.Net Framework Architecture

Common Language Runtime

• The core runtime engine in the Microsoft .NET Framework for executing applications.
• .NET equivalent of the Java Virtual Machine, although JVM currently supports only the Java language.
• Activates objects, performs security checks on them, lays them out in memory, executes them, and garbage-collects them.
• Code running in CLR is referred to as “managed code”.
• Traditional compilers target a specific processor
• .NET compiler produces binary files containing Common Intermediate language (CIL), and metadata.
• CLR uses metadata for execution

Understanding to CTS and CLS

CTS stands for Common Type System. It defines the rules which Common Language Runtime follows when declaring, using, and managing types.

CLS stands for Common Language Specification and it is a subset of CTS. It defines a set of rules and restrictions that every language must follow which runs under .NET framework. The languages which follows these set of rules are said to be CLS Compliant. In simple words, CLS enables cross- language integration.

example- one rule is that you cannot use multiple inheritance within .NET Framework. As you know C++ supports multiple inheritance but; when you will try to use that C++ code within C#, it is not possible because C# doesn’t supports multiple inheritance.