Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Microsoft .NET 8 enhances ID management

news
Nov 7, 20232 mins

.NET 8 aims to simplify identity management and login for single-page applications and Blazor web apps.

Cyber security concept

.NET 8, a planned upgrade to Microsoft’s cross-platform, open source development platform, is set to improve identity management, authentication, and authorization thanks to enhancements in the security vein delivered by the ASP.NET Core team.

Identity features in .NET 8 are positioned to make it easier to secure applications. Developers can add authentication and authorization to an application with a few lines of code, according to a Microsoft bulletin on November 3. New APIs make it possible to secure web API endpoints with cookie-based authentication and authorization. Also featured is a token-based option for clients that cannot use cookies.

Now in a release candidate (RC) stage and expected as a production release later this month, .NET 8 specifically will feature APIs to simplify identity management and login for client applications such as single-page apps (SPA) and the Blazor WebAssembly SPA framework. It also will enable token-based authentication and authorization in ASP.NET Core Identity for clients unable to use cookies. ASP.Net Core is a framework for building cloud-enabled, Internet-connected applications. A new identity UI for Blazor web apps, meanwhile, will work with server and WebAssembly rendering modes. Also part of the ASP.Net Core team’s contribution is improved documentation for discovering and implementing identity management solutions.

Identity management is among a host of improvements eyed for .NET 8, with enhancements planned for .NET technologies ranging from better performance in .NET MAUI (Multi-platform App UI) to garbage collection capabilities to adjust the memory limit on the fly. The current .NET 8 RC can be downloaded for Windows, Linux, or macOS at dotnet.microsoft.com.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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