.NET Developer for Hire: What to Keep in Mind Before Making a Decision?

If you came across this article, you probably plan to build software for your business. For this, you will need a skilled software engineering team. Outsourcing is an efficient way to find a dedicated developer and get a quality product. And a .NET developer for hire can be the right choice in your case, if… To get the answer, keep reading.

Who Is .NET Developer?

.NET developers are software development experts specializing in Microsoft .NET technologies. They work with a wide range of programming languages that are compatible with the Microsoft Windows platform. Dot NET programmers build solutions for desktop, mobile, IoT, gaming, desktop, etc.

The NET development market is stable and offers many job opportunities. This is because of the benefits .NET technology provides. As for now, there are more than 165,000 .NET developers employed in the US. The most prospective industry for this segment is retail. By 2025, job opportunities are expected to increase by 30%.

The responsibilities of a .NET developer include:

• Analyze client’s business needs and implement them in project scope and requirements;
• Design product plan and make the list of features;
• Make wireframes and prototypes to visualize the product;
• Write and polish the programming code;
• Test the code and eliminate bugs;
• Use test-based applications for a NET solution;
• Deploy the code to the live environment;
• Build secure and tailored NET solutions;
• Help clients solve their real-time business challenges by adjusting project specifics;
• Offer NET maintenance and full-scale support.

As a rule, a .NET development team works using Agile methodologies. Agile development speeds up work on a project and saves money. It’s an adaptable method that also raises the business value and increases flexibility.

Now let’s move to the tech expertise .NET developers need to have. If you look for a .NET developer to hire, make sure that they are skilled at the following:

How much does it cost to hire a NET developer? Hiring NET developers who have senior level will cost you more money than hiring juniors or mids. However, involving seniors in a project is not a must. If your project requirements allow it, you can succeed in working with juniors and mid-level engineers. There’s no problem if you have no tech background to test these skills. Dedicated software product engineering companies help clients choose the right tech stack and pick developers who are capable of building the features your product needs. You can either participate in the interviewing process or entrust it to the NET development company of your choice.

.NET Benefits and Facts

.NET is a cross-platform open-source technology used for developing various types of software. It supports a lot of programming languages. This gives .NET developers enough flexibility to build secure, engaging, and bug-free products. The most relevant industries for NET development include:

.NET technology is a big collection of technologies that consists of 4 segments. Each of them includes developer-friendly NET frameworks and numerous libraries that ease the creation of performant products.

• .NET Framework (building Windows solutions);
• Xamarin (cross-platform mobile app development);
• .NET Core (building apps);
• UWP (Universal Windows Platform used for building universal apps).

In its turn, the .NET platform can be subdivided into two components. This includes:

• CLR (Common Language Runtime). It’s used for memory management and facilitates code execution. CLR ensures flawless security and boosts product performance.
• FCL (Framework Class Library). This one comprises class libraries to enable common functions. With FCL, developers reduce the volume of programming tasks as the technology is capable of running everyday programming operations.

What You Can Get with .NET Technology?

There are lots of famous websites using .NET technology. The leading countries in the number of . NET-powered websites include the US (311,000+ websites), China (124,000+ websites), and the United Kingdom (64,000+ websites).

If you choose this technology well, you will get the following .NET benefits:

• Platform and language independence. .NET supports the 44 most popular languages. It makes the technology language-independent. .NET can be used for building products that will work on iOS, Windows, Android, Linux, Docker, etc. In total, the technology supports 11 platforms.
• Developer-friendly. The technology provides software developers with lots of tools that ease their work and ensure bug-free code execution. This saves you money and helps a project manager to decrease project risks. Microsoft Visual Studio presents engineers with a range of instruments for writing native and managed code.
• Reliability. The popularity of .NET technology has grown over the last few years. The technology has a proven record of powering stable, bug-free, and reliable software products for small to big businesses. .NET developers have built s strong community with a culture of helping each other and knowledge-sharing.
• Scalability. The technology is used for building scalable products. If you plan to grow and expand your business, a . NET-powered solution will be able to handle growing traffic for you and stay secure and performant.
• Efficiency. The United software model of .NET technology enables you to deliver a flawless user experience with reasonable development costs. .NET allows engineers to choose an approach — monolith or microservices. With a microservices architecture, developers can combine services built on .NET with Ruby, Java, and more.

