Create 2024-03-07-upgrade-assistant.md

_posts/2024-03-07-upgrade-assistant.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: ".NET Upgrade Assistant"
+description: "If you still have to deal with .NET Framework Projects and want to upgrade..."
+date: 2024-03-07 23:59
+author: Robert Muehsig
+tags: [.NET Framework, .NET Core]
+language: en
+---
+
+{% include JB/setup %}
+
+For those facing the challenge of migrating their .NET Framework-based application to the modern .NET stack, Microsoft's ["Upgrade Assistant"](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/platform/upgrade-assistant) is highly recommended:
+
+<iframe width="660" height="371" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3mPb4KAbz4Y" title="Upgrade Your .NET Projects Faster with Visual Studio" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
+
+# What is the "Upgrade Assistant"?
+
+The "Upgrade Assistant" is a tool that can integrate into Visual Studio or be accessed [via CLI](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/porting/upgrade-assistant-overview?WT.mc_id=dotnet-35129-website#upgrade-with-the-cli-tool).
+If you install the [__extension__](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-dotnettools.upgradeassistant) for Visual Studio you will have a new option "Upgrade project" available in your Solution Explorer.
+
+# .NET Framework to "new" and more...
+
+Its main use case is upgrading .NET Framework-based WPF, WinForms, class libraries, or web applications to the newest .NET version. Besides this, the tool offers some other migration paths as well, e.g. from UWP to WinUI 3.
+
+You even can use the tool to migrate from an older .NET Core version to a newer version (but - to be honest: those upgrades are quite easy in contrast to the .NET Framework to .NET Core migration).
+
+Depending on the project type, the assistant allows for an "In-Place Upgrade," "Side-by-Side," or "Side-by-Side Incremental" upgrade.
+
+- "In-Place Upgrade" means that the existing code is directly modified.
+- "Side-by-Side" means that a new project is created and migration to the latest version is based on a copy.
+- "Side-by-Side Incremental," to my knowledge, is only available for ASP.NET web applications. Here, a new .NET Core project is added in parallel, and a sort of "bridge" is built in the original .NET project. This seems to me to be clever on the one hand but also very risky on the other.
+
+You can see those upgrade methods in the video above.
+
+# Is it good?
+
+[We](https://primesoft-group.com/en/) have used (or at least tested) the Assistant for upgrading WPF and class libraries to .NET Core and it helps to identify problems (e.g. if a NuGet package or any "old" framework code is not compatible).
+My verdict: If you need to upgrade your code, you should give it a try.
+In a more complex code base, it will sometimes mess with the code, but it still helps to give directions.
+
+Hope this helps!