How to Microsoft .Net Framework

Microsoft .Net Languages Source Code are compiled into Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) . MSIL we can call it as Intermediate Language (IL) or Common Intermediate Language (CIL). Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) is a CPU independent set of instructions that can be converted to the native code. Metadata also created in the course of compile time with Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) and stored it with the compiled code . Metadata is completely self-describing . Metadata is stored in a file called Manifest, and it contains information about the members, types, references and all the other data that the Common Language Runtime (CLR) needs for execution.

The Common Language Runtime (CLR) uses metadata to locate and load classes, generate native code, provide security, and execute Managed Code. Both Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) and Metadata assembled together is known as Portable Executable (PE) file. Portable Executable (PE) is supposed to be portable across all 32-bit operating systems by Microsoft .Net Framework.

During the runtime the Common Language Runtime (CLR)'s Just In Time (JIT) compiler converts the Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) code into native code to the Operating System. The native code is Operating System independent and this code is known as Managed Code , that is, the language's functionality is managed by the .NET Framework . The Common Language Runtime (CLR) provides various Just In Time (JIT) compilers, and each works on a different architecture depends on Operating Systems, that means the same Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) can be executed on different Operating Systems. From the following section you can see how Common Language Runtime (CLR) functions .

Can I run .Net Framework on Linux ?

Microsoft .Net framework is proprietary Windows software and requires the Windows API to run. It will not run natively in Linux. But there is an open source implementation of .NET Framework called MONO which has almost the same functionality of the MS .NET.

Mono Project