What is Dot Net Framework ? Highlight Features of Dot Net . Explain architecture of Dot Net framework with proper diagram.

The .Net framework is a software development platform developed by Microsoft. The 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 .Net framework has come a long way since then, and the current version is 4.7.1.

The .Net framework can be used to create both - Form-based and Web-based applications. Web services can also be developed using the .Net framework.

The framework also supports various programming languages such as Visual Basic and C#. So developers can choose and select the language to develop the required application.

The .NET Framework consists of:

• Common Language Runtime

• Class Libraries

• Support for Multiple Programming Language

The common language runtime (CLR) (also refer as runtime). The Common Language

Runtime is the core of Microsoft's .NET vision. This is said to be the execution engine of .NET platform. The runtime (CLR) handles runtime services, including language integration, security, and memory management. During development, the runtime (CLR) provides features that are needed to simplify development.

Class libraries: Class libraries provide reusable code for most common tasks, including data access, XML Web service development, and Web and Windows Forms. The CLR Software Development Kit (SDK) provides the programming APIs in the form of a set of classes for building .NET applications. Collectively, they are referred to the Base Class Library, or BCL.

Through the classes in the BCL, we can interact with the runtime, influencing the way that the runtime's services are provided to us. In addition to giving us an "in" to the runtime, the BCL classes provide a large number of useful utilities. These include things like a new database access library (ADO.NET), ASP.NET, and an XML parser with support for the latest XML specifications. In addition, developers can extend classes by creating their own libraries of classes. All applications (Web, Windows, and XML Web services) access the same .NET Framework class libraries, which are held in namespaces.

Support for multiple programming languages. Having a set of libraries and a runtime is good, but neither one of them is useful if you can't write programs to take advantage of them. In order to do that, you need to use some programming language with a compiler that is runtime-aware. Microsoft currently lists over twenty different languages with which it will be possible to write software that targets the CLR. Microsoft itself ship support for five languages with the SDK: C#, Visual Basic.NET, IL, C++, and JScript.NET. Of these, C# and Visual Basic.NET are likely to be the languages most often used to develop software for this new platform. Any language that conforms to the Common Language Specification (CLS) can run with the common language runtime. Relying on the common language runtime, code compiled with compilers of .NET based languages can interoperate. All .NET-based languages also access the same libraries.

Features of Dot Net

• Interoperability
• Common Language Runtime engine (CLR)
• Language independence
• Base Class Library
• Simplified deployment
• Security
• Portability