ASP.NET 2.0 Tutorials: .NET Framework Fundamentals

Understanding the .NET Framework

.NET framework is a Windows Component that supports the building and running of windows applications and XML Web services. The purpose of the component is to provide the user with a consistent object oriented programming environment whether the code is stored locally or remotely.

It aims to minimize software deployment and versioning conflicts and also promote safe execution of code including codes executed by trusted third parties. It is directed towards eliminating performance problems of scripted or interpreted environments. The effort is to make developer experience consistent across a variety of applications and platforms and create communication standards that help .NET framework applications integrate with all other web based applications.

The .NET framework has two major components-- The Common Runtime (CLR) and the Class Library

The CLR is the foundation upon which the .NET Framework has been built. The runtime manages code at execution time and provides all the core services such as memory management, thread management and remoting. It also enforces strict type safety and ensures code accuracy in order to provide security and robustness to the applications. This capability to manage code at runtime is the distinguishing feature of the CLR. All code that is managed by the CLR is known as managed code while other codes are known as unmanaged code.

CLR Features

1. CLR manages memory, thread execution, code execution, compilation code safety verification and other system services.

2. For security reasons, managed code is assigned varying degrees of trust based on origin. This prevents or allows the managed component from performing file access operations, registry access operations or other sensitive functions even within the same active application.

3. The Runtime enforces code robustness by implementing strict type and code verification infrastructure called Common type System (CTS). The CTS ensures that all managed code is self describing and all Microsoft or third party language compiler generated codes conform to CTS. This enables the managed code to consume other managed types and enforce strict type fidelity and type safety.

4. CLR eliminates many common software issues like handling of object layout, references to objects and garbage clearance. This type of memory management prevents memory leaks and invalid memory references.

5. The CLR also accelerates developer productivity. The programmer is free to choose the language of the application without worrying about compatibility and integration issues. He is also enabled to take advantage of the runtime and the class library of the .NET Framework and also harvest components from other applications written in different languages by different developers. This implicitly eases the process of migration.

6. Though CLR aims to be futuristic software, it lends support to existing applications. The interoperability between the managed and unmanaged codes makes this process extremely simple.
7. The design of the CLR is geared towards enhancing performance. The Just-in-time (JIT) compiling enables managed code to run in the native machine language of the system executing it. During the process the memory manager removes the possibilities of fragmented memory and increases memory locality-of-reference to enhance performance.

8. Finally, server side applications can host runtime. High performance servers like Microsoft SQL Server and Internet Information Services can host this CLR and the infrastructure so provided can be used to write business logic while enjoying the best benefits of enterprise server support.

The Class Library is an object oriented collection of reusable types. It is comprehensive and the types can be used to develop command line applications or GUI applications such as Web forms or XML Web services. Unmanaged components that load CLR into their processes can be hosted by the .NET Framework to initiate the execution of managed code. This creates a software environment that exploits both the managed and unmanaged codes. The.NET Framework also provides a number of runtime hosts and supports third party runtime hosts

Class Library Features

1. The class library is a collection of reusable types that integrate with the CLR.

2. It is object oriented and provides types from which user defined types can derive functionality. This makes for ease of use and is time saving.

3. Third party components can be integrated seamlessly with classes in the .NET framework.

4. It enables a range of common programming tasks such as string management, data collection and file access.

5. It supports a variety of specialized development scenarios such as console application development, Windows GUI applications, ASP.NET Applications, XML Web services.

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