What does it mean to depend on Microsoft.NETCore.App?

Thursday, April 14, 2016 5:46:47 PM

Problem

What does this dependency mean in the project.json file?

"Microsoft.NETCore.App": 
{

    "type": "platform",

    "version": "1.0.0-rc2-23931"
}

Bits

What’s different between putting that dependency inside a top level `dependencies` section and putting it in a `frameworks > some-framework > dependencies` section?

How does this related to the following packages.

NETCore.App
NETStandard.App
NETStandard.Library
NETStandard.Platform
Microsoft.NETCore.App
Microsoft.NETCore

How does this related to the following Target Platform Names and Aliases?

Platform Name	Alias
.NET Platform Standard ( not a real platform )	netstandard
.NET Core	netcoreapp
.NET Framework	net
Mono	-

Platforms

.NET Platform Standard

is NOT a real platform
contains only reference assemblies

.NET Core, .NET Framework, and Mono

are anchor platforms
contain anchored assemblies

Definitions

Reference Assembly. Contracts only. Cannot run. No IL in method bodies.

Implementation Assembly.

Implements a reference assembly.
Can be a standalone package or be part of a platform.

Anchored Assembly.

Is an implementation assembly…
that is part of a platform not a stand-alone assembly.

TxM .

Target something moniker.
For instance, with frameworks this is TFM, and means Target Framework Moniker.

My Sense (Best Guess)

To depended on `Microsoft.NETCore.App` means to depend on a platform that includes implementation assemblies . If we put `Microsoft.NETCore.App` in our project.json dependencies section, then that means we’re going to pull the entire `Microsoft.NETCore.App` platform down from NuGet, which will include all of its implementation assemblies.