Mono is a
free and open-source .NET Framework
The .NET Framework (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a proprietary software framework developed by Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It was the predominant implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) until bein ...
-compatible
software framework. Originally by
Ximian
Ximian, Inc. (previously called Helix Code and originally named International Gnome Support) was an American company that developed, sold and supported application software for Linux and Unix based on the GNOME platform. It was founded by Migu ...
, it was later acquired by
Novell, and is now being led by
Xamarin
Xamarin is a Microsoft-owned San Francisco-based software company founded in May 2011 by the engineers that created Mono, Xamarin.Android (formerly Mono for Android) and Xamarin.iOS (formerly MonoTouch), which are cross-platform implementatio ...
, a subsidiary of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
and the
.NET Foundation
The .NET Foundation is an organization incorporated on March 31, 2014, by Microsoft to improve open-source software development and collaboration around the .NET Framework. It was launched at the annual Build 2014 conference held by Microsoft. T ...
. Mono can be run on many
software systems.
History
![Mono booth at OSCON 2009 San Jose](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Mono_booth_at_OSCON_2009_San_Jose.jpg)
When Microsoft first announced their
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a proprietary software framework developed by Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It was the predominant implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) until bein ...
in June 2000 it was described as "a new platform based on Internet standards", and in December of that year the underlying
Common Language Infrastructure was published as an open standard, "ECMA-335", opening up the potential for independent implementations.
Miguel de Icaza
Miguel de Icaza (born November 23, 1972) is a Mexican programmer, best known for starting the GNOME, Mono, and Xamarin projects.
Biography Early years
De Icaza was born in Mexico City and studied Mathematics at the National Autonomous University ...
of
Ximian
Ximian, Inc. (previously called Helix Code and originally named International Gnome Support) was an American company that developed, sold and supported application software for Linux and Unix based on the GNOME platform. It was founded by Migu ...
believed that .NET had the potential to increase programmer productivity and began investigating whether a Linux version was feasible.
Recognizing that their small team could not expect to build and support a full product, they launched the Mono open-source project, on July 19, 2001 at the
O'Reilly
O'Reilly ( ga, Ó Raghallaigh) is a group of families, ultimately all of Irish Gaelic origin, who were historically the kings of East Bréifne in what is today County Cavan. The clan were part of the Connachta's Uí Briúin Bréifne kindred a ...
conference.
After three years of development, Mono 1.0 was released on June 30, 2004. Mono evolved from its initial focus of a developer platform for Linux desktop applications to supporting a wide range of architectures and operating systems - including embedded systems.
Novell acquired Ximian in 2003. After Novell was acquired by
Attachmate in April 2011, Attachmate announced hundreds of layoffs for the Novell workforce, putting in question the future of Mono.
On May 16, Miguel de Icaza announced in his blog that Mono would continue to be supported by
Xamarin
Xamarin is a Microsoft-owned San Francisco-based software company founded in May 2011 by the engineers that created Mono, Xamarin.Android (formerly Mono for Android) and Xamarin.iOS (formerly MonoTouch), which are cross-platform implementatio ...
, a company he founded after being laid off from Novell. The original Mono team had also moved to the new company. Xamarin planned to keep working on Mono and had planned to rewrite the proprietary .NET stacks for
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
and
Android from scratch, because Novell still owned MonoTouch and Mono for Android at the time. After this announcement, the future of the project was questioned, MonoTouch and Mono for Android being in direct competition with the existing commercial offerings now owned by
Attachmate, and considering that the Xamarin team would have difficulties proving that they did not use technologies they formerly developed when they were employed by
Novell for the same work. However, in July 2011, Novell, now a subsidiary of Attachmate, and Xamarin, announced that it granted a perpetual license to Xamarin for Mono, MonoTouch and Mono for Android, which officially took stewardship of the project.
Current status and roadmap
Mono's current version is 6.0.0 (). This version provides the core
API
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...
of the
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a proprietary software framework developed by Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It was the predominant implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) until bein ...
and support for Visual Basic.NET and C# 7.0.
LINQ to Objects, XML, and
SQL are part of the distribution.
Windows Forms
Windows Forms (WinForms) is a free and open-source graphical (GUI) class library included as a part of Microsoft .NET, .NET Framework or Mono Framework, providing a platform to write client applications for desktop, laptop, and tablet PCs. Whil ...
2.0 is also supported, but not actively developed, and as such its support on Mono is incomplete.
Version 4.0 was the first version that incorporates Microsoft original source code that was released by Microsoft as part of the
.NET Core
The domain name net is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) used in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The name is derived from the word ''network'', indicating it was originally intended for organizations involved in networking technologies ...
project.
As of January 14, 2021, Mono has full support for all the features in .NET 4.7 except
Windows Presentation Foundation
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is a free and open-source graphical subsystem (similar to WinForms) originally developed by Microsoft for rendering user interfaces in Windows-based applications. WPF, previously known as "Avalon", was initia ...
