One thing I appreciate about C# and .NET is how well they resist codebase rot. In some other languages, I often encounter situations where the development environment needs to be completely recreated—sometimes due to an updated interpreter version or other breaking changes. If you've been away from the codebase for a while, chances are you'll need to make modifications just to get it running in a more recent environment.
With .NET, this issue is much less pronounced. While occasional adjustments are necessary, the environment is largely self-contained, minimizing the overhead required to get things running. As long as the .NET SDK is installed, running dotnet restore is usually all it takes—even when moving the codebase to an entirely new machine.
Some third-party libraries evolve more rapidly than others, but the core .NET libraries remain remarkably stable. More often than not, you can transition between major versions without needing to modify any code.
If I were starting a long-term project that required ongoing maintenance, C# would be my top choice. For quick scripting needs, I’d lean toward Python or PowerShell. In fact, PowerShell itself is another reason I appreciate .NET—it shares many concepts, and knowing .NET makes it easier to understand PowerShell. Plus, since PowerShell can directly leverage .NET libraries, it offers powerful scripting capabilities. I was thrilled when PowerShell became cross-platform, much like .NET itself.
With .NET, this issue is much less pronounced. While occasional adjustments are necessary, the environment is largely self-contained, minimizing the overhead required to get things running. As long as the .NET SDK is installed, running dotnet restore is usually all it takes—even when moving the codebase to an entirely new machine.
Some third-party libraries evolve more rapidly than others, but the core .NET libraries remain remarkably stable. More often than not, you can transition between major versions without needing to modify any code.
If I were starting a long-term project that required ongoing maintenance, C# would be my top choice. For quick scripting needs, I’d lean toward Python or PowerShell. In fact, PowerShell itself is another reason I appreciate .NET—it shares many concepts, and knowing .NET makes it easier to understand PowerShell. Plus, since PowerShell can directly leverage .NET libraries, it offers powerful scripting capabilities. I was thrilled when PowerShell became cross-platform, much like .NET itself.