Software framework in the context of OpenCL

The .NET platform (pronounced as "dot net"; formerly named .NET Core) is a free and open-source, managed computer software framework for Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems. It is a cross-platform successor to the .NET Framework. The project is mainly developed by Microsoft employees by way of the .NET Foundation and is today released under an MIT License.

New versions of the .NET platform are released annually, typically in November. The most recent version of .NET is .NET 10, released in November 2025, which is a long-term support (LTS) version, and is scheduled to receive updates until November 2028.

WatchKit is a framework provided by Apple to develop applications for the Apple Watch. The WatchKit framework is designed for the Swift programming language and also the Objective-C programming language and must be compiled in Xcode, similar to iOS applications.

In computing, a legacy system is an old method, technology, computer system, or application program, "of, relating to, or being a previous or outdated computer system", yet still in use. Often referencing a system as "legacy" means that it paved the way for the standards that would follow it. This can also imply that the system is out of date or in need of replacement.

Legacy code is old computer source code that is no longer supported on standard hardware and environments, and is a codebase that is in some respect obsolete or supporting something obsolete. Legacy code may be written in programming languages, use frameworks and external libraries, or use architecture and patterns that are no longer considered modern, increasing the mental burden and ramp-up time for software engineers who work on the codebase. Legacy code may have zero or insufficient automated tests, making refactoring dangerous and likely to introduce bugs. Long-lived code is susceptible to software rot, where changes to the runtime environment, or surrounding software or hardware may require maintenance or emulation of some kind to keep working. Legacy code may be present to support legacy hardware, a separate legacy system, or a legacy customer using an old feature or software version.

In software development, porting is the process of adapting software to run in a different context. Often it involves modifying source code so that a program can run on a different platform (i.e. on a different CPU or operating system) or in a different environment (i.e. with a different library or framework). It also describes adapting a change or feature from one codebase to another – even between different versions of the same software.

Software is classified as portable if it can be hosted in a different context with no change to the source code. It might be considered portable if the cost of adapting it to a context is significantly less than the cost of writing it from scratch. The lower the cost of porting relative to the cost to re-write, the more portable it is said to be. The effort depends on several factors including the extent to which the original context differs from the new context, the skill of the programmers, and the portability of the codebase.

An application server is a server that hosts applications or software that delivers a business application through a communication protocol. For a typical web application, the application server sits behind the web servers.

An application server framework is a service layer model. It includes software components available to a software developer through an application programming interface. An application server may have features such as clustering, fail-over, and load-balancing. The goal is for developers to focus on the business logic.

KDE Frameworks is a collection of libraries and software frameworks readily available to any Qt-based software stacks or applications on multiple operating systems. Featuring frequently needed functionality solutions like hardware integration, file format support, additional graphical control elements, plotting functions, and spell checking, the collection serves as the technological foundation for KDE Plasma and KDE Gear. It is distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). As of September 2025, the latest stable release is KDE Frameworks 6 (KF6).

A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for video game development, which may include specialized software libraries and packages, such as level editors. The term "engine" is a direct analogue of "software engine", having it employed across sectors of the software industry.

Furthermore, game engine may also refer to the integrated development environment as an interface behind the given framework, typically a suite of visual development tools and features for developing video games.

A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package to develop a software. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific to a hardware platform and operating system combination. To create applications with advanced functionalities such as advertisements, push notifications, etc., most application software developers use specific software development kits.

Some SDKs are required for developing a platform-specific app. For example, the development of an Android app on the Java platform requires a Java Development Kit. For iOS applications (apps) the iOS SDK is required. For Universal Windows Platform the .NET Framework SDK might be used. There are also SDKs that add additional features and can be installed in apps to provide analytics, data about application activity, and monetization options. Some prominent creators of these types of SDKs include Google, Smaato, InMobi, and Facebook.

The Rational Unified Process (RUP) is an iterative software development process framework created by the Rational Software Corporation, a division of IBM since 2003. RUP is not a single concrete prescriptive process, but rather an adaptable process framework, intended to be tailored by the development organizations and software project teams that will select the elements of the process that are appropriate for their needs. RUP is a specific implementation of the Unified Process.