So I’ve done a bunch of application development in windows in C# and Java, and while Java stuff is pretty similar in Linux with Swing I’m not as confident in C# there (not too familiar with Mono), but I also want to diversify a bit too. Any recommendations?
JetBrains Rider is probably the best C# IDE for Linux, and MS ported .NET server stuff a while ago.
I’m not sure about C# GUI toolkits on Linux. WPF isn’t there, and I’m not sure how mature Maui is on Linux.
Maui has zero Linux support. I don’t believe there are any plans for it, either.
However, Avalonia is fully supported, and is almost a drop in replacement for WPF.
Yeah outside of Java I’m wondering if I might have to start learning some OpenGL/Vulkan stuff for graphics.
Didn’t .net core depreciate the older .net framework stuff, and by extension Mono, and the target you should be looking at going forward is the new .net core stuff?
(I’m more a janitor than a mechanic, so my understanding of what framework is or isn’t dead this week is probably lacking, but I recall seeing an awful lot of chatter going on about that.)
Yes, you are right.
The old stuff, now no longer supported, is:
- .NET Framework up to and incl version 4.8
- Runtimes distributed as part of Windows
- Mono is a Linux Runtime used for compatibility
The new stuff:
- .NET Core, up to and incl 3, more recent versions are named .NET from version 5 onwards (to prevent mixing it up with the old Framework)
- Is completely cross-platform, natively
- I don’t know about desktop specific graphical stuff but that probably depends on the specific library
I think Avalonia is pretty great for C# cross-platform UI stuff. JetBrains Rider is the best C# IDE on Linux.
If it makes sense for your software, please consider giving it a web interface and turning it into a localhost-only web-service.
Not averse to the idea, but why so? What’s the advantage?
Good separation between business logic and UI without effort, cross-platform UI in any language, possibility to turn it into a web-accessible service in the future, great choice of UI frameworks and battle-tested components if you decide to go for a web framework and language.
As an example of a successful software that followed this approach: Synchthing. All versions run a local web service in the background. The Desktop version just opens a browser on the index page. The Android version is a native app that calls the exposed REST API on localhost, bypassing the web UI.
As an example of a much more complex software, albeit not FOSS: EasyEDA. It’s a web software, but it also comes as a desktop app (which I never tried) which I assume is not much more than a frame for the web view.
My recommendation: write the UI with React on Vite in TypeScript, and write the business logic in your general purpose language of choice (mine would usually be C#).
