.Net core benefit - side by side execution need clarity

Question

it is mentioned in microsoft ebook that one of the benefit of .net core is you can run side by side .NET versions for applications within the same machine, my confusion here is even in .net framework same feature was available where application pointing different .net framework versions can run together in same machine.

So how it is an extra benefit of .net core, or am i missing some thing?

Answer 1

In .NET Core 3.0 and above, runtimes can be installed side-by-side only if they differ in major or minor version. From https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/releases-and-support (from 03/22/2022):

Release types

Information about the type of each release is encoded in the version number in the form major.minor.patch.

For example:

.NET 5 and NET 6 are major releases.
.NET Core 3.1 is the first minor release after the .NET Core 3.0 major release.
.NET Core 5.0.15 is the fifteenth patch for .NET 5.

Major releases

Major releases include new features, new public API surface area, and bug fixes. Examples include .NET 5 and .NET 6. Due to the nature of the changes, these releases are expected to have breaking changes. Major releases install side by side with previous major releases. Minor releases

Minor releases also include new features, public API surface area, and bug fixes, and may also have breaking changes. An example is .NET Core 3.1. The difference between these and major releases is that the magnitude of the changes is smaller. An application upgrading from .NET Core 3.0 to 3.1 has a smaller jump to move forward. Minor releases install side by side with previous minor releases. Servicing updates

Servicing updates (patches) ship almost every month, and these updates carry both security and non-security bug fixes. For example, .NET 5.0.8 is the eighth update for .NET 5. When these updates include security fixes, they're released on "patch Tuesday", which is always the second Tuesday of the month. Servicing updates are expected to maintain compatibility. Starting with .NET Core 3.1, servicing updates are upgrades that remove the preceding update. For example, the latest servicing update for 3.1 removes the previous 3.1 update upon successful installation.

So you can for example have .NET 5 and .NET 6 installed side-by-side or 3.0 and 3.1 but not 5.0.4 and 5.0.15.