Upon completing this Specialization you will be able to build a complete .NET web application and deploy it to the cloud without assistance. Specifically, you will be able to write object-oriented C# using collections, LINQ, and asynchronous methods; design REST APIs with ASP.NET Core and persist data to PostgreSQL through Entity Framework Core; secure those APIs with ASP.NET Core Identity and JWT tokens; build a Blazor front end that consumes them; and package the result as a Docker container deployed to Azure Container Apps through a GitHub Actions pipeline. These skills map directly to .NET developer, backend developer, and full stack developer roles.

Yes. This Specialization is built around a follow-along, hands-on learning model. Each concept is taught through step-by-step demonstrations in Visual Studio Code that you can replicate on your own setup. Tool installation and configuration are covered from the first module of each course. You are encouraged to pause, type the code yourself, and run it, because the assessments assume you have done so.

.NET is the modern, cross-platform, open-source successor to .NET Framework, which was Windows-only and is now in maintenance rather than active feature development. This Specialization teaches modern .NET, which runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux and is the version used for new development, containers, and cloud workloads. If you learned .NET Framework with Web Forms and ADO.NET, this Specialization covers the current equivalents: ASP.NET Core, Entity Framework Core, and Blazor. Skills transfer well, but the project structure, hosting model, and tooling have changed substantially.

No. The demonstrations use Visual Studio Code and the .NET command line interface, both of which are free and run on Windows, macOS, and Linux. You do not need a Windows machine or a Visual Studio license at any point. If you prefer Visual Studio or JetBrains Rider, the code is identical and only the interface steps differ. For Course 3 you will also install Docker Desktop, which is available on all three operating systems.

Blazor is Microsoft's framework for building interactive web user interfaces using C# and HTML instead of JavaScript. It lets a .NET developer write both the API and the front end in one language, sharing models and validation logic across the two, which reduces context switching and duplicated code. In Course 2 you use Blazor components, data binding, forms, validation, and routing to build a client that consumes your ASP.NET Core API. Blazor does not replace JavaScript everywhere, but for teams already invested in .NET it removes an entire second toolchain.

Cloud-native describes applications designed from the start to run as independently deployable, observable, resilient services in a cloud environment rather than as a single application installed on a server. In practice for .NET this means packaging the application as a container image with Docker, wiring services together and handling service discovery with .NET Aspire, emitting logs, metrics, and traces through OpenTelemetry, and deploying to a managed platform such as Azure Container Apps.

An Azure account is recommended to complete the cloud deployment demonstrations. A free Azure account or trial subscription can be used to follow along.

PostgreSQL is used because it is free, open-source, cross-platform, and widely deployed for .NET applications running in containers and on Linux. Entity Framework Core treats database providers interchangeably, so the modeling, migrations, relationships, and query code you write against PostgreSQL applies almost unchanged to SQL Server, MySQL, or SQLite. Learning the provider-independent patterns matters more than learning one database engine.

No prior container or DevOps experience is assumed. Course 3 introduces images, layers, and Dockerfiles from first principles, then progresses to multi-stage builds, container registries, and multi-service stacks with Docker Compose. Kubernetes itself is not required, because the Specialization deploys to Azure Container Apps, a managed service that runs containers without you administering a cluster. The continuous integration and deployment lessons build a GitHub Actions pipeline step by step, starting from a simple restore, test, and build workflow.

Yes. C# and .NET remain heavily used in enterprise backend systems, financial services, healthcare, logistics, and game development through Unity, and modern .NET is a first-class option for containerized cloud services. Demand is concentrated in backend and full stack roles that combine C# with ASP.NET Core, a relational database, and a cloud platform, which is exactly the combination this Specialization covers.

This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.

Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.