference between 'managed' and 'unmanaged' code?

The primary difference between the 'managed' and 'unmanaged' code is that for the
former, the CLR in the .NET framework manages the code, while in the latter the
operating system directly executes the code. Also, the 'managed' code adds a layer
of security to the application not present in the case of 'unmanaged' code.
45. Is the 'debug' class the same as the 'trace' class?

They aren't the same thing. Debugging refers to the process of finding errors in a
code. While tracing refers to the process of charting out the execution pathway of a
code, or getting other execution information. The trace class is broader in
comparison as it can be used for both releasing builds as well as debugging the
code.

46. What is MEF in .NET Core?

MEF stands for Managed Extensibility Framework and it is a library used for
developing lightweight extensible applications. With the MEF, developers can
discover extensions and use them without the need for configuration. Many believe
that MEF is no longer available in .NET Core, however, it has been ported to the
.NET Core as the System.Composition.

47. What are UWP Apps in .Net Core?

UWP stands for Universal Windows Platform and it is one of the numerous ways of
client application creation for Windows. The WinRT APIs used in these apps result
in powerful UIs and advanced asynchronous features. The common features of
these apps are that they are secure, use a common API, and can install and
uninstall the apps without risking 'machine rot'.

48. What is MSBuild?

Microsoft Build Engine (MSBuild) is a VS and Microsoft open-source platform for

building applications. It helps in the automation of the software creation process
including code compilation, testing, packaging, documentation, and deployment.

49. What is CoreRT?

The CoreRTis the .NET Core toolset that is responsible for compilation to translation
processes. It uses the ahead-of-compiler RyuJIT to compile CIL byte core to
machine code.
50. Explain response caching

Response caching is when the .NET Core MVC's HTTP responses are pre-specified
in cache-related headers. These headers describe how intermediate or client
machines should cache responses to requests. This hence reduces the volume of
requests the client or proxy machine makes to the web server.