(WPF) (which the Mono team do not plan to support due to the amount of work it would need)
and
Windows Workflow Foundation
Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) is a Microsoft technology that provides an API, an in-process workflow engine, and a rehostable designer to implement long-running processes as workflows within .NET applications. The latest version of WF was r ...
(WF), and with only limited support for
Windows Communication Foundation
The Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), previously known as Indigo, is a free and open-source runtime and a set of APIs in the .NET Framework for building connected, service-oriented applications.
.NET Core 1.0, released 2016, did not sup ...
(WCF) and the ASP.NET async stack. However, System.Web and WCF are candidates for 'almost immediate' porting from the .NET reference source back to Mono. Some missing parts of the
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a proprietary software framework developed by Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It was the predominant implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) until bein ...
are under development in an experimental Mono subproject calle
''Olive''
The Mono project has also created a
Visual Basic .NET
Visual Basic, originally called Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET), is a multi-paradigm, object-oriented programming language, implemented on .NET, Mono, and the .NET Framework. Microsoft launched VB.NET in 2002 as the successor to its original Visua ...
compiler and a runtime designed for running VB.NET applications. It is currently being developed by Rolf Bjarne Kvinge.
Moonlight
An open-source implementation of
Microsoft Silverlight
Microsoft Silverlight is a discontinued application framework designed for writing and running rich web applications, similar to Adobe's runtime, Adobe Flash. A plugin for Silverlight is still available for a very small number of browsers. W ...
, called
Moonlight, has been included since Mono 1.9. Moonlight 1.0, which supports the Silverlight 1.0 APIs, was released January 20, 2009. Moonlight 2.0 supports Silverlight 2.0 and some features of Silverlight 3.0. A preview release of Moonlight 3.0 was announced in February 2010 and contains updates to Silverlight 3 support.
The Moonlight project was abandoned on May 29, 2012. According to Miguel, two factors sealed the fate of the project: Microsoft added "artificial restrictions" that "made it useless for desktop programming", and the technology had not gained enough traction on the Web. In addition, Silverlight itself was deprecated by Microsoft by 2012.
Mono components
Mono consists of three groups of components:
# Core components
# Mono/Linux/GNOME development stack
# Microsoft compatibility stack
The ''core components'' include the C# compiler, the virtual machine for the
Common Language Infrastructure and the core class libraries. These components are based on the
Ecma-334 and Ecma-335 standards,
allowing Mono to provide a standards compliant, free and open-source CLI
virtual machine
In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is the virtualization/ emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve specialized h ...
. Microsoft issued a statement that covers both standards under their
Community Promise license.
The ''Mono/Linux/GNOME development stack'' provide tools for application development while using the existing
GNOME and
free and open-source libraries. These include:
Gtk# for
graphical user interface
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inst ...
(GUI) development, Mozilla libraries for working with the
Gecko rendering engine
Gecko is a browser engine developed by Mozilla. It is used in the Firefox browser, the Thunderbird email client, and many other projects.
Gecko is designed to support open Internet standards, and is used by different applications to display web p ...
, Unix integration libraries (Mono.Posix), database connectivity libraries, a security stack, and the XML schema language
RelaxNG
In computing, RELAX NG (REgular LAnguage for XML Next Generation) is a XML schema, schema language for XML—a RELAX NG schema specifies a pattern for the structure and content of an XML document. A RELAX NG schema is itself an XML document but R ...
. Gtk# allows Mono applications to integrate into the Gnome desktop as native applications. The database libraries provide connectivity to the object-relational database
db4o
db4o (database for objects) was an embeddable open-source object database for Java and .NET developers. It was developed, commercially licensed and supported by Actian. In October 2014, Actian declined to continue to actively pursue and promote ...
,
Firebird
Firebird and fire bird may refer to:
Mythical birds
* Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures
* Bennu, Egyptian firebird
* Huma bird, Persian firebird
* Firebird (Slavic folklore)
Bird species
''Various sp ...
,
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system developed by Microsoft. As a database server, it is a software product with the primary function of storing and retrieving data as requested by other software applications—which ...
(MSSQL),
MySQL
MySQL () is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS). Its name is a combination of "My", the name of co-founder Michael Widenius's daughter My, and "SQL", the acronym for Structured Query Language. A relational database ...
,
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC),
Oracle,
PostgreSQL,
SQLite
SQLite (, ) is a database engine written in the C programming language. It is not a standalone app; rather, it is a library that software developers embed in their apps. As such, it belongs to the family of embedded databases. It is the m ...
, and many others. The Mono project tracks developing database components at its website.
The ''Microsoft compatibility stack'' provides a pathway for porting Windows .NET applications to
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
. This group of components include
ADO.NET,
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is an open-source, server-side web-application framework designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. It was developed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic web sites, applications and services. The name s ...
, and
Windows Forms
Windows Forms (WinForms) is a free and open-source graphical (GUI) class library included as a part of Microsoft .NET, .NET Framework or Mono Framework, providing a platform to write client applications for desktop, laptop, and tablet PCs. Whil ...
, among others. As these components are not covered by
Ecma standards, some of them remain subject to
patent fears and concerns.
