Summary

Assemblies aren't just souped-up EXE or DLL files; they contain gobs of metadata, including the manifest, that make .NET applications self-describing. The compiler uses this information to correctly configure and process the managed MSIL code in each assembly. In later chapters, I'll show you how you can add your own content to the metadata area of the file assembly.

Although not actually parts of an assembly, this chapter also discussed the My namespace and directives, two Visual Basic features that impact what gets included in your assembly.