The .NET Framework has certainly been through many changes since it was introduced by Microsoft in 2002. Arguably, .NET Core is the biggest change. First, .NET Core is open source. Also, you can now build .NET applications that run on Windows, Linux, and Mac. Developers can choose which packages and frameworks to include in their applications, different from the .NET Framework’s all-or-nothing methodology. .NET Core fundamentally changes how .NET developers write code. Now .NET Core 2.1 will add to the .NET revolution happening right now.
Before we review what .NET Core 2.1 brings to the table, it’s important to mention .NET Standard as well. .NET Standard provides a common set of APIs that each .NET implementation is guaranteed to have. .NET Core has to implement the .NET Standard APIs, so we’ll call out where it’s necessary when something in .NET Core 2.1 is put in because .NET Standard changed.
Faster Builds
Writing software is always easier when you can quickly execute code in order to test it and get fast feedback. Microsoft understands this and certainly has heard that .NET Core’s build times could be improved. That is exactly what Microsoft has done.
A key feature of .NET Core 2.1 is the significant performance improvements when building code. Each incremental build of .NET Core 2.1 has gotten faster, leading to a huge boost in performance from .NET Core 2.0 to 2.1.
This performance increase helps with development speeds as well as build speeds by using automated build tools, such as MSBuild. Large projects especially should see a dramatic increase in the speed of building your application.
Impactful New Features
Even though .NET Core 2.1 is an incremental update, it packs many good features that make it worthwhile to try out.
View Array Data with Span<T>
A big piece of .NET Core 2.1 is the introduction of the new Span<T> type. This type allows you to view pieces of memory and use them without copying what is in the memory. How do you pass the first 1,000 elements of a 10,000 element array? If you’re using 2.0, you have to copy those elements into a new array and then pass the new array into the method. As arrays get larger, this operation becomes a major hit on performance.
The Span<T> type allows you to view and access a certain piece of an array (and other blocks of memory) without copying it. Think of it as a drive-thru window. Instead of going into the entire “store” to access the array elements required, a method can simply drive past the “window” and receive what it needs to do its job.
A really useful feature of the Span<T> type is the slice method. Slice is the way you can create that “window” into an array. Let’s look at an example.
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var arr = new byte[10]; Span<byte> bytes = arr; // Implicit cast from T[] to Span<T> Span<byte> slicedBytes = bytes.Slice(start: 5, length: 2); slicedBytes[0] = 42; slicedBytes[1] = 43; Assert.Equal(42, slicedBytes[0]); Assert.Equal(43, slicedBytes[1]); Assert.Equal(arr[5], slicedBytes[0]); Assert.Equal(arr[6], slicedBytes[1]); slicedBytes[2] = 44; // Throws IndexOutOfRangeException bytes[2] = 45; // OK Assert.Equal(arr[2], bytes[2]); Assert.Equal(45, arr[2]); |
This is a simple example that highlights the basic uses of Span<T>. First, you can create a span from an existing array. You can then slice that span by telling the slice method where in the array to start and how far to go. Then you can use that sliced portion of the array as you see fit without any performance hits. You can check out this example here and here.
Sockets Performance
Sockets are the gateways into your server. They serve as the foundation for incoming and outgoing network communication between computers. Previous versions of .NET Core used native code (such as C) in order to implement sockets. Starting with .NET Core 2.1, sockets are created using a new managed (meaning built using C# itself) class.
There is a new class in town called SocketsHttpHandler. This class will provide access to sockets using .NET sockets and non-native sockets. This has several benefits like the following:
- Better performance
- No more reliance on native operating system libraries for socket functionality (requiring a different implementation for each operating system)
- More consistent behavior across platforms
Self-Contained Applications
A really interesting and useful addition to .NET Core 2.1 is the self-contained publishing of applications. You can now choose the option of a self-contained application when you package an application to prepare it for deployment (called “publishing”). A self-contained application has the .NET Core libraries and runtime included in the package. This means it can be isolated from other applications when it is run. You can have two applications running different versions of .NET Core on the same machine because the necessary version of the runtime is packaged with the application.
This does make the final executable quite large and has some other drawbacks. However, in the right situation, self-contained applications can be quite useful.
New Security Features
Let’s face it, you’ll rarely read a post written by me that doesn’t touch on security. My security geekdom can prove to be useful. .NET Core 2.1 has changed and added some important security features to remain compliant with a new version of .NET Standard just released.
CryptographicOperations Class
The new CryptographicOperations class gives developers two powerful tools in order to increase the security of their applications: FixedTimeEquals and ZeroMemory.
FixedTimeEquals helps to prevent a subtle side-channel attack on login screens. An attacker may try to brute force your login page or try to guess a username and password. Some applications provide a subtle but dangerous clue that allows attackers to know how close they are to the right login information. An attacker will continually enter login credentials, waiting for the response to take a bit longer. That can be a clue that the username is correct but the password is wrong. Attackers use timing attacks to break in.
FixedTimeEquals ensures that any two inputs of the same length will always return in the same amount of time. Use this when doing any cryptographic verification, such as your login functionality, to help prevent timing attacks.
ZeroMemory is a memory-clearing routine that cannot be optimized away by the compiler. This may seem strange, but sometimes the compiler will “optimize” code that clears memory without later reading that memory by eliminating the clearing code. This is better for speed from a technical standpoint. However, this could lead to sensitive secrets, like if cryptographic keys are left in memory without you knowing it.
Other Crypto Fun
Some other cool secure features were added to .NET Core 2.1. First, elliptic-curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) is now available on .NET Core. It’s okay if you don’t know what that is. Just know that it is a really good public-key cryptographic algorithm that has great performance and is a great choice for mobile and IoT applications.
Some other improvements include expanding existing cryptographic APIs to work with the new span type, leading to a 15% performance increase for some algorithms. .NET Core 2.1 also has better support overall for the SHA-2 Hash Algorithm.
How to Get It
If you want to play with .NET Core 2.1—frankly, I can’t wait to myself—here’s how to get it. Download the SDK and the runtime so you can build applications using the command line. If you want to use Visual Studio to build .NET Core 2.1, it has to be Visual Studio 2017 15.7 Preview 1. You should also check out the release notes for Preview 1 and Preview 2.
.NET Core 2.1 is incremental in number but big on delivery. The new Span<T> type has driven major performance improvements for the core libraries and will do the same for your application. New security features will help you write more secure code. And new tech is fun. So have fun and try out .NET Core 2.1.