Platform Where Programming Lands

.NET Platform
.Net platform is a platform which provides a framework for development of different kind of applications. These applications may be of any kind included GUI (Graphical User Interface) applications, web based , mobile applications etc. It is used in integration and interoperability of internet based solutions. It is based on some open standards such as UDDI (Universal Discovery And Description Integration ) , SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), XML (Extensible Mark-up Language).

There are four primary components of .Net platform which are as follows:

• Microsoft .NET Framework
• Development Tools & Technologies
• Server Infrastructure
• Building Block Services

Microsoft .NET Framework

It is a platform neutral framework. It is a layer between the operating system and the programming language. It supports over 20 programming languages including VB.NET, C# etc. It provides a common set of class libraries, which can be accessed from any .NET based programming language. There will not be separate set of classes and libraries for each language. In future version of Windows, .NET will be freely distributed as part of operating system and users will never have to install .NET separately. The .NET Framework is a development, deployment and execution environment that allows different programming languages & libraries to work together. It also includes CLR (Common Language Runtime) and BCL (Base Class Library) as an important part.

Development Tools & Technologies

It provides a complete set of tools(development solutions) for building, deploying and running .Net software. It helps to maximize the efficiency, performance, reliability and security of the software. With the help of development tools the languages which are supported by .Net platform can be developed. Visual Studio and set of .Net compliant programming languages are its examples.
Server Infrastructure

It provides an infrastructure with benefits of architecture, security, reliability, manageability and high availability. Windows 2000 Servers family and Enterprise Servers helps Microsoft .NET server infrastructure for deploying, managing the web services. It also provides the flexibility to adapt the changes in the application while integrating the system.

Building Block Services
It includes set of XML Web Services that move control of user data from applications to users. These services can be shared among applications on the internet or intranet. For example, Microsoft Passport is the core component of the .NET initiative that makes it easier to authentically integrate various applications. The .NET Framework provides tools and classes for building, testing and distributing XML Web Services.