What’s the difference between .NET Core, .NET Framework, and Xamarin?

• .NET Framework is the “full” or “traditional” flavor of .NET that’s distributed with Windows. Use this when you are building a desktop Windows or UWP app, or working with older ASP.NET 4.6+.
• .NET Core is cross-platform .NET that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Use this when you want to build console or web apps that can run on any platform, including inside Docker containers. This does not include UWP/desktop apps currently.
• Xamarin is used for building mobile apps that can run on iOS, Android, or Windows Phone devices.

Xamarin usually runs on top of Mono, which is a version of .NET that was built for cross-platform support before Microsoft decided to officially go cross-platform with .NET Core. Like Xamarin, the Unity platform also runs on top of Mono.