Why does PCL target ASP.NET Core (and not .NET Core)?

Question

As you can see in the image, we have a list of .NET runtimes (right?) and then there's ASP.NET Core which isn't a runtime, but is actually a library / set of libraries.

This is a bit confusing, is there a valid reason for it?

Answer 1

Don't waste your time on PCL who is dying. When Microsoft added that everything about ASP.NET Core was not fully finalized so it can be confusing and misleading.

Go to learn .NET Standard and you will be freed.