23 Useful .Net Libraries for Your Next Project

Not every development framework is capable of creating a modern application. One of the reasons why .NET is considered one of the best frameworks is because it offers a variety of libraries that can help developers create these modern apps. Its features are also updated using low code and the deployment of high-scalable and accomplished apps. This makes the architecture of the app more efficient and effective without the need of reinventing the wheel which allows you to focus on the more important tasks.

As a software developer, you should be familiar with top .NET development tools and libraries and what they offer. Although a large range of options is available, it becomes challenging to choose one of them for your upcoming project. To help you make that decision, in this blog, we have provided you with information about a bunch of dot net libraries with the help of developers from .net development company TatvaSoft. You can leverage to make your software development process more effective and efficient.

23 Most-Useful .Net Libraries List

1. Swashbuckle

Now, you can create API documentation with the help of this .NET library. The Swagger UI of this library helps you explore and test various API operations. Core features of Swashbuckle include:

• Swagger 2.0 is generated automatically
• Swagger UI is integrated seamlessly
• Extensibility hooks by Swagger UI
• XML comments are supported
• Basic authentication, APIKey, authentication Implicit OAuth2 scheme, and flow are also supported in this .NET Core library.

2. Polly

Polly is a lightweight .NET library. It allows developers to manage faults such as thread-safe fallback, bulk-head isolation, circuit break, timeout, retrying, and more. Polly comes with many features including:

• Allowing Zero-dependency
• Offering resilient strategies
• Enabling navigation through unreliable network

3. AutoMapper

If you want to automate the object-to-object mapping then you can use this .NET Core library. Using AutoMapper frees the developers from the worries of their code when they are mapping values. AutoMapper comes with the following features:

• Enum Extensions
• Collection extensions
• Microsoft DI extensions
• Expression mapping
• IDataReader/Record extensions
• EF6 extensions

4. SaasKit

If you want to develop a software as a service application then this library is the right choice for you. SaaSkit allows you to create multitenant applications with the help of the OWIN interface. If you don’t know about how to use this .NET library then you can refer to the blogs of the creator of SaaSkit, Ben Foster who provides informative resources on how to use the SaaSkit library.

5. Diagnostics.HealthChecks

Now, you can diagnose the health checks and the UI with the utilization of this library. The liveness of the Microsoft health checks is also diagnosed by it. You can display health checks as Diagnostics.HealthChecks allow you to build exclusive APIs for it. This .NET library can diagnose the health checks of the following:

• Servers
• APIs
• Apps
• Azure services
• Databases

6. MailKit

If your client-server is cross-platform then the Mailkit library has many features to offer that can be helpful for your project. Some of them are as mentioned below:

• Async API and API cancellation
• Pop3 client
• Proxy support for SOCKS4/4a, SOCKS, and HTTP
• IMAP4 client
• SMTP client
• Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) Authentication

7. CacheManager

Abstracting cache in C# is now easy with CacheManager. Developers have a hard time with complex caching scenarios, which won’t be the case anymore if you start using this dotnet library. It offers a variety of advanced features.

8. Dapper

Another dot net library you can use for object mapping is Dapper. The unique thing about it is that it supports high-performance ORMs for SqICE, SQLite, MySQL, SQL Server, and more. Dapper is a NuGen library that enables you to extend your IDB connection interface.

9. Ocelot

Ocelot is just an open-source API gateway that is used to run service-oriented architecture or microservices. It can also be used for load balancing, rate limiting, caching, routing, configuration, request aggregation, authentication, authorization, and more.
 
 

10. NLog

If you want a dot net library that can help you with logging then NLog is at your service. NLog is an open-source cross-platform library that enables you to handle log routines using excellent features. Some of the critical features of this dot net library are:

• Structured logging
• Template formation
• Extensible
• Easy configuration

11. LiteDB

Similar to MangoDB, LiteDB is also a lightweight NoSQL database used for .NET Core frameworks. You can use it for free to download anything you want for your project since LiteDB is an open-source dot net library. Some of the features offered by LiteDB include:

• FileStorage and system collection
• Reader: no lock. Writer: per collection lock
• Thread-safe cross-collection transaction
• Query support for index and loader

12. Smidge

Smidge is a lightweight .NET library that is extremely helpful in app development. It comes with some excellent features like:

• Cache busting
• Client-side and server-side caching
• Production configuration and debugging for every bundle
• Fluent syntax
• For CSS and JSS files, Smidge offers combination, compression, and minification

13. Bcrypt.net

BCrypt library was created by Damien Miller to encrypt the .NET framework. This library is compatible with frameworks of both .NET and .NET Core technologies.

14. FluentEmail

Now, you can send emails flawlessly to the frameworks of both .NET Core and .NET technologies with the help of the FluentEmail library. It works using many protocols including MailGun, SMTP, and Sendgrid.

15. UnitConversion

If there is a need for unit conversion in any framework of .NET or .NET Core technology then you can use this library. The UnitConversion library includes conversions for:

• volume
• distance
• time
• area
• mass

16. FastReport

FastReport is an open-source library that is used to generate reports for .NET Core frameworks. This dot net library enables you to add data from:

• CSV
• MySQL
• Oracle
• SQLite
• XML
• Postgres
• JSON
• MongoDB
• RavenDB
• CouchBase

17. Autocomplete

If you are looking for a library that can auto-complete fields and boxes for you in any kind of application may it be a web app, cloud, or desktop app then Autocomplete is the right .NET Core library for you. It is dependent on jQuery and its minified JS file is around 13KB.

18. AppMetrics

AppMetrics is an open-source .NET library. Developers can use it to record and report metrics in the app. Different types of metrics offered by AppMetrics include:

• Support for counters, histograms, timers, and gauges
• Free memory
• Counting user logins
• Time to run database queries
• Requests rate

19. SharpCompress

Now you will be able to compress or decompress your files in the .NET Core framework easily using the SharpCompress library. For larger files, non-seekable streams are supported here. Some features of this library are as mentioned below:

• Multi-volume zip support
• RAR 5 decryption support
• Zip64
• Zip writing

20. nopCommerce

If you are looking for a dot net library that can offer shopping cart support then your search ends here. nopCommerce is secure, stable, and comes with great functionality. nopCommerce is compatible with webfarms and Azure.
 
 

21. Cscore

Developers can leverage the Cscore library for audio utilizations such as capture, effects, encode, decode, and more. Its essential features include:

• Provide quick support on GitHub and StackOverflow
• Easy to use for novices
• Performance is optimized using CLI instructions
• Unit tests enable high code coverage

22. NetOffice

If you want a .NET Core library, especially for the Microsoft Office tools then here it is. NetOffice allows you to automate and extend the Microsoft Office tools. It supports every version of MS Office tools like Vision, Access, Outlook, Project, MS Excel, and Powerpoint that are released after 2000 in the dot net core frameworks.

• No registration needed
• Development is version independent
• Add-in developments
• .NET Framework 4 or higher can be used

23. SignalR

Adding real-time web functionalities in your dot net apps can be very easy if you are using the SignalR library. It enables the developers to push-add data from servers to apps. It provides more features such as:

• You can send message to a group of clients
• You can message all your clients simultaneously
• Automatic connection management
• Traffic is managed using scaling

Conclusion

I hope this list of top .NET libraries is very useful for you. Tell me which library you think would come in handy during .NET app development. And I know we haven’t included everything in the list, so if you have any suggestions then please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

About the Author

Jenish Anderson is a .NET developer at TatvaSoft. He is writing on various topics and technology trends. He always prefer to share his valuable insights among the development audience with the help of blogs.