Technical FAQ for Developers
Find answers for the most frequently asked questions
Blazor Hybrid is gaining popularity in the technology community as an efficient methodology for deploying solutions to the web, mobile devices and desktop machines (cross-platform development). This practice combines Blazor and .NET MAUI to help developers reuse code to deploy apps to these platforms.
Blazor is Microsoft’s latest web development framework and it is growing exponentially and becoming one of the preferred technologies. .NET MAUI is a new Microsoft framework for creating applications that run on mobile and desktop devices. Developers using Blazor Hybrid write web apps in Blazor and then reuse code inside .NET MAUI apps for the most efficient way to deploy to all platforms.
Can Blazor Hybrid be used in large-scale applications?
Not only can you use Blazor Hybrid for large-scale enterprise applications, but it is also recommended. As described above, the efficiency gains are clear but the reasons run deeper. The underlying technology is Microsoft’s .NET Framework, which is widely considered by development experts and architects as the best technology for large-scale business application development.
Enterprises need to be careful when selecting technologies. Their apps need to perform under a high user and data load, they need to protect their users and their IP with the strongest security measures available, they need to optimize developer productivity and they need to trust the organization behind the technology. .NET (and Blazor Hybrid by association) meet these requirements.
Microsoft introduced the .NET Framework in 2002 as a way for developers to quickly and easily build business applications. It was built with enterprise in mind and has been developed and battle-tested since. A few reasons why .NET is great for large-scale projects are listed below while the most important aspects are discussed throughout this article.
Blazor and .NET MAUI, the two frameworks involved in Blazor Hybrid development are .NET technologies. They inherit the benefits of .NET in general.
Cross-platform development is the practice of creating apps to run on desktops, web browsers and mobile devices. The need for cross-platform development can be a burden on development teams since each platform uses a different development language for its native apps. This is a growing need in the enterprise as vast numbers of users have different preferences and needs.
Rather than creating completely separate apps for each platform, developers using Blazor Hybrid can reuse their web code inside a .NET MAUI app, which runs on desktop and mobile devices. Furthermore, they can develop in C#, HTML and CSS only. Otherwise, they would need to learn and develop in native languages for each platform (e.g.: Swift for iOS).
In other words, a developer can create a Blazor web app and then reuse that project inside a .NET MAUI app with little extra work. This empowers them to create apps that run in browsers, iOS, Android, Windows, MacOS, Linux and so on. You can imagine how much work would be required to create separate projects for each.
The efficiency in creating apps is clear. These benefits multiply when you consider maintenance.
Microsoft takes security seriously and treats it as priority #1 in its .NET Framework. They issue frequent updates to address the ever-changing security landscape. Features include:
These come for “free” with the .NET framework and would take development teams years to build in-house.
Security is also paramount in the enterprise. If a data breach occurs, companies risk enormous lawsuits, lost customers and drops in stock prices. Other attacks cause loss of intellectual property and countless other damages. Negligence can be extremely costly.
Millions of developers use .NET and Blazor as one of the most popular .NET technologies for building web apps. This means that there are plenty of resources from peers to full-scale consulting firms to rely on when help is needed. Enterprises creating Blazor Hybrid apps don’t need to worry about project delays or failures when problems or challenges present themselves.
There are many well-established companies that provide tools and services for Blazor and Blazor Hybrid. Progress® Telerik®, for example, has been offering industry-leading component libraries since the beginning of .NET. Telerik UI for Blazor, the industry’s largest UI component library, supports developers creating Blazor Hybrid apps. Learn more on the Telerik UI for Blazor Hybrid page.
The worst thing that can happen to a large-scale and expensive project is for the underlying framework to become unsupported. Lack of support means that there will be no more updates that modernize the platform, no new features, no bug fixes and no security updates. The framework is essentially frozen in time.
If an enterprise is using unsupported technology, they need to make a tough choice. They would need to scrap the project and start over or spend valuable resources supporting the technology themselves either in-house or through a consulting firm. Fortunately, Microsoft is not going away and they are committed to supporting .NET, Blazor and MAUI well into the future.