What Types of Software .NET Developers Build

Web apps

The most common use case of .NET technology is web application development. Businesses choose web applications because of their ease of use. The difference between a web app and a website is well explained in our blog. To use a web app, you don’t need to download and install it. Web NET applications can be accessed via the Internet browser. The platform doesn’t matter as well, be it mobile, tablet, or desktop.

A dot NET developer who’s expected to build a web app needs to possess the knowledge of C# programming language. It’s also required that they are acquainted with MS Azure, Amazon, and other emerging technologies. Most importantly, a web app developer needs to have knowledge of ASP. Net framework.

ASP.NET is a component of the .NET platform designed for building NET web apps. It’s free and open-source. This is why hiring a .NET developer is less pricey than hiring other specialists. After all, having one less source of additional fees is always welcomed. ASP.NET has 3 main advantages:

• Fast. In fact, TechEmpower benchmarks have determined it to be faster than other popular web services.
• Flexible. ASP.NET can be run and used for web development on different platforms, be it Windows, macOS, Linux, or Docker.
• Secure. Microsoft has armed the framework with useful tools that help developers build secure solutions. This is especially important for web projects.

Cloud applications

Cloud applications and web applications share many similarities. Accessibility via the web is an obvious one. However, cloud applications do offer several advantages over web applications. For example, they are easy to scale, more reliable, and do not require hardware and software maintenance.

Cloud applications are definitely not for everybody. They are more suitable for larger enterprises that require software to handle more complex tasks. Smaller businesses more often than not can succeed with a regular web app.

The advantage of choosing .NET for your cloud solution is twofold:

• ASP.NET. It is used for developing cloud applications as well. This means that your solution will benefit from all of its advantages.
• Azure. A cloud service designed by Microsoft with .NET developers in mind. When combined with ASP.NET, it allows .NET developers to create secure and scalable cloud solutions without any problems. Azure offers many opportunities for cloud web developers. They can host client apps on Azure. Developers can improve the capabilities of on-premise apps with Azure not changing the architecture. Also, they can build serverless solutions for running event-driven workflows.

There is an added bonus when it comes to using Azure. Cloud solutions require space on the cloud to operate, which is purchased from the service provider. This is true for Azure as well, however, Microsoft offers some free options that you can use to get started.

Mobile apps

The popularity of mobile app development is well-known. Its importance to businesses, however, can be a bit surprising. In fact, business apps firmly hold second place in popularity on both the Apple Store and Google Play.

What does this mean? It means that your competitors may already be using a mobile app to provide better service for their customers. It also means that you should really consider hopping on the bandwagon before everyone gets too far ahead.

And, again, enlisting the help of .NET developers can be the right course of action. With the help of the Xamarin framework (which is part of the platform), .NET developers can build both native and cross-platform mobile applications for Android, iOS, and Windows Mobile. Many big names on the market have already made their choice in favor of Xamarin, including UPS, BBVA, and Alaska Airlines.

Besides being reliable and efficient, Xamarin is also completely free and open-source.

Desktop applications

If you are thinking about developing a desktop application, you cannot go wrong with Microsoft – they basically invented desktop applications!

Although I am exaggerating a bit, trusting Microsoft to provide the best technologies for developing desktop applications is a safe choice – they have been doing it for years.

.NET platform comes with 3 different frameworks:

• Windows Forms (WinForms);
• Universal Windows Platform (UWP);
• Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

Each has its own set of advantages that can be used to build robust, visually compelling desktop apps for Windows. The flexibility trend continues here since .NET allows for creating desktop apps for macOS as well (with the help of the mentioned Xamarin framework).

Machine Learning apps

Continuous developments in e-commerce AI have led to the increased popularity of machine learning (ML) – the ability of systems to interpret data and modify their behavior accordingly (or “learn”). Many industries have found ways to implement and benefit from ML. Probably none more so than eCommerce business. There are lots of ways to use e-commerce AI by small to big businesses, so check them out.

ML applications can examine customer behavior, predict trends, and analyze business performance. This allows businesses to create personalized user experiences for their customers and identify the best ways to develop and grow.

When it comes to prominent technologies, Microsoft never falls behind, and ML is no exception. The .NET platform is equipped with the ML.NET framework (I wonder how they came up with that name?), specifically designed for .NET developers to create ML applications. ML.NET is a free, open-source ML framework used for building custom ML models and integrating them into .NET software products. Numerous tests have determined ML.NET to be both faster and more accurate than a lot of its competitors.

