Summary

This chapter's goals were as follows :

• To discuss what the .NET Framework has to offer

• To explore the (re)use of the .NET Framework

This chapter covered quite a bit of ground. I discussed the .NET Framework in general. To fully explore this "Microsoft-provided class library," I discussed namespaces, assemblies, and the .NET Framework tools first. Then, I used an acronym (DICES) to introduce the types of objects available in the .NET Framework for your use and reuse. The sample code provided examples of .NET Framework usage. Naturally, I used several legacy mainframe analogies to assist your understanding: COBOL intrinsic functions, partitioned datasets, copybooks, subprograms, and the STEPLIB and JOBLIB JCL statements).

As you learned in this chapter, the .NET Framework is very powerful. In the next chapter you will turn your focus to .NET's common language runtime (CLR). As you will see, that portion of .NET is equally as critical to .NET as the other .NET features covered up to this point.