The .NET Framework

The .NET Framework allows you to:

• Apply common skills across a variety of devices, application types, and programming tasks
• Integrate with other tools and technologies to build the right solution with less work
• Build compelling applications faster

The .NET Framework is:

• Common Language Runtime – provides an abstraction layer over the operating system
• Base Class Libraries – pre-built code for common low-level programming tasks
• Development frameworks and technologies – reusable, customizable solutions for larger programming tasks

Short for framework class library, the collective name for the thousands of classes that compose the .NET Framework. The services provided by the FCL include runtime core functionality (basic types and collections, file and network I/O, accessing system services, etc.), interaction with databases, consuming and producing XML, and support for building Web-based and desktop-based client applications, and SOAP-based XML Web services.