By using ML.NET, software product engineers can build automated ML predictive algorithms for online or offline business scenarios. To build a custom predictive model, developers use C#. They can do this without leaving .NET. This reduces the development time and decreases client expenses accordingly. They also can use a pre-trained model offered by ML.NET that works on the standard patterns of data prediction. The model helps them define the steps to take to start receiving data from mobile, desktop, web, or IoT apps.

So, if you are considering introducing ML into your business, the course of action is clear and straightforward. Partner up with a reliable .NET development company, entrust them to create an ML solution tailored to all your business needs, and reap the rewards.

IoT

IoT (Internet of Things) is the development of devices that comprise a system and interact with each other. Two-way communication (from a device to the hub) is done via the Internet. .NET can be used for developing IoT for speech recognition solutions, smart buildings, self-driving cars, etc. For this, software product engineers can use Windows 10 IoT Core combined with Raspberry PI or BeagleBoard. .NET supports different devices, serial port interfaces, and displays. Developers can use this technology to ensure the work of various sensors, modules, trackers, complex hats, etc.

Game Development

You may be surprised by this fact, but many famous games were built with .NET. For instance, Pokémon Go, Inside, Endless Legend, and more. Unity is a game engine that is based on Mono. The latter is a software platform released by .NET. Developers use Mono libraries, C# programming language, and Unity to build immersive games. In fact, .NET supports a lot of game engines. If you plan to build a game, you can use this technology to build the game itself, an app for the game, as well as a performant website. Games can be built for PCs, consoles, mobile, Macs, etc. as the technology is platform-independent.

How to Find a Competent .NET Developer?

Now you know all the benefits the .NET technology offers. In fact, the universality and efficiency of the platform help developers build solutions more quickly. This ultimately saves you money and time. But if you decide to hire Net developers, you’ll have a responsible task. How to find the trusted and reliable one? Let’s figure this out.

1. Clearly formulate your request

While creating a job ad or starting your search, outline whom you expect to find. In the requirements, do not include odd or fancy words; stay clear and consistent. Also, if you want to hire the best dot NET developers with good communicative competence, do not forget to mention both hard and soft skills.

2. Look over the world

.Net developers for hire who are based in your country may be too expensive. This is why you should consider other places where you can look for a partner. The first idea that comes to mind is a freelance platform. Indeed, such platforms may give you access to an affordable partnership. Yet, the too-suspicious price for NET development services may come at a cost, which will be low quality. Unfortunately, by hiring freelance .NET programmers, you do not get any safety net. You cannot be sure that your work will be done effectively and correctly.

One more idea for finding expertized .NET developers is to outsource. In this case, companies have nothing to hide behind affordability. Outsourcing is cheaper simply because of the difference in the cost of living across the world. If you want to hire a .NET developer who will build a high-quality product at a satisfactory price, we encourage you to consider this type of cooperation. Cross-functional teams of dedicated dot NET developers working under Agile methodologies can make a huge difference in your project.

3. Prepare the interview questions

Start with asking the relevant questions during a job interview. It is recommended to prepare the list of interview questions in advance. If you have no tech background, involve tech-oriented people from the experienced team so that you can objectively assess the candidate’s expertise. Divide the list into the skills that a candidate “must have” and skills that are “nice to have.”

4. Test the hard skills

You may give the candidate a test task to check their readiness to do their job and their correspondence to your expectations. Ask tech-savvy people to help you prepare and check the test tasks. What to include in it? It’s preferable that a .NET developer to hire has experience in C#, NET Core development, ASP.NET, and compatible databases. You can ask a candidate to share their GitHub code to make sure that you found a good match.

5. Evaluate the soft skills

You need to prioritize soft skills as much as hard skills. That’s because all the projects usually presume teamwork. For a developer to stay on track, they need to have good communication skills. Also, they need to have the ability to cope with challenges and adjust to changing conditions. Responsibility and dedication are important traits as well. To make sure that a candidate is good at soft skills, involve your existing team. Together, you can prepare a list of questions that will make the candidate reveal their personality. For instance, “What was your biggest challenge at work, and what lessons did it teach you?”

The Sky’s The Limit for .NET Developers

The article describes everything you need to know if you hire dot NET developers. Obviously, the described benefits are far from everything that .NET developers can do for your business. The sky’s the limit, as they say, and this cannot be truer with regard to Microsoft technologies.

If you are looking for a reliable partner to help you solve the technological problems of your business, get in touch with us. Our .NET developers have extensive experience in software development and a record of delivering high-quality solutions that satisfy all client needs.