Framework architecture
The major components of Mono include:
*
Code Execution Engine
* Class Libraries
**
Base Class Library
The Standard Libraries is a set of libraries included in the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) in order to encapsulate many common functions, such as file reading and writing, XML document manipulation, exception handling, application globa ...
** .NET Compatibility Class Libraries
** Mono specific class libraries:
*** Cross platform class libraries for both Mono and .NET (Gtk#, MonoCecil, Mono.CSharp, Text.Templating)
*** Unix-specific class libraries (POSIX,
Filesystem in Userspace
Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE) is a software interface for Unix and Unix-like computer operating systems that lets non-privileged users create their own file systems without editing kernel code. This is achieved by running file system code in us ...
(FUSE), curses)
*** Platform-specific class libraries (bindings for: Mac, iOS, Android, MeeGo)
*
CLI Assemblies
*
CLI Metadata
* Mono's
Common Language Runtime
** Compatible with the ECMA
Common Language Infrastructure/.NET
Common Language Runtime
** Mono-specific enhancements:
*** Mono.SIMD support
*** Mono co-routines and continuations.
* Mono-specific enhancements
*
Native interop services and COM interop
* Security
Transparent Code Framework
Code Execution Engine
The Mono runtime contains a code execution engine that translates ECMA
CIL byte codes into native code and supports a number of processors:
ARM
In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between th ...
,
MIPS (in 32-bit mode only),
SPARC
SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture originally developed by Sun Microsystems. Its design was strongly influenced by the experimental Berkeley RISC system develope ...
,
PowerPC,
S390
The IBM System/390 is a discontinued mainframe product family implementing the ESA/390, the fifth generation of the System/360 instruction set architecture. The first computers to use the ESA/390 were the Enterprise System/9000 (ES/9000) ...
(in 64-bit mode),
x86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was intr ...
,
x86-64
x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit version of the x86 instruction set, first released in 1999. It introduced two new modes of operation, 64-bit mode and compatibility mode, along with a new 4-level paging ...
and
IA-64
IA-64 (Intel Itanium architecture) is the instruction set architecture (ISA) of the Itanium family of 64-bit Intel microprocessors. The basic ISA specification originated at Hewlett-Packard (HP), and was subsequently implemented by Intel in col ...
for 64-bit modes.
The code generator is exposed in three modes:
* Just-in-time (JIT) compilation: The runtime will turn ECMA CIL byte codes into native code as the code runs.
* Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation: this code turns the ECMA CIL byte codes (typically found on a .exe or .dll file) and generates native code stored in an operating system, architecture and CPU specific file (for a foo.exe file, it would produce foo.exe.so on Linux). This mode of operation compiles most of the code that is typically done at runtime. There are some exceptions like
trampolines
A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. People bounce on ...
and other administrative code that still require the JIT to function, so AOT images are not fully standalone.
* Full Static Compilation: this mode is only supported on a handful of platforms and takes the Ahead-of-Time compilation process one step further and generates all the trampolines,
wrappers and
proxies that are required into a static file that can be statically linked into a program and completely eliminates the need for a JIT at runtime. This is used on
Apple's iOS, Sony's
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...
and Microsoft's
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
operating systems.
Starting with Mono 2.6, it is possible to configure Mono to use the
LLVM
LLVM is a set of compiler and toolchain technologies that can be used to develop a front end for any programming language and a back end for any instruction set architecture. LLVM is designed around a language-independent intermediate repre ...
as the code generation engine instead of Mono's own code generation engine. This is useful for high performance computing loads and other situations where the execution performance is more important than the startup performance.
Starting with the Mono 2.7 preview, it is no longer necessary to pick one engine over the other at configuration time. The code generation engine can be selected at startup by using the
--llvm
or
--nollvm
command line arguments, and it defaults to the fast-starting Mono code generation engine.
Starting with Mono 5.18, support for LLVM is a default configuration option. Previous versions required a special LLVM fork, but now mono can fall back to its own code generator when it encounters something not handled by LLVM.
Garbage collector
As of Mono 2.8, the Mono runtime ships with two
garbage collectors: a generational collector and the ''
Boehm-Demers-Weiser Conservative Garbage Collector''. The Boehm garbage collector could exhibit
memory leak
In computer science, a memory leak is a type of resource leak that occurs when a computer program incorrectly manages memory allocations in a way that memory which is no longer needed is not released. A memory leak may also happen when an object ...
s on certain classes of applications, making it unsuitable for some long-running server applications.
Mono switched to ''Simple Generational GC'' (SGen-GC) as the default collector in version 3.1.1.
The SGen garbage collector has many advantages over a traditional conservative scanner. It uses
generational garbage collection where new objects are allocated from a nursery, during the garbage collection cycle, all objects that survived are migrated to an older generation memory pool. The idea being that many objects are transient and can quickly be collected and only a handful of objects are long-term objects that live for the entire life of the application. To improve performance this collector assigns memory pools to each thread to let threads allocate new memory blocks without having to coordinate with other threads. Migration of objects from the nursery to the old generation is done by copying the data from the nursery to the old generation pool and updating any live pointers that point to the data to point to the new location. This can be expensive for large objects, so Mono's SGen uses a separate pool of memory for large objects (Large Object Section) and uses a mark-and-sweep algorithm for those objects.
