What is the .NET architecture?

Microsoft .NET consists of four major components:

• Common Language Specification (CLS)
• Framework Class Library (FCL) 
• Common Language Runtime (CLR)
• .NET Tools 

Common Language Specification (CLS)

The CLS is a common platform that integrates code and components from multiple .NET programming languages. In other words, a .NET application can be written in multiple programming languages with no extra work by the developer (though converting code between languages can be tricky).

.NET includes new object-oriented programming languages such as C#, Visual Basic .NET, J# (a Java clone) and Managed C++. These languages, plus other experimental languages like F#, all compile to the Common Language Specification and can work together in the same application.

Framework Class Library (FCL)

The FCL is a collection of over 7000 classes and data types that enable .NET applications to read and write files, access databases, process XML, display a graphical user interface, draw graphics, use Web services, etc. The FCL wraps much of the massive, complex Win32 API into more simple .NET objects that can be used by C# and other .NET programming languages.

Common Language Runtime (CLR)

The CLR is the execution engine for .NET applications and serves as the interface between .NET applications and the operating system. The CLR provides many services such as:

Loads and executes code

Converts intermediate language to native machine code

Separates processes and memory

Manages memory and objects

Enforces code and access security

Handles exceptions

Interfaces between managed code, COM objects, and DLLs

Provides type-checking

Provides code meta data (Reflection)

Provides profiling, debugging, etc.

.NET Tools

Visual Studio .NET is Microsoft’s flagship tool for developing Windows software. Visual Studio provides an integrated development environment (IDE) for developers to create standalone Windows applications, interactive Web sites, Web applications, and Web services running on any platform that supports .NET.

In addition, there are many .NET Framework tools designed to help developers create, configure, deploy, manage and secure .NET applications and components.

Read More

Some .NET Framework 4 Versions Losing Product Support Next Month

Microsoft issued a reminder to organizations today that it will be ending product support next month for .NET Framework versions 4, 4.5 and 4.5.1.

Starting on Jan. 12, 2016, those versions of the product will become unsupported software. As a consequence, they won't get future updates from Microsoft, including security patches. The lack of patch support could pose risks for organizations continuing to run the software.

The January deadline maybe will come as a surprise for some organizations because Microsoft accelerated its traditional product support deadlines for those .NET Framework versions. Previously, the .NET Framework product lifecycles had been associated with underlying Windows product lifecycles. Instead, Microsoft switched to a more arbitrary January deadline for versions 4, 4.5 and 4.5.1. The policy change was announced in August of last year.

Microsoft made the change in order to "invest more resources towards improvements of the .NET Framework," per its announcement.

Microsoft is claiming that organizations can simply install .NET 4.5.2 or higher versions and most things will work. The most recent version of the product is .NET Framework 4.6.1.

The newer versions of the .NET Framework will install as "in-place" upgrades, which means that older versions don't have to be uninstalled first. The .NET Framework versions from 4.5.2 and newer will support applications that used the older .NET Framework versions in most cases, Microsoft has indicated. However, it's still up to organizations to test their applications first and see if they'll be compatible.

Microsoft's announcement today explained that .NET Framework 4.5.2 and higher versions have a so-called "quirking" feature. This quirking feature "maintains the semantics of earlier versions" of the .NET Framework, assuring compatibility.

Microsoft is also claiming that developers likely won't have to recompile or rebuild their applications after upgrading the .NET Framework -- at least when using .NET Framework versions 4.5.2, 4.6 and 4.6.1.

One exception to this accelerated product lifecycle pertains to .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1. Its lifecycle is still based on the product lifecycle of the underlying Windows version used, according to this Microsoft FAQ. Depending on the Windows version used, it'll still be supported after the January deadline.

The Jan. 12, 2016 deadline for .NET 4, 4.5 and 4.5.1 coincidentally is also the same accelerated product support deadline for organizations to move to the latest version of Internet Explorer. For most organizations, this policy change means that they must have migrated to using IE 11 by that Jan. 12 date or they'll lose IE product support. However, the policy just states that organizations need to use the latest version of IE per supported Windows version, so it's a little nuanced. For example, Vista users can still continue to use IE 9 and have a supported browser since IE 9 is the most current browser for that Windows operating system. Those details and more are explained in this IE lifecycle FAQ.

Read More

Why we use .net and Why develope .net framework?

In the Old Days when you wrote an application, you started with a blank
sheet of paper and maybe a couple of routine you had written before and
knew worked. As a result it took a long time to get anything done, it all had
to be tested individually, and anyone new coming into the project had a
massive learning curve before they could do anything useful.

Slowly, the situation improved, with first function libraries, then class libraries ,
then a Foundation Class framework. Each iteration moved more and move
routine stuff into a set of objects that were pre‐written and pre‐tested.

The .NET framework is a big, powerful iteration of this: providing classes,
objects, methods and all the supporting bits and bobs which mean that
developers can concentrate on they application specific design, rather than
having to build their own Collections, Buttons, SerialPorts, Sockets,
WebBrowsers, etc., etc..

It speeds up development as a whole, makes it more reliable, and means the
new project members only need to learn the project specific parts.

ASP.Net was developed to make use of OOP﴾Object Oriented Programming﴿
which eases the development process. And the idea of .NET framework is the
ability of gather every module developed using a .net supported language.
﴾for example you can have a VB page and a C# one in the same application
because both is compiled to an IL‐Intermediate language﴿

The other reason .NET doesn't relay on the machine capability, instead it is
running using a framework running on the machine﴾just like Java Run‐time
Environment‐JRE﴿.

Read More

WHAT IS .NET FRAMEWORK ?

.NET is a software development platform developed by Microsoft. It runs on Microsoft Windows OS. .NET provides tools and libraries that allow developers to develop applications and services much easily, faster and secure by using a convenient way. t

.NET is a programming framework created by Microsoft that developers can use to create applications more easily. "a framework is just a bunch of code that the programmer can call without having to write it explicitly."

In a perfect world, you wouldn't need .NET Framework. The makers of all your crucial applications would have the time and resources to fully patch together their applications into self-contained packages, because developing for Windows would be an intuitive, mostly high-level process that independent developers could nail down in fairly quick order. So nobody besides developers would need a package like .NET, which provides applications with an orderly way to access databases, web services, and other communication tools.

Read More