common language infrastructure

A common language infrastructure (CLI) is used in Microsoft .NET as the basis for running programs written in different programming languages. Before this, each language required its own runtime module for the compiled programs to run - Visual Basic required VBVM, Visual C++ versions prior to Visual C++.NET needed MSVCRT DLL. The common language infrastructure is an effort to unify the different runtime modules needed. The CLI uses a class library and virtual machine, the Common Language Runtime (CLR) - note CLR is an official Microsoft term, and a number of books have been written on it. Many compilers are in development to produce code for this virtual machine. The code the virtual machine uses is expressed in a Common Intermediate Language (CIL), also known as Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL), a CPU-independent set of instructions that can be efficiently converted to native code. CIL can be thought of as a high level assembly language. CIL is intended as a competitor for the Java bytecode, and the CLI/CLR as a competitor for the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). For a list of languages which have compilers producing code for CLI, see .

External links

<< Previous

Word Browser

Next >>

contempt of court
corroborating evidence
cross examination
celtic mythology
christiania
charles d'abancourt
curtiss p 40
creed
claudius aelianus
callisto (mythology)
crown copyright

cookie
cyrus griffin
common gateway interface
computer generated imagery
choctaw
calypso
chemical affinity
comet hale bopp
conspiracy
cytoprotectant
cholistan desert

constantine i of scotland
constantine ii (emperor)
constantine ii of scotland
constantine i (emperor)
cricket world cup
commonwealth heads of government meeting
chinese classic texts
call centre
caliph
charles messier
cemetery h culture

corrado gini
crankshaft
cns
central nervous system
cell cycle
cartesianism
connection (dance)
caste
collegiate shag
characteristic
coral66 programming language