CLR - Common Language Runtime: CLR - Common Language Runtime

The Common Language Runtime (CLR) provides a solid foundation for developers to build various types of applications. Whether you are writing an ASP.Net application, a Windows Forms application, a Web Service, a mobile code application, a distributed application, or an application that combines several of these application models, the CLR provides the following benefits for application developers:

Vastly simplified development
Seamless integration of code written in various languages
Evidence-based security with code identity
Assembly-based deployment that eliminates DLL Hell
Side-by-side versioning of reusable components
Code reuse through implementation inheritance
Automatic object lifetime management
Self describing objects

From an application developer's perspective, the CLR has much to offer. The Application Infrastructure Overview describes the surfaces of the runtime that application developers come in contact with. This includes private and shared components, incremental code download and caching, native platform interoperability, seamless integration with COM, dynamic inspection (reflection), administration, configuration. In general, an application developer needn't know about all of the runtime-supported infrastructure, as the tools and frameworks will expose a subset of functionality appropriate to the type of application being built. However, architects and developers who work with a range of tools and application models will benefit from understanding the infrastructure landscape.

The CLR is a multi-language execution environment. There are currently over 15 compilers being built by Microsoft and other companies that produce code that will execute in the CLR.