History of Computers - .NET Framework
Page written by Victor Slavov
Overview
Microsoft started development of .NET Framework in the late 1990s, originally under the name Next Generation Windows Services (NGWS). By late 2000, the first beta versions of .NET 1.0 were released.
.NET Framework (or DotNET Framework) is a cross-platform software development framework created by Microsoft. It offers one of the richest class libraries known as Framework Class Library (FCL). Programs created with it execute in a managed software environment called Common Language Runtime (CLR), which is an application virtual machine that provides services such as security, cryptography, memory management, algorithms, etc. It also compiles code dynamically (JIT - Just In Time), which helps the code to be automatically optimized for every specific hardware. DotNET Framework also offers language interoperability, which means that two or more different programming languages (primarily VB.NET and C#) can be used to produce the exact same output.
How does it work
The first thing that happens is you code the program using one of the three high-level languages.
When compilation starts, it does not continue to native code. Instead, it is compiled to "MSIL" (Microsoft Intermediate Language), which is platform-independent. An important point to note is that at this state, all of the three languages would have produced the exactly same output. This is the final form of the program and the state at which is published.
When the generated executable is ran, the CLR compiles code on-the-go (thus JIT), and executes it immediately.
Significance and meaning
DotNET Framework is the most famous programming environment for Windows. It is a very feature-rich, stable solution to ease programmers. The project has recently become open-source and work to bring it to more platforms have begun, so we can expect to see its functionality on other operating systems as well.