Class library
The ''class library'' provides a comprehensive set of facilities for application development. They are primarily written in C#, but due to the Common Language Specification they can be used by any .NET language. The class library is structured into namespaces, and deployed in shared libraries known as assemblies. Speaking of the .NET Framework is primarily referring to this class library.
Namespaces and assemblies
''Namespaces'' are a mechanism for logically grouping similar classes into a hierarchical structure. This prevents naming conflicts. The structure is implemented using dot-separated words, where the most common top-level namespace is System, such as System.IO and System.Net. There are other top-level namespaces as well, such as Accessibility and Windows. A user can define a namespace by placing elements inside a namespace block.
''Assemblies'' are the physical packaging of the class libraries. These are .dll files, just like (but not to be confused with) Win32 shared libraries. Examples of assemblies are mscorlib.dll, System.dll, System.Data.dll and Accessibility.dll. Namespaces are often distributed among several assemblies and one assembly can be composed of several files.
Common Language Infrastructure and Common Language Specification
The
Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) as implemented by the
Common Language Runtime (CLR), is implemented by the Mono executable. The runtime compiles and executes .NET applications. The common language infrastructure is defined by the ECMA standard.
To run an application, you must invoke the runtime with the relevant parameters.
The ''Common Language Specification'' (CLS) is specified in chapter 6 of ECMA-335 and defines the interface to the CLI, such as conventions like the underlying types for Enum. The Mono compiler generates an image that conforms to the CLS. This is the Common Intermediate Language. The Mono runtime takes this image and runs it. The ECMA standard formally defines a library that conforms to the CLS as a framework.
Managed and unmanaged code
Within a native .NET/Mono application, all code is
managed; that is, it is governed by the CLI's style of memory management and thread safety. Other .NET or Mono applications can use legacy code, which is referred to as unmanaged, by using the System.Runtime.InteropServices libraries to create C# bindings. Many libraries which ship with Mono use this feature of the CLI, such as
Gtk#.
Mono-specific innovations
Mono has innovated in some areas with new extensions to the core C# and CLI specifications:
* C# Compiler as a Service (Use the C# compiler as a library).
* C# Interactive Shell.
*
SIMD
Single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) is a type of parallel processing in Flynn's taxonomy. SIMD can be internal (part of the hardware design) and it can be directly accessible through an instruction set architecture (ISA), but it shoul ...
support
as part of the Mono.SIMD namespace, where method calls to special vector types are directly mapped to the underlying processor CPU SIMD instructions.
* Full static compilation of .NET code (used on Mono/iPhone, Mono/PS3).
* Mono
coroutine
Coroutines are computer program components that generalize subroutines for non-preemptive multitasking, by allowing execution to be suspended and resumed. Coroutines are well-suited for implementing familiar program components such as cooperative ...
s (used to implement micro-threading code and
continuation
In computer science, a continuation is an abstract representation of the control state of a computer program. A continuation implements ( reifies) the program control state, i.e. the continuation is a data structure that represents the computati ...
s, mostly for game developers).
* Assembly injection to live processes.
* Use of
LLVM
LLVM is a set of compiler and toolchain technologies that can be used to develop a front end for any programming language and a back end for any instruction set architecture. LLVM is designed around a language-independent intermediate repre ...
as JIT backend.
* Cxxi an
CppSharpdirect interop with C++ code and libraries.
In addition, Mono is available on a variety of operating systems and architectures.
System requirements
Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, macOS or Linux
Related projects
Several projects extend Mono and allow developers to use it in their development environment. These projects include:
Cross-platform:
*
Banshee Media Player
Banshee is a cross-platform open-source media player, called Sonance until 2005. Built upon Mono and Gtk#, it used the GStreamer multimedia platform for encoding, and decoding various media formats, including Ogg Vorbis, MP3 and FLAC. Banshee ...
(stalled), a cross-platform music media player built with Mono and Gtk# and also a driver of dozens of C#-based libraries and projects for media handling.
*
Beagle
The beagle is a breed of small scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking instincts, th ...
(unmaintained), a search system for Unix systems.
* Gecko#, bindings for embedding the layout engine used in Mozilla (
Gecko).
*
Gtk#, C# wrappers around the underlying
GTK
GTK (formerly GIMP ToolKit and GTK+) is a free and open-source cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, allowing both free and propriet ...
and
GNOME libraries, written in
C and available on Linux, MacOS and Windows.
*
Mono Migration Analyzer (MoMA), a tool which aids Windows .NET developers in finding areas in their code that might not be cross-platform and therefore not work in Mono on Linux and other Unixes. Not upgraded since Mono 2.8 (2013); use Microsoft's .NET Portability Analyzer (dotnet-apiport) instead.
