🚀 Sphere10 Framework: Comprehensive .NET Application Framework

Copyright © Herman Schoenfeld, Sphere 10 Software 2018 - Present

A mature, production-ready .NET framework providing a complete foundation for building full-stack applications across desktop, mobile, and web platforms. Originally designed for blockchain systems, Sphere10 Framework has evolved into a comprehensive general-purpose framework offering robust abstractions, advanced data structures, cryptographic primitives, and utilities for high-performance .NET development.

✨ What Sphere10 Framework Provides

Core Foundation

• Unified Architecture: Consistent patterns for application lifecycle, dependency injection, configuration, and component lifecycle across all platforms
• Enterprise Data Access: Abstracted data layer with support for multiple database engines (SQL Server, SQLite, Firebird, NHibernate) and advanced query building
• Advanced Cryptography: Comprehensive cryptographic implementations including post-quantum algorithms, digital signatures, and multiple hashing algorithms
• Multi-Protocol Networking: TCP, UDP, WebSockets, and RPC frameworks for building distributed systems
• Rich Serialization: Flexible binary serialization, JSON support, and streaming implementations

Application Development

• Desktop UI Framework: Full-featured Windows Forms component library with data binding, validation, and plugin support
• Web UI: Blazor-based component library with wizards, modals, grids, and responsive layouts for modern web applications
• Cross-Platform: Run applications on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, or .NET Core/5+
• Plugin Architecture: Dynamic plugin loading and lifecycle management for extensible applications

Specialized Features

• Memory Efficiency: Advanced collections, paged data structures, and streaming for handling large datasets
• Graphics & Drawing: Cross-platform drawing utilities and image manipulation
• Performance: Caching, connection pooling, and optimized algorithms
• Testing: Comprehensive testing framework and utilities for unit and integration testing

🔍 Tools.* Namespace — Global Utility Discovery

The Tools namespace is a defining architectural feature providing a global, IntelliSense-discoverable collection of static utility methods across the entire framework. Simply type Tools. to explore all available operations:

Core Utilities

• Tools.Crypto — Hashing, signatures, key derivation
• Tools.Text — String manipulation, validation, generation
• Tools.Collection — Collection operations, filtering, transformation
• Tools.FileSystem — File I/O, directory management, temp files
• Tools.Reflection — Type inspection, member discovery, attributes
• Tools.Json / Tools.Xml — Data serialization
• Tools.Memory — Buffer operations, memory allocation
• Tools.Maths — Mathematical utilities and RNG
• And 30+ more...

Platform-Specific Tools

• Tools.WinTool (Windows) — Registry, services, event logging, privileges
• Tools.Web.Html / Tools.Web.AspNetCore (Web) — HTML utilities, ASP.NET Core integration
• Tools.iOSTool (iOS) — iOS-specific operations
• Tools.Data / Tools.Sqlite / Tools.MSSQL (Database) — Database provider utilities

Design Pattern

using Tools;

// Discovery-first pattern — IntelliSense shows all available tools
byte[] hash = Tools.Crypto.SHA256(data);
string sanitized = Tools.Text.RemoveWhitespace(input);
var connection = Tools.Sqlite.Create(connectionString);
bool running = Tools.WinTool.IsServiceRunning("MyService");

For the complete Tools reference, see docs/Tools-Reference.md.

📂 Project Structure

The Sphere10 Framework consists of 45+ projects organized by category within src/, tests/, and utils/:

⚙️ Core Framework & Utilities

Project	Purpose
Sphere10.Framework	General-purpose core library with utilities for caching, collections, cryptography, serialization, streaming, and more
Sphere10.Framework.Application	Application lifecycle, dependency injection, command-line interface, and presentation framework
Sphere10.Framework.Communications	Multi-protocol networking layer: TCP, UDP, WebSockets, RPC, and pipes
Sphere10.Framework.Generators	C# source generators for compile-time code generation
HashLib4CSharp	Hashing library with support for MD5, SHA, BLAKE2, CRC, checksums, and more

🔒 Cryptography & Security

Project	Purpose
Sphere10.Framework.CryptoEx	Extended cryptography: Bitcoin (SECP256k1), elliptic curves, hash functions, post-quantum algorithms
Sphere10.Framework.Consensus	Blockchain consensus mechanisms and validation rules framework

