Both Salesforce Lightning Platform & Microsoft .NET are great technologies.
With Salesforce and Microsoft, you as a developer have the best of both worlds. Many new tools and connectors are now available for integration of Lightning Platform with Microsoft applications.
Here is a quick summary which compares & explains development paradigms in .NET and Lightning Platform
One Tool vs One Platform
Microsoft .NET – One Tool
Microsoft Visual Studio simplifies development through one tool for all work you do in .NET. Writing C# code, version control, continuous integration and all other dev work can be done through Visual Studio.
Salesforce Lightning Platform – One Platform
Lightning Platform provides one unified platform for development. Tools are less important in the Lightning Platform world since the application elements like sandboxes, database layer, user directory are all provided by the Lightning Platform.
Web & Mobile Apps vs Multi-tenant Cloud
Microsoft .NET – Web & Mobile Apps
You can create a wide variety of web and mobile apps using .NET. You can optionally host your applications in cloud infrastructure environments like AWS, Azure. You would take care of creating your code in C#, write the interface for database access, create the code for user access control, provision test and dev servers and manage upgrades, create APIs & more. You would also need to plan for HA, security and performance optimization of your applications.
Salesforce Lightning Platform – Multi-tenant Cloud
The Salesforce multi-tenant Lightning Platform not only abstracts the concept of servers altogether, it also provides next-gen app development technologies which shift the way you do development. Instead of writing a lot of code, you choose the element of cloud platform best suited for your use case. Since Salesforce was born in the cloud itself and has been a cloud company from start – Lightning Platform has capabilities like APIs, integration, multi-tenancy, HA, security and performance optimization built into its DNA.
Traditional Development Model with Complex Coding vs Low Code, Fast Development
Microsoft .NET – Traditional Development Model. Complex Coding
Microsoft .NET has a wide breadth of capabilities – with this flexibility comes complexity. While there are many use case for which .NET is uniquely appropriate, there are others where a programmatic approach can lead to complexity.
Salesforce Lightning Platform Fast. Low Code. Agile Development. Compose, Not Code
The Lightning allows you to create a unified, connected architecture very quickly – you choose the elements which best fit your use case. Force.com for rapid prototype of complex enterprise applications. Heroku for consumer web and mobile apps. Pre-built integrations allow your users to have a unified experience.
How To Get The Best of Both World
To get the best of both worlds – Salesforce & Microsoft, consider an integration based design. Here are some real world examples:
How to Integrate Salesforce with Microsoft – Real World Examples: http://www.appcloud101.com/archives/7733