*
MonoCross
MonoCross is a C# .NET Model-view-controller (MVC) framework where the Model and Controller are shared across platforms and the View is implemented for every specific platform and/or target architecture. It allows the development of both native ...
, a cross-platform
model–view–controller design pattern where the Model and Controller are shared across platforms and the Views are unique for each platform for an optimized User Interface. The framework requires Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android.
*
MvvmCross a cross-platform
Model View ViewModel
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure.
Models c ...
framework utilizing Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android for developing mobile apps.
*
MonoDevelop
MonoDevelop (also known as Xamarin Studio) is an open-source integrated development environment for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its primary focus is development of projects that use Mono and .NET Framework. MonoDevelop integrates features similar t ...
an open-source and cross-platform integrated development environment that supports building applications for ASP.NET, Gtk#, Meego, MonoTouch and Silverlight/Moonlight.
*
Moonlight (discontinued), an implementation of
Silverlight
Microsoft Silverlight is a discontinued application framework designed for writing and running rich web applications, similar to Adobe Inc., Adobe's Run time environment, runtime, Adobe Flash. A plugin for Silverlight is still available for a v ...
that uses Mono.
*
OpenTK, a managed binding for OpenGL, OpenCL and OpenAL.
QtSharp C# bindings for the
Qt framework
Qt (pronounced "cute") is cross-platform software for creating graphical user interfaces as well as cross-platform applications that run on various software and hardware platforms such as Linux, Windows, macOS, Android or embedded systems wit ...
.
*
Resco MobileBusiness
Resco spol. s r.o. is an IT company with headquarters in Bratislava, Slovakia that was founded in 1999 by Radomir Vozar, Eduard Kirchner and Marcel Saffa. As of 2014 the company has grown its customer base up to more than million users and 4000 c ...
, a cross-platform developer solution for mobile clients.
*
Resco MobileCRM, a cross-platform developer solution for mobile clients synchronized with
Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft. The current version is Dynamics 365. The name and licensing changed with the update from Dynamics 2016.
Release History
Microsoft C ...
.
*
ServiceStack a high-performance open-source .NET REST web services framework that simplifies the development of XML, JSON and SOAP web services.
*
SparkleShare
SparkleShare is an open-source cloud storage and file synchronization client app. By default, it uses Git as a storage backend. SparkleShare is comparable to Dropbox, but the cloud storage can be provided by the user's own server, or a hosted ...
an open-source client software that provides cloud storage and file synchronization services.
*
Tao
''Tao'' or ''Dao'' is the natural order of the universe, whose character one's intuition must discern to realize the potential for individual wisdom, as conceived in the context of East Asian philosophy, East Asian religions, or any other phil ...
(superseded by OpenTK), a collection of graphics and gaming bindings (OpenGL, SDL, GLUT, Cg).
*
Xwt, a GUI toolkit that maps API calls to native platform calls of the underlying platform, exposing one unified API across different platforms and making possible for the graphical user interfaces to have native look and feel on different platforms. It enables building
GUI
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
-based desktop applications that run on multiple platforms, without having to customizing code for different platforms. Xwt API is mapped to a set of native controls on each supported platform. Features that are not available on specific platforms are emulated by using native widgets, which is referred to as hosting in the Xwt context.
Xwt was partially used as GUI toolkit (beside GTK#) in the development of the
Xamarin Studio
Xamarin is a Microsoft-owned San Francisco-based software company founded in May 2011 by the engineers that created Mono, Xamarin.Android (formerly Mono for Android) and Xamarin.iOS (formerly MonoTouch), which are cross-platform implementation ...
.
Supported "backend" engines are:
WPF engine and Gtk engine (using
Gtk#) on
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
,
Cocoa engine (using MonoMac) and Gtk engine (using Gtk#) on
Mac OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...
, and Gtk engine (using Gtk#) on
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
.
macOS:
*
Cocoa# – wrappers around the native macOS toolkit (
Cocoa
Cocoa may refer to:
Chocolate
* Chocolate
* ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree
* Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao''
* Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...
) (deprecated).
*
Monobjc – a set of bindings for macOS programming.
*
MonoMac
MonoMAC syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant syndrome associated with: monocytopenia, B and NK cell lymphopenia; mycobacterial, viral, fungal, and bacterial opportunistic infections; and virus infection-induced cancers. The disorder often pr ...
– newer bindings for macOS programming, based on the MonoTouch API design.
Mobile platforms:
* MonoDroid. Mono for the Android operating system. With bindings for the Android APIs.
*
MonoTouch
Mono is a free and open-source .NET Framework-compatible software framework. Originally by Ximian, it was later acquired by Novell, and is now being led by Xamarin, a subsidiary of Microsoft and the .NET Foundation. Mono can be run on many so ...
. Mono for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touches. With bindings to the iOS APIs.
Windows:
*
MonoTools for Visual Studio A Visual Studio plugin that allows Windows developers to target Linux and macOS right from Visual Studio and integrates with
SUSE Studio
SUSE Studio was an online Linux software creation tool by SUSE. Users could develop their own Linux distro, software appliance, or virtual appliance, mainly choosing which applications and packages they want on their " custom" Linux and how it l ...
