Summary

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The .NET Framework is the infrastructure that supports an integrated development and execution platform that allows seamless interoperability between programs developed in a variety of languages. The framework is governed by a common yet strict set of standards, which are enforced by the Common Language Runtime (CLR). These rules are the foundation of .NET's multilanguage interoperability.

The output of a compiled .NET executable is called an assembly. An assembly is made up of MSIL code and metadata. This is the package that is delivered to the end user, which is compiled a second time into native machine language when the user starts the application. An assembly has a .DLL extension, but is different from a traditional Windows DLL.

Intermediate Language (IL) is an optimized compiled code developed by Microsoft that .NET's "jitter" (JIT) uses to compile into native machine code.

Figure 1.3. Compiling an assembly into native machine code for execution within the Common Language Runtime.

An assembly's intermediate language contains descriptive XML code that gives the CLR detailed information about the entire application. It gives the JIT compiler a virtual road map of your application so that the native code can provide the runtime with information about shortcuts during rush hour , the history of the area, unsafe areas to avoid, and when it should put out the garbage.

• The operating systems and servers that support the framework

• The compiled applications and Web services that will run within the framework

• The .NET Framework and its Common Language Runtime

• New services yet to be invented

• Nonproprietary communication protocols like XML and SOAP for exchanging data and services

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