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Native Image Generator
The Native Image Generator, or simply NGen, is the ahead-of-time compilation (AOT) service of the .NET Framework. It allows a CLI assembly to be pre-compiled instead of letting the Common Language Runtime (CLR) do a just-in-time compilation (JIT) at runtime. In some cases the execution will be significantly faster than with JIT. General information The Native Image Generator produces a native binary image for the current environment (i.e.; operating systems). This eliminates the JIT overhead at the expense of portability and disk space; whenever an NGen-generated image is run in an incompatible environment, .NET Framework automatically reverts to using JIT. Once NGen is run against an assembly, the resulting native image is placed into the Native Image Cache (NIC) for use by all other CLI assemblies. This makes it possible, for example, to use NGen to process CLI assemblies at installation time, saving processor time later on, when the end-user invokes the application on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ahead-of-time Compilation
In computer science, ahead-of-time compilation (AOT compilation) is the act of compiling an (often) higher-level programming language into an (often) lower-level language before execution of a program, usually at build-time, to reduce the amount of work needed to be performed at run time. It is most commonly associated with the act of compiling a higher-level programming language such as C or C++, or an intermediate representation such as Java bytecode or Common Intermediate Language (CIL) code, into native machine code so that the resulting binary file can execute natively, just like a standard native compiler. When being used in this context, it is often seen as an opposite of just-in-time (JIT) compiling. Speaking more generally, the target languages of an AOT compilation are not necessarily specific to native machine code but are defined rather arbitrarily. Some academic papers use this word to mean the act of compiling the Java bytecode to C or the timing when op ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Service (systems Architecture)
In the contexts of software architecture, service-orientation and service-oriented architecture, the term service refers to a software functionality, or a set of software functionalities (such as the retrieval of specified information or the execution of a set of operations) with a purpose that different clients can reuse for different purposes, together with the policies that should control its usage (based on the identity of the client requesting the service, for example). OASIS defines a service as "a mechanism to enable access to one or more capabilities, where the access is provided using a prescribed interface and is exercised consistent with constraints and policies as specified by the service description". [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 being superseded by the cross-platform .NET project. It includes a large class library called Framework Class Library (FCL) and provides language interoperability (each language can use code written in other languages) across several programming languages. Programs written for .NET Framework execute in a software environment (in contrast to a computer hardware, hardware environment) named the Common Language Runtime (CLR). The CLR is an process virtual machine, application virtual machine that provides services such as security, memory management, and exception handling. As such, computer code written using .NET Framework is called "managed code". FCL and CLR together constitute the .NET Framework. FCL provides the user interface, data access, d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assembly (CLI)
An assembly in the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) is a compiled code library used for deployment, versioning, and security. There are two types: process assemblies ( EXE) and library assemblies ( DLL). A process assembly represents a process that will use classes defined in library assemblies. CLI assemblies contain code in CIL, which is usually generated from a CLI language, and then compiled into machine language at run time by the just-in-time compiler. In the .NET Framework implementation, this compiler is part of the Common Language Runtime (CLR). An assembly can consist of one or more files. Code files are called modules. An assembly can contain more than one code module. And since it is possible to use different languages to create code modules, it is technically possible to use several different languages to create an assembly. Visual Studio however does not support using different languages in one assembly. Assembly names The name of an assembly consists o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Language Runtime
The Common Language Runtime (CLR), the virtual machine component of Microsoft .NET Framework, manages the execution of .NET programs. Just-in-time compilation converts the managed code (compiled intermediate language code) into machine instructions which are then executed on the CPU of the computer. The CLR provides additional services including memory management, type safety, exception handling, garbage collection, security and thread management. All programs written for the .NET Framework, regardless of programming language, are executed in the CLR. All versions of the .NET Framework include CLR. The CLR team was started June 13, 1998. CLR implements the Virtual Execution System (VES) as defined in the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) standard, initially developed by Microsoft itself. A public standard defines the Common Language Infrastructure specification. During the transition from legacy .NET technologies like the .NET Framework and its proprietary runtime t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Just-in-time Compilation