.
Other implementations
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
has a version of .NET 2.0 now available only for
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
, called the
Shared Source CLI (Rotor). Microsoft's
shared source
The Shared Source Initiative (SSI) is a source-available software licensing scheme launched by Microsoft in May 2001. The program includes a spectrum of technologies and licenses, and most of its source code offerings are available for download aft ...
license may be insufficient for the needs of the community (it explicitly forbids commercial use).
Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)#501(c)(3), 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed ...
's decommissioned
Portable.NET
DotGNU is a decommissioned part of the GNU Project that started in January 2001. DotGNU aims to provide a free software replacement for Microsoft's .NET Framework by Free Software Foundation. Other goals of the project are better support for non- ...
project.
MonoDevelop
MonoDevelop is a free GNOME
integrated development environment
An integrated development environment (IDE) is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source code editor, build automation tools ...
primarily designed for C# and other .NET languages such as
Nemerle
Nemerle is a general-purpose, high-level, statically typed programming language designed for platforms using the Common Language Infrastructure ( .NET/Mono). It offers functional, object-oriented, aspect-oriented, reflective and imperative fea ...
,
Boo, and
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
(via
IKVM.NET
IKVM.NET is an implementation of Java for Mono and the Microsoft .NET Framework. IKVM is free software, distributed under the zlib permissive free software license.
The original developer, Jeroen Frijters, discontinued work on IKVM in 2015. In ...
), although it also supports languages such as
C,
C++
C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...
,
Python
Python may refer to:
Snakes
* Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia
** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia
* Python (mythology), a mythical serpent
Computing
* Python (pro ...
, and
Vala
Vala or VALA may refer to:
Religion and mythology
* Vala (Vedic), a demon or a stone cavern in the Hindu scriptures
* Völva, also spelled Vala, a priestess in Norse mythology and Norse paganism
Fiction
* Vala (Middle-earth), an angelic being in ...
. MonoDevelop was originally a port of
SharpDevelop
SharpDevelop (also styled as #develop) is a discontinued free and open source integrated development environment (IDE) for the .NET Framework, Mono, Gtk# and Glade# platforms. It supports development in C#, Visual Basic .NET, Boo, F#, IronPyt ...
to Gtk#, but it has since evolved to meet the needs of Mono developers. The IDE includes class management, built-in help, code completion, Stetic (a GUI designer), project support, and an integrated debugger.
The MonoDoc browser provides access to API documentation and code samples. The documentation browser uses wiki-style content management, allowing developers to edit and improve the documentation.
Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android
Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android, both developed by
Xamarin
Xamarin is a Microsoft-owned San Francisco-based software company founded in May 2011 by the engineers that created Mono, Xamarin.Android (formerly Mono for Android) and Xamarin.iOS (formerly MonoTouch), which are cross-platform implementatio ...
, are implementations of Mono for
iPhone and
Android-based smartphones. Previously available only for commercial licensing, after Microsoft's acquisition of Xamarin in 2016, the Mono runtime itself was
relicensed under
MIT license
The MIT License is a permissive free software license originating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the late 1980s. As a permissive license, it puts only very limited restriction on reuse and has, therefore, high license comp ...
and both Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Android are being made free and open-source.
Xamarin.iOS
Xamarin.iOS (previously named MonoTouch) is a library that allows developers to create C# and .NET based applications that run on the iPhone, iPod and iPad devices. It is based on the Mono framework and developed in conjunction with Novell. Unlike Mono applications, Xamarin.iOS "Apps" are compiled down to machine code targeted specifically at the
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
iPhone and
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...
. This is necessary because the iOS kernel prevents
just-in-time compilers from executing on the device.
The Xamarin.iOS stack is made up of:
* Compilers
** C# from the Mono Project
** Third-party compilers like RemObject's Oxygene can target Xamarin.iOS also
* Core .NET libraries
* Development SDK:
** Linker – used to bundle only the code used in the final application
** mtouch – the Native compiler and tool used to deploy to the target device
**
Interface Builder
Interface Builder is a software development application for Apple's macOS operating system. It is part of Xcode (formerly Project Builder), the Apple Developer developer's toolset. Interface Builder allows Cocoa and Carbon developers to creat ...
integration tools
* Libraries that bind the native CocoaTouch APIs
* Xamarin Studio IDE
Xamarin Studio is used as the primary IDE, however additional links to
Xcode
Xcode is Apple's integrated development environment (IDE) for macOS, used to develop software for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS. It was initially released in late 2003; the latest stable release is version 14.2, released on December 13, ...
and the iOS simulator have been written.
From April to early September 2010, the future of MonoTouch was put in doubt as Apple introduced new terms for iPhone developers that apparently prohibits them from developing in languages other than C, C++ and
Objective-C
Objective-C is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language that adds Smalltalk-style messaging to the C programming language. Originally developed by Brad Cox and Tom Love in the early 1980s, it was selected by NeXT for its NeXT ...
