Glossary

Glossary

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abstract class A class that cannot be instantiated but is used as a base from which other classes can be derived. In Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, abstract classes are declared using the MustInherit keyword. In Microsoft Visual C#, abstract classes are declared using the abstract keyword.

abstraction Representing real-world objects as programmatic constructs.

abstract members A member of a base class that cannot be invoked, but instead provides a template for members of a derived class. In Visual Basic .NET, abstract members are declared using the MustOverride keyword. In Visual C#, abstract members are declared using the abstract keyword.

ADO.NET The data access architecture for the Microsoft .NET Framework. ADO.NET is built around a disconnected data access model that uses a set of classes called a Data Provider to retrieve data from a data source.

alias The name you use to identify resources on the Web. Aliases represent physical resources on the Web server, such as a Web form, an HTML page, or a graphic.

anchoring In Windows Forms controls, the resizing and repositioning of a control when its parent form is resized. You can anchor a control by setting the Anchor property.

assembly The primary unit of deployment for a .NET application. An assembly is either an executable application (EXE) or a class library (DLL).

assembly manifest The metadata for the assembly. It contains all of the information needed to describe the assembly to the common language runtime.

authentication The process of determining the identity of a user. In effect, authentication validates that the users are who they say they are. See also authorization.

authorization The process of allowing access to an application or resource based on credentials supplied by the user. See also authentication.