.

NET Framework is a managed execution environment for Windows that allows software developers to
create a software application in one programming language and be assured that the app will be able to
work with code written in other languages. The framework, which is designed to accommodate object
code no matter where it is stored or executed, is the primary implementation of Microsoft’s .NET
technologies.

The .NET platform was designed to reduce programming errors and increase productivity by using a
modular approach to software design. The framework features a common language runtime (CLR) and a
class library. The CLR is Microsoft’s implementation of the common language infrastructure (CLI), a
standard for helping different programming languages and libraries work together. The CLR manages
system services such as memory, thread execution, code execution, code safety verification and
compilation. The class library contains tested, reusable code that developers can call from their own
apps to provide functionality for such things as file input/output, parsing Extensible Markup Language
(XML) and working with Windows Forms.

Microsoft’s development tool for designing and developing .NET apps is called Visual Studio and apps
are typically written in Visual Basic (VB) or C#. The Microsoft Test Framework (MSTest) can be used to
provide quality assurance (QA) for .NET applications.

How the .NET Framework works

Source code written in one language is compiled into an intermediate language (IL) which is stored on
disk in an executable file called an assembly. The assembly contains a manifest that provides
information about the code’s type, version and security requirements. Once the assembly is loaded into
the CLR and validated, the IL code can be translated into native machine code instructions.