.NET 10 Features You Should Be Using Now

.NET 10 is here, and it’s packed with powerful improvements that make modern development faster, smarter, and more scalable. Whether you’re building APIs, cloud-native services, or enterprise apps — these features are worth your attention.

1. Native AOT Improvements

What’s new?

.NET 10 refines Native AOT (Ahead-of-Time) compilation with broader platform support and faster startup times.

Why it matters:

• Blazing-fast startup performance
• Smaller app size (great for microservices)
• Ideal for containerized deployments

Use it when: Performance and cold start latency are critical.

2. Required Members in Records & Classes

You can now enforce required properties directly in class/record declarations.

public class User
{
    public required string Name { get; init; }
    public required string Email { get; init; }
}

No more null defaults or missing fields when instantiating objects!

3. New LINQ Enhancements

.NET 10 introduces:

• .TakeLast(), .SkipLast()
• Performance-optimized .Where() + .Select()
• Improvements in GroupBy() behavior

Querying collections just got more expressive and efficient.

4. Streamlined Minimal APIs

Minimal APIs continue to evolve with better:

• Model binding for complex types
• Built-in validation
• Output caching

app.MapPost("/create", (User user) => {
    // now supports validation annotations!
});

Great for microservices, internal APIs, and prototypes.

5. Built-in Rate Limiting Middleware

Add rate limiting with just a few lines of code:

builder.Services.AddRateLimiter(options =>
{
    options.GlobalLimiter = PartitionedRateLimiter.Create<HttpContext, string>(...)
});

Helps protect your APIs from abuse without needing 3rd-party tools.

6. Better Observability: OpenTelemetry + Logging

.NET 10 deeply integrates OpenTelemetry for tracing and metrics.

Built-in support for:

• Structured logging
• Distributed tracing
• Correlation IDs for requests

Monitor, debug, and optimize like a pro.

7. Improvements in Source Generators

You can now:

• Write incremental source generators
• Use new APIs to introspect code
• Generate boilerplate at compile-time

Used extensively in JSON serialization, DI, and Blazor!

8. Enhanced JSON Support (System.Text.Json)

Major improvements:

• Better polymorphic serialization
• JsonInclude on fields
• Reduced allocations

Easier to work with complex object hierarchies without Newtonsoft.Json.

9. Parallel.ForEachAsync in TPL

Concurrent async processing just got easier:

await Parallel.ForEachAsync(items, async (item, token) =>
{
    await ProcessAsync(item);
});

Super useful for batch processing or I/O-heavy tasks.

10. Clean Code with File-Scoped Types and Imports

Say goodbye to unnecessary boilerplate.

file class InternalHelper { ... }

Keeps your code modular and maintainable.

Bonus: C# 12 Enhancements

.NET 10 ships with C# 12, which includes:

• Primary constructors in classes
• Collection expressions
• Alias directives for any type

using CustomerList = System.Collections.Generic.List<Customer>;

Final Thoughts

.NET 10 is more than just a version bump — it’s a productivity boost. From performance to developer experience, these features are built to help you write cleaner, faster, and more reliable code.

What to Do Next?

• Try out one of these features in a small project
• Share your experiences with the community
• Comment your favorite feature or one you’re excited to explore!