💾 Data Access & Persistence

Project	Purpose
Sphere10.Framework.Data	Data access abstraction layer with ADO.NET enhancements, SQL query building, CSV support
Sphere10.Framework.Data.Sqlite	SQLite implementation for embedded databases
Sphere10.Framework.Data.Firebird	Firebird database implementation
Sphere10.Framework.Data.MSSQL	Microsoft SQL Server implementation
Sphere10.Framework.Data.NHibernate	NHibernate ORM integration

🖥️ Desktop & Windows

Project	Purpose
Sphere10.Framework.Windows	Windows platform integration: registry, services, event logging
Sphere10.Framework.Windows.Forms	Windows Forms UI framework and components
Sphere10.Framework.Windows.Forms.Sqlite	Windows Forms with SQLite data binding
Sphere10.Framework.Windows.Forms.Firebird	Windows Forms with Firebird data binding
Sphere10.Framework.Windows.Forms.MSSQL	Windows Forms with SQL Server data binding
Sphere10.Framework.Windows.LevelDB	LevelDB integration for fast key-value storage

🌐 Web & Cross-Platform

Project	Purpose
Sphere10.Framework.Web.AspNetCore	ASP.NET Core integration: middleware, filters, routing, forms
Sphere10.Framework.Drawing	Cross-platform graphics and drawing utilities
Sphere10.Framework.NET	.NET Framework-specific utilities and type introspection
Sphere10.Framework.NETCore	.NET Core and modern .NET utilities
Sphere10.Framework.iOS	Xamarin.iOS integration for native iOS apps
Sphere10.Framework.Android	Xamarin.Android integration for native Android apps
Sphere10.Framework.macOS	Xamarin.macOS integration for native macOS apps

🧪 Test Projects

The tests/ directory contains 2000+ comprehensive unit and integration tests covering all framework subsystems:

Test Project	Purpose
HashLib4CSharp.Tests	Tests for hashing algorithms
Sphere10.Framework.Communications.Tests	Networking and RPC tests
Sphere10.Framework.CryptoEx.Tests	Cryptography implementation tests
Sphere10.Framework.Data.Tests	Database access layer tests
Sphere10.Framework.NET.Tests	.NET framework utility tests
Sphere10.Framework.NETCore.Tests	.NET Core utility tests
Sphere10.Framework.Tests	Core framework tests
Sphere10.Framework.Windows.LevelDB.Tests	LevelDB integration tests
Sphere10.Framework.Windows.Tests	Windows platform tests

🎨 Presentation & UI Layer

Desktop (Windows Forms)

Project	Purpose
Sphere10.Framework.Windows.Forms	Comprehensive Windows Forms UI framework with data binding, validation, and component library
Sphere10.Framework.Windows.Forms.Sqlite	Windows Forms with SQLite data binding and persistence
Sphere10.Framework.Windows.Forms.MSSQL	Windows Forms with SQL Server data binding and persistence
Sphere10.Framework.Windows.Forms.Firebird	Windows Forms with Firebird data binding and persistence

Web & Cross-Platform UI

Project	Purpose
Sphere10.Framework.Web.AspNetCore	ASP.NET Core integration with middleware, filters, routing, and form components
Sphere10.Framework.Drawing	Cross-platform graphics and drawing utilities for all platforms

📚 Documentation & Learning

📐 Architecture

1. Sphere10 Framework: Complete Architecture & Overview
2. Framework Domains

⛓️ Blockchain Technology

4. Blockchain: Dynamic Merkle Trees
5. Blockchain: Real-Time Targeted Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm
6. Post-Quantum Cryptography: Abstract Merkle Signatures (AMS)
7. Post-Quantum Cryptography: Winternitz Abstracted Merkle Signatures (WAMS)
8. Post-Quantum Cryptography: Faster and Smaller Winternitz Signatures

📑 Guidelines

9. What is a 3-tier Architecture?
10. Code-Styling Guidelines

🔗 Quick Navigation & Resources

• Quick Start: See docs/start-here.md for getting started with the framework
• Tools Reference: See docs/tools-reference.md for the complete Tools.* namespace catalog
• Desktop Applications: See Sphere10.Framework.Windows.Forms for building Windows applications
• Web Applications: See Sphere10.Framework.Web.AspNetCore for ASP.NET Core integration
• Database Access: See Sphere10.Framework.Data for multi-database support (SQLite, SQL Server, Firebird)
• Networking & RPC: See Sphere10.Framework.Communications for network protocols
• Cryptography: See Sphere10.Framework.CryptoEx for advanced crypto implementations
• Cross-Platform: See Sphere10.Framework.iOS, Sphere10.Framework.Android, Sphere10.Framework.macOS for native apps