Dotnet Core Versions

.NET Core is a cross-platform, open-source framework developed by Microsoft for building modern, scalable, and high-performance applications. It has since been unified with .NET Framework into a single product under the name ".NET" (starting with version 5), which is a continuation of .NET Core.

Here’s a summary of the evolution and versions of .NET Core:

1. .NET Core 1.0 - Released in June 2016.
2. .NET Core 1.1 - Released in November 2016.
3. .NET Core 2.0 - Released in August 2017.
4. .NET Core 2.1 - Released in May 2018 (LTS).
5. .NET Core 2.2 - Released in December 2018.
6. .NET Core 3.0 - Released in September 2019.
7. .NET Core 3.1 - Released in December 2019 (LTS).

After .NET Core 3.1, the versioning transitioned to .NET 5:

8. .NET 5 - Released in November 2020 (marks the unification of .NET Core and .NET Framework).
9. .NET 6 - Released in November 2021 (LTS).
10. .NET 7 - Released in November 2022.
11. .NET 8 - Released in November 2023 (LTS).

The versioning structure now focuses on just ".NET", where .NET Core versions are no longer distinct, and the term ".NET Core" has been replaced by ".NET". .NET 5 and onwards represent the unified platform that evolved from .NET Core.

To check the version of .NET (whether .NET Core or the latest .NET versions), you can use the command:

dotnet --version