, and the use of a middle layer between the iOS platform and iPhone applications. This made the future of MonoTouch, and other technologies such as
Unity
Unity may refer to:
Buildings
* Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building
* Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper
* Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England
* Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; ...
, uncertain. Then, in September 2010, Apple rescinded this restriction, stating that they were relaxing the language restrictions that they had put in place earlier that year.
Xamarin.Android
Xamarin.Android (formerly known as Mono for Android), initially developed by
Novell and continued by
Xamarin
Xamarin is a Microsoft-owned San Francisco-based software company founded in May 2011 by the engineers that created Mono, Xamarin.Android (formerly Mono for Android) and Xamarin.iOS (formerly MonoTouch), which are cross-platform implementatio ...
, is a proprietary implementation of Mono for
Android-based smart-phones. It was first released on April 6, 2011. Mono for Android was developed to allow developers to more easily write cross-platform applications that will run on all mobile platforms. In an interview with H-Online, Miguel de Icaza stated, "Our vision is to allow developers to reuse their engine and business logic code across all mobile platforms and swapping out the user interface code for a platform-specific API."
In August 2010, a Microsoft spokesman, Tom Hanrahan of Microsoft's Open Source Technology Centre, stated, in reference to the lawsuit filed by Oracle against Google over Android's use of Java, that "The type of action Oracle is taking against Google over Java is not going to happen. If a .NET port to Android was through Mono it would fall under the
Microsoft Community Promise The Microsoft Open Specification Promise (or OSP) is a promise by Microsoft, published in September 2006, to not assert its patents, in certain conditions, against implementations of a certain list of specifications.
The OSP is not a licence, but r ...
Agreement."
The Xamarin.Android stack consists of the following components:
* Mono runtime
* An Android UI designer
* Libraries:
** Core .NET class libraries
** Libraries that bind the native Android/Java APIs
* SDK tools to package, deploy and debug
* Xamarin Studio and Visual Studio 2010 integration to design the UI, remotely debug, and deploy.
License
Mono is
dual license
Multi-licensing is the practice of distributing software under two or more different sets of terms and conditions. This may mean multiple different software licenses or sets of licenses. Prefixes may be used to indicate the number of licenses ...
d by Xamarin, similar to other products such as
Qt and the
Mozilla Application Suite
The Mozilla Application Suite (originally known as Mozilla, marketed as the Mozilla Suite) is a discontinued cross-platform integrated Internet suite. Its development was initiated by Netscape Communications Corporation, before their acquisition ...
. Mono's C# compiler and tools are released under the
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general ...
(GPLv2 only) (starting with version 2.0 of Mono, the Mono C# compiler source code is also available under the
MIT X11 License
The MIT License is a permissive free software license originating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the late 1980s. As a permissive license, it puts only very limited restriction on reuse and has, therefore, high license comp ...
), the runtime libraries under the
GNU Lesser General Public License
The GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) is a free-software license published by the Free Software Foundation (FSF). The license allows developers and companies to use and integrate a software component released under the LGPL into their own ...
(LGPLv2 only) and the class libraries under the
MIT License
The MIT License is a permissive free software license originating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the late 1980s. As a permissive license, it puts only very limited restriction on reuse and has, therefore, high license comp ...
. These are all
free software
Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
and
open-source license
An open-source license is a type of license for computer software and other products that allows the source code, blueprint or design to be used, modified and/or shared under defined terms and conditions. This allows end users and commercial compa ...
s and hence Mono is
free and
open-source software
Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Op ...
.
The license of the C# compiler was changed from the GPL to the MIT X11 license
to allow the compiler code to be reused in a few instances where the GPL would have prevented such:
* Mono's Compiler as a Service
** The Mono interactive Shell
** The Mono embeddable C# compiler
* Mono's implementation of the C# 4.0 dynamic binder.
* MonoDevelop's built-in parser and
AST graph
On March 18, 2016, Microsoft's acquisition of Xamarin was officially closed.
On March 31, 2016, Microsoft announced at
Microsoft Build
Microsoft Build (often stylised as ) is an annual conference event held by Microsoft, aimed at software engineers and web developers using Windows, Microsoft Azure and other Microsoft technologies. First held in 2011, it serves as a succes ...
that they'll completely
re-license Mono under the
MIT License
The MIT License is a permissive free software license originating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the late 1980s. As a permissive license, it puts only very limited restriction on reuse and has, therefore, high license comp ...
even in scenarios where previously a commercial license was necessary,
and Microsoft stated that they won't assert any "applicable patents" against parties that are "using, selling, offering for sale, importing, or distributing Mono."
It was also announced that Xamarin had contributed the Mono Project to the .NET Foundation.
Mono and Microsoft's patents
Software developed with Mono
![GNOME Do - blue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/GNOME_Do_-_blue.png)
Many programs covering a range of applications have been developed using the Mono
application programming interface
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how t ...
(API) and C#. Some programs written for the Linux Desktop include
Banshee
A banshee ( ; Modern Irish , from sga, ben síde , "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. Her name i ...
