1.3 The .NET Framework

Central to the .NET platform is a development environment known as the .NET Framework. The Framework specifies how .NET programming constructs such as intrinsic types, classes, and interfaces are implemented. You will learn about these constructs in the chapters ahead.

The .NET Framework sits on top of any flavor of the Windows operating system. The most important components of the Framework are the Common Language Runtime (CLR), described in the preceding section, and the Framework Class Library (FCL), which provides an enormous number of predefined types or classes for you to use in your programs. You will learn how to define your own classes in Chapter 8. Complete coverage of all the FCL classes is beyond the scope of this book. For more information, see C# in a Nutshell (O'Reilly & Associates).