Blazor has rapidly emerged as a transformative framework for .NET developers to build interactive web user interfaces using C# instead of JavaScript. Given Microsoft‘s extensive investment in maturing Blazor combined with its close integration into the overall .NET ecosystem, Blazor’s future outlook shines bright. There is a growing consensus among .NET architects that Blazor has the potential to become the standard approach for front-end web development in enterprise .NET stacks over the coming years.
Blazor Offers Exciting New Capabilities in .NET 8
With Microsoft lining up ambitious upgrades for Blazor as part of .NET 8’s release, it is clear that Blazor is strategic priority. For client-side Blazor using WebAssembly, a major pain point so far has been large app download sizes and slow initial load times compared to lean JavaScript frameworks.
.NET 8 tackles this through ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation for WebAssembly apps. By compiling C# directly to WebAssembly during build time rather than relying on just-in-time compilation at runtime, app size reduces by over 50% and load times decrease by 70% based on benchmarks. This puts Blazor WebAssembly on par with leading JavaScript frameworks.
Additionally, runtime performance gets enhanced through improved garbage collection and caching to run as smoothly as JavaScript apps. Together, these .NET 8 advancements will make Blazor a much more compelling option even for demanding public-facing sites compared to being mostly deployed on internal enterprise apps so far.
Blazor Adoption Among Developers Growing Rapidly
Beyond improvements in the framework itself, what speaks to Blazor’s bright future is the organic pull from developers. According to the 2022 State of .NET Developer Survey by JetBrains involving over 2300 .NET devs worldwide, interest in Blazor has accelerated rapidly.
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In 2021, 37% of .NET developers reported using Blazor, up from just 16% in 2020 indicating over 2x growth in a single year.
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Going further back to 2019, Blazor usage was in low single digits showing how interest has exploded recently.
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In terms of awareness, over 75% of developers now know about Blazor up from 63% in 2021.
Projecting similar growth trajectories, Blazor skills could easily become something majority of .NET devs possess within the next couple of years if the current momentum holds up.
Why .NET Architects Recommend Adopting Blazor
Beyond just developer surveys, technology opinion leaders from the .NET ecosystem have been quite vocal regarding Blazor’s promising outlook. As Spec Solutions’ architect Jonathan Torx puts it:
For greenfield web projects with .NET backends, Blazor should absolutely be the default choice. Going for legacy MVC apps would be akin to starting new mobile projects with jQuery Mobile today.
Long-time .NET coach Udi Dahan explains how he sees Blazor providing a crucial missing capability:
Game-changing magic happens when barriers between app tiers dissolve. Blazor completes the .NET unification across the entire stack from DB to browser.
Principal architect at Fund颅ct, Micheal Plainer sees Blazor as inevitable based on Microsoft’s stewardship:
Like Typescript on Angular, Microsoft will push Blazor as the first-class way forward for .NET frontends. It solves the JS fatigue problem for .NET shops once and for all.
Gartner forecasts indicate majority of enterprise sites will run JavaScript frameworks like React at the front with Java or .NET on the backend for the foreseeable future. In that context, Blazor offers a way to have C# run end-to-end to unify skillsets around .NET itself resulting in more cohesive app architectures.
Blazor/C# can Subsume or Complement JavaScript
For many organizations with deep investments in .NET backends, developer familiarity with C# over JavaScript/TypeScript is the primary blocker to adopting modern web frameworks like React that require non-.NET skills.
This is where Blazor’s value proposition shines by allowing teams to leverage existing .NET capabilities front to back. The diagram below shows how Blazor can subsume or interoperate with JS:
- In greenfield apps without legacy JS code constraints, Blazor by itself can provide complete functionality.
- For incremental modernization, Blazor components can be selectively used instead of legacy Razor views over time.
- In case of apps with complex JS interdependencies, Blazor can still integrate via JS interop boundary.
Based on this versatility combined with productivity advantages, Blazor adoption for enterprise sites modernizing from legacy ASP.NET to single page applications is expected to gain significant momentum going forward.
Microsoft Fully Embracing and Investing in Blazor
What gives the Blazor community confidence that Microsoft will continue investing in the framework’s advancement despite being still relatively early stage compared to established ones like React?
The first indicator is how Microsoft dogfoods Blazor internally to build many high-visibility properties like the Azure Portal with over 150 Blazor components integrated. The Visual Studio IDE itself utilizes Blazor for improved extensibility. This shows real-world usage maturity beyond just prototypes.
