.NET Framework Developer Guide

Welcome to the .NET Framework Developer Guide. This resource provides comprehensive information and instructions for developing applications using the .NET Framework.

Getting Started

The .NET Framework is a software development platform developed by Microsoft. It provides a development environment for building a wide range of applications, from desktop applications to web services.

Key Components

Common Language Runtime (CLR): Manages the execution of .NET code.
.NET Framework Class Library: A rich set of pre-built classes and types that simplify common programming tasks.
Language Interoperability: Allows code written in different languages to interact.

Prerequisites

Before you begin developing, ensure you have the following installed:

.NET Framework SDK (Software Development Kit)
An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) like Visual Studio

Note: While .NET Framework is a powerful platform, consider exploring .NET (formerly .NET Core) for new cross-platform development scenarios.

Core Concepts

Managed Code and the CLR

Code that runs under the control of the CLR is known as managed code. The CLR provides services like memory management (garbage collection), exception handling, and security.

public class HelloWorld {
    public static void Main(string[] args) {
        Console.WriteLine("Hello, .NET Framework!");
    }
}

Assemblies

Assemblies are the fundamental units of deployment, versioning, and security for .NET Framework applications. They are .dll or .exe files that contain compiled code, metadata, and resources.

Namespaces

Namespaces are used to organize types and provide a hierarchical structure to the .NET Framework Class Library. For example, common types are found in the System namespace.

Tip: Always use the appropriate using directives at the beginning of your code files to easily access types from different namespaces.

Application Types

.NET Framework supports the development of various application types:

Windows Forms (WinForms) applications
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications
ASP.NET web applications and services
Console applications
WCF (Windows Communication Foundation) services

Important: For modern web development, consider ASP.NET Core, which is a cross-platform, high-performance framework.

Next Steps

Explore the links in the sidebar to dive deeper into specific areas such as Core Concepts, Application Types, and Deployment.

For detailed API documentation, please refer to the .NET Framework API Reference.