What Is .NET Framework
What Is .NET Framework
Explain
Architecture & Components
What is .Net Framework?
.Net Framework is a software development platform developed by Microsoft
for building and running Windows applications. The .Net framework consists
of developer tools, programming languages, and libraries to build desktop and
web applications. It is also used to build websites, web services, and games.
The .Net framework was meant to create applications, which would run on the
Windows Platform. The first version of the .Net framework was released in the
year 2002. The version was called .Net framework 1.0. The Microsoft .Net
framework has come a long way since then, and the current version is .Net
Framework 4.7.2.
In this .Net Architecture tutorial, you will learn .NET Framework basics-
.NET Components
The architecture of .Net framework is based on the following key components;
1. Language - The first level is the programming language itself, the most
common ones are VB.Net and C#.
2. Compiler – There is a compiler which will be separate for each
programming language. So underlying the VB.Net language, there will
be a separate VB.Net compiler. Similarly, for C#, you will have another
compiler.
3. Common Language Interpreter – This is the final layer in .Net which
would be used to run a .net program developed in any programming
language. So the subsequent compiler will send the program to the CLI
layer to run the .Net application.
2. Class Library
The .NET Framework includes a set of standard class libraries. A class library
is a collection of methods and functions that can be used for the core purpose.
For example, there is a class library with methods to handle all file-level
operations. So there is a method which can be used to read the text from a
file. Similarly, there is a method to write text to a file.
Most of the methods are split into either the System.* or Microsoft.*
namespaces. (The asterisk * just means a reference to all of the methods that
fall under the System or Microsoft namespace)
3. Languages
The types of applications that can be built in the .Net framework is classified
broadly into the following categories.
Microsoft always ensures that .Net frameworks are in compliance with all the
supported Windows operating systems.
5. Simplified deployment - The .Net framework also have tools, which can
be used to package applications built on the .Net framework. These
packages can then be distributed to client machines. The packages
would then automatically install the application.
Summary