In computing, just-in-time (JIT) compilation (also dynamic translation or run-time compilations) is compilation (of computer code) during execution of a program (at run time) rather than before execution. This may consist of source code translation but is more commonly bytecode translation to machine code, which is then executed directly. A system implementing a JIT compiler typically continuously analyses the code being executed and identifies parts of the code where the speedup gained from compilation or recompilation would outweigh the overhead of compiling that code. JIT compilation is a combination of the two traditional approaches to translation to machine code— ahead-of-time compilation (AOT), and interpretation—and combines some advantages and drawbacks of both. Roughly, JIT compilation combines the speed of compiled code with the flexibility of interpretation, with the overhead of an interpreter and the additional overhead of compiling and linking (not j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Language Infrastructure
The Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) is an open specification and technical standard originally developed by Microsoft and standardized by International Organization for Standardization, ISO/International Electrotechnical Commission, IEC (ISO/IEC 23271) and Ecma International (ECMA 335) that describes executable code and a runtime environment that allows List of CLI languages, multiple high-level languages to be used on different Computing platform, computer platforms without being rewritten for specific architectures. This implies it is platform agnostic. The .NET Framework, .NET and Mono (software), Mono are implementations of the CLI. The metadata format is also used to specify the API definitions exposed by the Windows Runtime. Overview Among other things, the CLI specification describes the following five aspects: ;The Common Type System (CTS) :A set of data types and operations that are shared by all CTS-compliant programming languages. ;The Metadata (CLI), Metadata :In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Intermediate Language
Common Intermediate Language (CIL), formerly called Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) or Intermediate Language (IL), is the intermediate language binary instruction set defined within the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) specification. CIL instructions are executed by a CIL-compatible runtime environment such as the Common Language Runtime. Languages which target the CLI compile to CIL. CIL is object-oriented, stack-based bytecode. Runtimes typically just-in-time compile CIL instructions into native code. CIL was originally known as Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) during the beta releases of the .NET languages. Due to standardization of C# and the CLI, the bytecode is now officially known as CIL. Windows Defender virus definitions continue to refer to binaries compiled with it as MSIL. General information During compilation of CLI programming languages, the source code is translated into CIL code rather than into platform- or processor-specific object code. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Global Assembly Cache
The Global Assembly Cache (GAC) is a machine-wide CLI assembly cache for the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) in Microsoft's .NET Framework. The approach of having a specially controlled central repository addresses the flaws in the shared library concept and helps to avoid pitfalls of other solutions that led to drawbacks like DLL hell. Requirements Assemblies residing in the GAC must adhere to a specific versioning scheme which allows for side-by-side execution of different code versions. Specifically, such assemblies must be strongly named. Usage There are two ways to interact with the GAC: the Global Assembly Cache Tool (gacutil.exe) and the Assembly Cache Viewer (shfusion.dll). Global Assembly Cache Tool gacutil.exe is an older command-line utility that shipped with .NET 1.1 and is still available with the .NET SDK. One can check the availability of a shared assembly in GAC by using the command: gacutil.exe /l One can register a shared assembly in the GAC by us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CoreRT
The .NET platform (pronounced as "''dot net"'') is a free and open-source, managed computer software framework for Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems. The project is mainly developed by Microsoft employees by way of the .NET Foundation and is released under an MIT License. New versions of the .NET platform are released annually, typically in November. As of May 2025, the most recent version of .NET is .NET 9, released in November 2024, while the current long-term support (LTS) version is .NET 8, released in November 2023 and scheduled to receive updates until November 2026. History In the late 1990s, Microsoft began developing a managed code runtime and programming language ( C#) which it billed together as part of the ".NET platform", with the core runtime and software libraries comprising the .NET Framework. At the heart of the .NET Platform is the .NET Framework, a high-productivity, multilanguage development and execution environment for building and running ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