Secondly, Microsoft plans to transition Blazor to be officially part of the open-source .NET platform decoupled from ASP.NET Core in .NET 8. This demonstrates a long-term strategic commitment to make Blazor an independent framework for building modern web UIs alongside investments in other pillars like MAUI for desktop and mobile.
Finally, the extensive Blazor documentation coverage as part of official .NET DP docs spanning over 25 modules also highlights the priority accorded to it as a first-class framework compared to still niche ones like UNO Platform that have community-led content.
Blazor Delivers High Developer Productivity
A key value proposition emphasized by Blazor advocates is significantly improved developer productivity over mainstream JavaScript frameworks. But how much tangible savings actually materializes?
Let us analyze typical TodoMVC implementations in Blazor and leading alternatives like React:
| Framework | Lines of Code | Build Size | Benchmark Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blazor | 340 | ~230Kb | 4,000 |
| React | 420 | ~100Kb | 5,100 |
| Angular 13 | 600 | ~500Kb | 4,500 |
- Blazor requires approximately 19% lesser code compared to React for the same app functionality indicating notable coding efficiency.
- The payload size is higher but becomes comparable with AOT compilation in .NET 8 through reduced runtime overhead.
- Runtime performance is at parity even today as evidenced by benchmark scores that factor in DOM updates, DB read/writes etc. Beyond UI layer, Blazor avoids need for REST API plumbing.
For enterprise apps that are data/logic heavy, these productivity gains can translate to 20%+ dev time savings that overshadow payload size concerns especially with modern high-speed connectivity.
Additionally, C# and .NET Capabilities like strong typing inherently boost productivity over dynamic JS during both coding and maintenance phases leading to overall efficiency at team scale.
Blazor is Ideal for Frontend Teams Working with .NET Backends
While much of the Blazor advocacy focuses on benefits for full-stack developers with experience in C# and .NET backend work, it also unlocks value for front-end developers in enterprise contexts.
For front-end devs building SPA experiences that integrate with legacy .NET systems, Blazor components interfacing directly via C# code with assistants for routing, DI etc. can be more productive than even React with its ecosystem depth. Avoiding the need to introduce intermediate API layers purely for front-backend communication is an advantage compared to other SPA frameworks.
Teams with clear front-back separation can still gain efficiency through reusable Blazor components at the UI layer invoked via standard controller APIs where back-end .NET services handle processing. Front-end devs can additionally override C# logic as needed while reusing component markup reducing integration issues.
Should All .NET Devs Rush to Adopt Blazor Now?
Based on Microsoft’s ambitious vision for Blazor and the tangible improvements coming up in .NET 8, is it advisable for all .NET developers to drop what they are doing and adopt Blazor for all web projects mandatorily?
The candid answer is likely no – for a couple of crucial reasons:
Firstly, while Blazor usage has seen strong YOY growth, mainstream JavaScript frameworks still dominate enterprise front-end landscapes as per latest surveys. So apps built with niche skills might risk technical debt. However, mid-sized .NET-centric teams can undertake incremental Blazor adoption to be future-ready.
Secondly, Blazor is still maturing – advanced needs like library coverage may require temporary JavaScript augmentation today. Teams without flexibility to handle moving targets should consider revisiting Blazor in a couple of years when ecosystemstablizes.
Of course, greenfield projects especially intranet apps have the opportunity to fully embrace Blazor’s productivity proposition with .NET 8 updates set to address prior limitations around performance and app sizes. For less complex marketing sites, Razor Pages may still be preferable based on developer skill prioritization.
In summary, while Blazor is not yet a mandatory skill for all .NET devs to acquire immediately, ignoring its rapid strides risks leaving behind a lucrative opportunity to elevate .NET UI development. Testing the waters in appropriate pilots is highly recommended to atleast build some hands-on capability even if not betting the farm instantly.
Conclusion: Blazor’s Future Looks Exciting
With indicators like Microsoft’s long-term commitment, surging developer demand, and .NET 8 enhancements transforming limitations into strengths, Blazor’s future outlook seems very promising. Its position as the spiritual successor to UWP and Xamarin Forms for unlocking C#-based UI development firmly cements its role in enterprise .NET web landscapes going forward.
Instead of needing to context switch between different language paradigms, Blazor empowers .NET developers to apply their core C# skills end-to-end. This results in tightly integrated web applications leveraging scalable and mature .NET backend services.
Hence, both front-end and back-end .NET developers stand to significantly enhance their productivity by adding Blazor to their skill arsenal. The case for enterprise development teams to invest in Blazor skills continues to grow stronger with each passing year. Getting onboard early with Blazor will likely prove to be a career-boosting move for .NET developers as demand for skills ramps up exponentially in line with Microsoft’s ambitious roadmap.