Chapter 4. Overview of .NET Framework Classes

OBJECTIVES

Understand the concept of namespaces

Identify the .NET namespaces you will use most

Learn how to use the .NET namespaces in your code

Examine examples of the most common classes and methods

Microsoft has created one of the largest class libraries anywhere with the

advent of the .NET Framework. This class library, part of the Common

Language Runtime (CLR), is the underlying library for all .NET languages.

This library of classes, methods, and properties is used both during the

development cycle and at runtime. This library allows any .NET language to

have access to a wealth of building blocks that shorten the development

cycle for developers.

What makes this framework so important is that it allows developers using

any .NET language to have access to the same base classes and the same base

data types, and those types and classes behave exactly the same way in any

.NET language. If you need to create a multithreaded application, for

example, you'll find the System.Threading classes in the .NET Framework.

You do not need to "roll your own" solutions using the underlying Windows

API. The actual syntax you will use to interact with the objects varies

from language to language, but the base classes themselves will be the same.

Microsoft .NET developers will spend a large percentage of their time

working with .NET Framework objects, because there are classes to help with

almost any type of application you might develop. The .NET Framework will

make programming easier in the long run no matter what .NET language you

are using.