.NET Framework by Microsoft is a platform for software development that runs primarily on Windows. It is consist of tools, programming languages, and libraries required for developing an application.
Initially, it was released in 2002 and the version was known as .Net framework 1.0. By using the .NET Framework you can build websites, system applications, web services, games, etc.
Here in this article, you will learn more about the .NET Framework.
Who uses .NET Framework?
Both users and software developers need .NET Framework, developers use it for developing an application while users use it for running applications built by using .NET Framework.
On Windows, it comes already installed, if not you can download and install it from its official download page.
Different implementations of the .NET Framework
There are different implementations of the .NET Framework each of which allows .NET code to execute on platforms like Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, etc.
- .NET Framework – It is the original implementation of .NET which allows the building and running of applications on the Windows platform.
- .NET – .NET is open-source on Github. It is the cross-platform implementation for running system applications, web apps, services, and console apps on Windows, Linux, and macOS. It was also known as the .NET core.
- Mono – Mono by Xamarin is a .NET implementation for building and running applications on Linux, and mobile operating systems like Android, macOS, etc.
Architecture and components of .NET Framework
The following diagram shows the basic architecture of the .NET Framework.
The components of the .NET framework are –
CLR (Common Language Runtime) – CLR is a runtime environment that allows the execution of code written in the .NET Framework supported programming languages for example -C#, F#, Jscript.Net, VB.Net, etc.
FCL (Framework Class Library) – FCL has various classes, data types, and interfaces that can be used in building different types of applications. It is integrated with CLR and is used by all the .NET programming languages.
Languages – .NET applications are written using C#, F#, or VB programming languages. The applications built-in .NET Framework broadly can be categorized as –
Winforms – Used for developing form-based applications.
ASP.Net – This is used for developing web-based applications that run in a browser.
ADO.Net – It is used to develop applications to interface with databases such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, etc.
Now for more information on .NET Framework, you can visit its official webpage.
Conclusion
So now we hope it gives you a basic understanding of the .NET and .NET Framework. Now if you have a query or feedback then write us in the comments below.