The Common Language Infrastructure Annotated Standard (Microsoft. NET Development Series)

NOTE

While compiler writers are most concerned with issues of file format, instruction set design, and a common type system, application programmers are most interested in the programming library that is available to them in the language they are using. The Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) specifies a Common Language Specification (CLS; see Partition I, sections 8, 10, and 11) that shall be used to define the externally visible aspects (method signatures, etc.) when they are intended to be used from a wide range of programming languages. Since it is the goal of the CLI Libraries to be available from as many programming languages as possible, all of the library functionality is available through CLS-compliant types and type members.

The CLI Libraries are designed with the following goals in mind:

  • Wide reach across programming languages

  • Consistent design patterns throughout

  • Features on parity with the ISO/IEC C Standard library of 1990

  • Features for more recent programming paradigms, notably networking, XML, runtime type inspection, instance creation, and dynamic method dispatch

  • Factoring into self-consistent libraries with minimal interdependence

This document provides an overview of the CLI Libraries and a specification of their factoring into Profiles and Libraries. A companion document, considered to be part of this Partition but distributed in XML format, provides details of each class, value type, and interface in the CLI Libraries. While the normative specification of the CLI Libraries is in XML form, it can be processed using an XSL transform to produce easily browsed information about the class libraries.

ANNOTATION

The class libraries are also published in this series as the .NET Framework Standard Library Annotated Reference.

Partition V contains an informative annex [Annex D] describing programming conventions used in defining the CLI Libraries. These conventions, while not normative, can significantly simplify the use of libraries. Implementers are encouraged to follow them when creating additional (non-Standard) Libraries.

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