.NET Framework

What is the "Microsoft .NET Framework" and why do I need it? 

.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. It allows developers to develop, run, and deploy the following applications:

• Console applications
• Windows Forms applications
• Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications
• Web applications (ASP.NET applications)
• Web services
• Windows services
• Service-oriented applications using Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
• Workflow-enabled applications using Windows Workflow Foundation 

Main Components of .NET Framework

• .NET Framework Class Library
• Common Language Runtime
• Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR)
• Application Domains
• Runtime Host
• Common Type System
• .NET Framework Security
• Profiling
• Side-by-Side Execution
• Cross-Language Interoperability
• 
  

Role of Common Language Runtime in .NET Framework

CLR provides an environment to execute .NET applications on target machines. CLR is also a common runtime environment for all .NET code irrespective of their programming language, as the compilers of respective language in .NET Framework convert every source code into a common language known as IL (Intermediate Language).

CLR also provides various services to execute processes, such as memory management services and security services. CLR performs various tasks to manage the execution process of .NET applications. The responsibilities of CLR are listed as follows:

• Automatic memory management
• Garbage Collection
• Code Access Security
• Code verification
• JIT compilation of .NET code

System.Object is the root namespace for fundamental types in .NET Framework.