Microsoft .Net Core 3.0 arrives

Microsoft’s .Net Core 3.0, an open source implementation of .Net software development technologies, is now generally available. Highlights of the release include C# 8, a smaller memory footprint, improved Docker support, and better performance overall. 

Key capabilities of C# 8.0 include nullable, async streams, and more patterns. The garbage collector in .Net Core 3.0 not only uses less memory, but also makes better use of a larger number of processor cores.

Microsoft .Net Core 3.0 also includes support for Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Forms, and Windows Desktop applications. Other new features and improvements include:

• Hardening for Docker, enabling .Net applications to work efficiently and predictably in containers. The thread pool and garbage collector have been updated to work better when a container has been been configured for limited memory or CPU. Docker images for .Net Core are smaller, especially the SDK image.
• Support for the F# 4.7 language, with infrastructural changes to the compiler and core library.
• Net Standard 2.1, which specifies APIs that are available on all .Net implementations. The set of types has been increased that can be used in .Net Core and Xamarin.
• High-performance JSON APIs for reader/writer, object model, and serialization.
• ARM and Raspberry Pi chips are supported for IoT development.
• The Windows.Forms.DataVisualization package, including a chart control, is available for .Net Core.
• Local tool installation is enabled via .Net Core tools.
• SDK installers will upgrade in place.
• Tiered compilation is on by default, enabling the runtime to more adaptively use the just-in-time compiler for better performance.
• The updated ASP.Net Core 3.0 web framework allows developers to build interactive client-side web apps with C# instead of JavaScript, using the Blazor framework.
• Support for the import and export of asymmetric public and private keys from standard formats, with no need for an X.509 certificates.
• Support for AES-GCM and AES-CCM ciphers.

.Net Core 3.0 will be superseded by .Net Core 3.1, a long-term support (LTS) release planned for November 2019. Going forward, Microsoft will consolidate .Net development around .Net 5 next year, ending separate releases of  .Net Framework and .Net Core.

Where to download .Net Core 3.0

You can download .Net Core 3.0 for Windows, MacOS, and Linux from dotnet.microsoft.com.