,
Beagle
The beagle is a breed of small scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking instincts, th ...
,
F-Spot
F-Spot is a slowly maintained image organizer, designed to provide personal photo management for the GNOME desktop environment. The name is a play on the word F-Stop.
History
The F-Spot project was started by Ettore Perazzoli and is maintained ...
,
Gbrainy,
Docky/
GNOME Do
GNOME Do (often referred to as Do) is a free and open-source application launcher for Linux originally created by David Siegel, and currently maintained by Alex Launi. Like other application launchers, it allows searching for applications and fil ...
,
MonoTorrent,
Pinta, and
Tomboy
A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...
. The program,
Logos 5 Bible Study Software (OS X Version), was written for the MacOS.
A number of video games, such as ''
The Sims 3'' and''
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
'' (for their
scripting language
A scripting language or script language is a programming language that is used to manipulate, customize, and automate the facilities of an existing system. Scripting languages are usually interpreted at runtime rather than compiled.
A scripting ...
s),
OpenSimulator
OpenSimulator is an open-source server platform originally launched in 2007 for hosting virtual worlds and metaverse environments. It is largely compatible with the virtual world ''Second Life'' but full compatibility is not a design goal.
Fe ...
virtual world server, or games built with the
Unity
Unity may refer to:
Buildings
* Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building
* Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper
* Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England
* Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; ...
or
MonoGame game engines, also make use of Mono.
OpenRA
''Command & Conquer: Red Alert'' is a real-time strategy video game in the Command & Conquer, ''Command & Conquer'' franchise, produced by Westwood Studios and released by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in 1996 in video gaming, 1996. The secon ...
bundles its
Apple Disk Image
Apple Disk Image is a disk image format commonly used by the macOS operating system. When opened, an Apple Disk Image is mounted as a volume within the Finder.
An Apple Disk Image can be structured according to one of several proprietary disk ...
and Linux
AppImage
AppImage is a format for distributing portable software on Linux without needing superuser permissions to install the application. It tries also to allow Linux distribution-agnostic binary software deployment for application developers, als ...
s with Mono essentially removing almost all dependencies from the game.
[Paul Chote]
OpenRA: Playtest 20190825
2019-08-25
See also
*
Common Language Runtime
*
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a proprietary software framework developed by Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It was the predominant implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) until bein ...
*
.NET, an open-source framework and successor to .NET Framework
*
Standard Libraries (CLI)
**
Base Class Library
The Standard Libraries is a set of libraries included in the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) in order to encapsulate many common functions, such as file reading and writing, XML document manipulation, exception handling, application globa ...
(BCL)
*
Comparison of application virtual machines
Application virtualization software refers to both application virtual machines and software responsible for implementing them. Application virtual machines are typically used to allow application bytecode to run portably on many different comput ...
*
DotGNU
DotGNU is a decommissioned part of the GNU Project that started in January 2001. DotGNU aims to provide a free software replacement for Microsoft's .NET Framework by Free Software Foundation. Other goals of the project are better support for non- ...
– A free software umbrella project which includes Portable.NET
*
MonoDevelop
MonoDevelop (also known as Xamarin Studio) is an open-source integrated development environment for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its primary focus is development of projects that use Mono and .NET Framework. MonoDevelop integrates features similar t ...
– An open-source
IDE targeting both Mono and Microsoft
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a proprietary software framework developed by Microsoft that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It was the predominant implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) until bein ...
platforms
*
Moonlight (runtime)
Moonlight was a free and open source implementation for Linux and other Unix-based operating systems of the now deprecated Microsoft Silverlight application framework, developed and then abandoned by the Mono Project.
Like Silverlight, Moonl ...
, an
open-source implementation of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
's
Silverlight
Microsoft Silverlight is a discontinued application framework designed for writing and running rich web applications, similar to Adobe Inc., Adobe's Run time environment, runtime, Adobe Flash. A plugin for Silverlight is still available for a v ...
developed by the Mono Project
*
Shared Source Common Language Infrastructure
The Shared Source Common Language Infrastructure (SSCLI), previously codenamed Rotor, is Microsoft's shared source implementation of the CLI, the core of .NET. Although the SSCLI is not suitable for commercial use due to its license, it does mak ...
– Microsoft's shared source implementation of .NET, formerly codenamed Rotor
*
mod_mono – A module for the
Apache HTTP Server
The Apache HTTP Server ( ) is a free and open-source cross-platform web server software, released under the terms of Apache License 2.0. Apache is developed and maintained by an open community of developers under the auspices of the Apache So ...
that allows hosting of
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is an open-source, server-side web-application framework designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. It was developed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic web sites, applications and services. The name s ...
pages and other assemblies on multiple platforms by use of Mono
References
Citations
Sources
* ''This article incorporates text from Mono'
homepage which was then under the
GNU Free Documentation License.''
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
MonoTouchMain Page for the port to
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
's hand-held products
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mono (software)
.NET
.NET implementations
2004 software
Cross-platform software
Novell software
Software using the MIT license