The major components .NET framework are given below:
Common Language Runtime(CLR) :
* It is an execution engine that runs the code and provides services that make the development process easier.
* Services provided by CLR are memory management, garbage collection, type safety, exception handling, security, and thread management. It also makes it easier for designing the applications and components whose objects interact across the languages.
* The programs written for the .NET Framework are executed by the CLR regardless of programming language. Every .NET Framework version is having CLR.
Framework Class Library(FCL):
* It has pre-defined methods and properties to implement common and complex functions that can be used by .NET applications. It will also provide types for dates, strings, numbers, etc.
* This class library includes APIs for database connection, file reading and writing, drawing, etc.
Base Class Library(BCL):
* The Base Class Library(BCL) has a huge collection of libraries features and functions that are helpful in implementing various programming languages such as C#, F#, Visual C++, etc., in the .NET Framework.
* BCL is divided into two parts. They are:
* User-defined class library : It includes Assemblies.
* Assembly : A .NET assembly is considered as the major building block of the .NET Framework. An assembly in the CLI(Common Language Infrastructure) is a logical unit of code, which is used for security, deployment, and versioning. Assembly can be defined in two forms namely Dynamic Link Library(.dll) and executable(.exe) files.
When compilation of the .NET program takes place, metadata with Microsoft Intermediate Language(MSIL) will be generated and will be stored in a file called Assembly.
* Predefined class library : It contains namespace.
* Namespace : It is the collection of pre-defined methods and classes that are present in the .Net Framework. A namespace can be added to a .NET program with the help of “using system”, where using represents a keyword and system represents a namespace.
Common Type System(CTS) :
* CTS specifies a standard that will mention which type of data and value can be defined and managed in memory during runtime.
* It will make sure that programming data defined in different languages should interact with each other for sharing the information. For example, in VB.NET we define datatype as integer, while in C# we define int as a data type.
* It can be used to prevent data loss when you are trying to transfer data from a type in one language to its equivalent type in another language.
Common Language Specification (CLS) :
* Common Language Specification (CLS) is a subset of CTS and defines a set of rules and regulations to be followed by every .NET Framework’s language.
* A CLS will support inter-operability or cross-language integration, which means it provides a common platform for interacting and sharing information. For example, every programming language(C#, F#, VB .Net, etc.) under the .NET framework has its own syntax. So when statements belonging to different languages get executed, a common platform will be provided by the CLS to interact and share the information.
