BCA-V Sem - Paper-1
.NET Framework and OOPS in .NET
BCA125
By: Ashutosh Mishra
.NET Framework
• .NET is an initiative to integrate all Microsoft products with the “Next
Generation” web.
• .NET is a framework to develop software applications.
• It is designed and developed by Microsoft and the first beta version released in
2000.
• It is used to develop applications for web, Windows, phone.
• This framework contains a large number of class libraries known as Framework
Class Library (FCL).
• The software programs written in .NET are executed in the execution
environment, which is called CLR (Common Language Runtime). These are the
core and essential parts of the .NET framework.
• This framework provides various services like memory management, networking,
security, and type-safety.
• The .Net Framework supports more than 60 programming languages such as C#, F#,
VB.NET, J#, VC++, JScript.NET, APL, COBOL, Perl, Oberon, ML, Pascal, Eiffel, Smalltalk,
Python, Cobra, ADA, etc.
The .NET Framework is composed of four main components:
1. Common Language Runtime (CLR)
2. Framework Class Library (FCL),
3. Core Languages (WinForms, ASP.NET, and ADO.NET), and
4. Other Modules (WCF, WPF, WF, Card Space, LINQ, Entity Framework, Parallel LINQ, Task
Parallel Library, etc.)
Components of .Net Framework, CLR, CTS, CLS, Base Class Library &
MSIL
1.Common Language Runtime (CLR)
• It is a program execution engine that loads and executes the program.
• It converts the program into native code.
• It acts as an interface between the framework and operating system.
• It does exception handling, memory management, and garbage collection. Moreover, it provides security,
type-safety, interoperability, and portability.
• It provides an environment to run all the .NET Programs.
• The code which runs under the CLR is called as Managed Code. Programmers need not to worry on
managing the memory if the programs are running under the CLR as it provides memory management
and thread management.
• Programmatically, when our program needs memory, CLR allocates the memory for scope and de-
allocates the memory if the scope is completed.
• Language Compilers (e.g. C#, VB.Net, J#) will convert the Code/Program to Microsoft Intermediate
Language (MSIL) intern this will be converted to Native Code by CLR.
List of CLR Components
2. .Net Framework Class Library (FCL)
.Net Framework Class Library (FCL)
• It is a standard library that is a collection of thousands of classes and used to build an
application.
• The BCL (Base Class Library) is the core of the FCL and provides basic functionalities
and it is common for all types of applications i.e. the way you access the Library
Classes and Methods in VB.NET will be the same in C#, and it is common for all other
languages in .NET.
The following are different types of applications that can make use of .net class
library.
1. Windows Application.
2. Console Application
3. Web Application.
4. XML Web Services.
5. Windows Services.
In short, we just need to import the BCL in our language code and use its predefined
methods and properties to implement common and complex functions like reading and
writing to file, graphic rendering, database interaction, and XML document manipulation.
3. Common Type System (CTS)
It describes set of data types that can be used in different .Net languages in common. (i.e), CTS
ensures that objects written in different .Net languages can interact with each other.
The common type system supports two general categories of types:
Value types:
Value types directly contain their data, and instances of value types are either allocated on
the stack or allocated inline in a structure. Value types can be built-in (implemented by the
runtime), user-defined, or enumerations.
Reference types:
Reference types store a reference to the value's memory address, and are allocated on the
heap. Reference types can be self-describing types, pointer types, or interface types. The type
of a reference type can be determined from values of self-describing types. Self-describing
types are further split into arrays and class types. The class types are user-defined classes,
boxed value types, and delegates.
4. Common Language Specification (CLS)
It is a sub set of CTS and it specifies a set of rules that needs to be satisfied by all language
compilers targeting CLR. It helps in cross language inheritance and cross language debugging.
Common language specification Rules:
It describes the minimal and complete set of features to produce code that can be hosted by CLR. It
ensures that products of compilers will work properly in .NET environment.
Sample Rules:
1. Representation of text strings
2. Internal representation of enumerations
3. Definition of static members and this is a subset of the CTS which all .NET languages are
expected to support.
4. Microsoft has defined CLS which are nothing but guidelines that language to follow so that
it can communicate with other .NET languages in a seamless manner.
