C# is a versatile, easy-to-learn language with strong object-oriented features. Paired with the evolving .NET, it boosts productivity, simplifies development, and ensures scalable, high-performance applications. It’s no wonder that C# is now popular for CTOs and business leaders seeking reliable and scalable solutions that fit their organisations' needs.
With the .NET Core becoming open source, the impact of C# broadened by transforming it into a cross-platform language, increasing its reach and flexibility. The open-source nature and Microsoft’s ongoing support led to faster innovation, community contributions, and greater adoption, boosting C#'s popularity and ecosystem.
Many companies rely on C# for diverse purposes, such as building software products, streaming platforms, cross-platform tools and mission-critical applications. YLD has extensive experience working with clients where C# supported the development of resilient and adaptable platforms for cloud, desktop, and web. Some of our successful projects include building a customer service platform with C# and using it to integrate external services for credit validations.
Trainline
In partnership with Trainline, our developers relied on C# to build a strong customer service platform. C# was used to support ticketing and payment systems, among other internal services.
In the initial stage, a key priority of the project was to emphasise backward compatibility that would ensure stability during updates, save costs and maintain user trust. It would also enable a smooth integration of new features without disrupting existing operations, requiring minimal code rewrites. By seamlessly migrating and maintaining feature parity with the existing .NET Framework version, Trainline was able to achieve a more cost-effective way of running applications and delivering faster response times for a better user experience.
Our client had several APIs built on .NET Framework 4.5.2 and while it offered stability and a mature ecosystem, it was decided to move these APIs to .NET Core 3.1 and .NET Standard 2.0. The move to .NET Core supported cross-platform deployment, allowing developers to run applications on cost-effective Linux servers in addition to Windows. The lightweight nature of .NET Core also improved performance by delivering faster response times and lowering resource consumption. Overall, this enhanced cross-platform support, performance, and security, while also facilitating broader compatibility and easier integration across various .NET implementations.
Additionally, the porting of each service/API was planned so there would be minimum to no impact on availability. The characteristics of .NET and C# gave the engineering team guarantees of compatibility, which opened the fields for improvements and for leveraging the ever-growing feature set of .NET Core and C#.
From a development and coding perspective, the migration to C# was remarkably seamless, thanks to the language's powerful features and strengths. One of the examples was the "syntactic sugar" of C#, capable of transforming complex logic into manageable tasks. With it, features like asynchronous thread management and parallel dependency calls became effortless, simplifying our code and accelerating development. Using our existing engineering skills ensured a smooth and efficient transition, allowing developers to fully harness the power of C# from the very start.
We also supported Trainline with their migration from ASP. NET Web Forms to .NET. With this, our client was able to modernise their platform without a complete code rewrite, reusing much of the existing code and leveraging the collective expertise of their engineers. This approach also allowed them to evolve and upgrade their platform selectively, ensuring they could continuously serve their client base with some parts of the code being rewritten.
YLD supported the implementation of several engineering improvements to leverage the strengths of .NET Core and the newer C# versions, including, but not limited to, making use of new and improved data structures and optimising dependencies on packages.
C# and .NET have a series of features that allow you to abstract complexities that are less productive in other languages. A good example is how managing threads and asynchronous operations is made simple with the async and await pattern. These improvements paved the way for higher developer productivity and cost-effectiveness.
NewDay
Similarly, YLD has partnered with NewDay, a UK-based financial services company, to assist in the global expansion of their digital-first offerings. As part of our engagement, we contributed to C# backend development and acted on a variety of business areas such as strong customer authentication, identity, transactional fraud, open banking, account management and payment services, among others.
Our backend engineers helped create and maintain .NET services that perform all critical and regulatory functions across NewDay. For our client, using C# and .NET meant they could build a more flexible, reliable and resilient platform that can evolve, improve and be maintained cost-effectively. By using Azure Services such as Service Bus, CosmosDB, and Storage Queues, we helped NewDay build a high-performance file/data ingestion service that can scale.
C# and .NET also have a strong focus on security, providing built-in support for encryption and authentication. This was a particularly important aspect for NewDay to support their need to handle sensitive data and confront growing cybersecurity risks. We used Web APIs with OIDC services and AzureAAD to implement authentication with tokens. This was a crucial step for ensuring the security of the business. Additionally, with Azure’s MSI token system, YLD was able to help increase the security around the microservices in an easy and streamlined way.
With the help of .NET’s powerful asynchronous programming features, it was possible to drastically reduce the I/O wait time and increase performance. This led to even better results in managing large files, where each row of data might involve multiple network roundtrips, such as making external API calls and writing to CosmosDB or Service Bus.
Standardised protocols, such as OIDC, streamline the authentication process and enhance security by providing single sign-on (SSO). This enabled NewDay to simplify user management and enhance customer experience with seamless access across apps using a single set of credentials.
Implementing unit and component tests in C# allows you to maintain the reliability and stability of code throughout the development process. Streamlined with frameworks like MSTest, NUnit, and xUnit, unit tests integrate seamlessly with Visual Studio and .NET. Throughout our collaboration with NewDay, having robust unit, component, and integration tests in place allowed our team to confidently make changes, knowing the core functionality remains intact.
C# is also a robust language that encourages careful and thoughtful development. This enables innovation to thrive within a secure environment, as C# ensures that products can evolve and grow without compromising existing functionality. Its strong type system and structured approach help maintain stability while allowing developers to build and enhance features confidently. This is particularly important for companies such as NewDay, handling financial transactions and sensitive data.
Navigating growth with C#
C# and .Net provide businesses with a powerful and flexible tool for software development, offering seamless integration with Microsoft technologies, cross-platform capabilities, strong security features and a supportive development environment.
By using C#, we helped Trainline with improved customer experience and retention, achieving more than they initially perceived. For NewDay, using C# and .NET meant they could build a more flexible, reliable and resilient platform that can evolve, improve and be maintained cost-effectively.
While being open source and community-driven, C# comes with Microsoft’s long-term support and robust enterprise-level assistance that will set your business up for success. At YLD, we continuously support new and existing clients in their C# development journey, with our portfolio steadily expanding. Our talented team of experts at YLD can help you achieve your goals and drive your business forward — contact us to discuss the prospect of a potential project.
.png)
