Common Language Runtime

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The Common Language Runtime (CLR) is the virtual machine component of Microsoft's .NET initiative. It is Microsoft's implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) standard, which defines an execution environment for program code. The CLR runs a form of bytecode called the Common Intermediate Language (CIL, previously known as MSIL -- Microsoft Intermediate Language).

Developers using the CLR write code in a language such as C# or VB.Net. At compile-time, a .NET compiler converts such code into CIL code. At runtime, the CLR's just-in-time compiler (JIT compiler) converts the CIL code into code native to the operating system. Alternatively, the CIL code can be compiled to native code in a separate step prior to runtime. This speeds up all later runs of the software as the CIL-to-native compilation is no longer necessary.

Although some other implementations of the Common Language Infrastructure run on non-Windows operating systems, the CLR runs on Microsoft Windows operating systems only.

The virtual machine aspect of the CLR allows programmers to ignore many details of the specific CPU that will execute the program. The CLR also provides other important services, including the following:

• Memory management
• Thread management
• Exception handling
• Garbage collection
• Security

See also

• .NET Framework
• Common Language Infrastructure
• Common Intermediate Language
• Parrot virtual machine
• Java virtual machine
• Portable.NET
• Mono
• Metadata
• Runtime
• Common Type System
• Virtual machine
• C++/CLI
• POCO

References

• Overview (Microsoft MSDN)
• Standard ECMA-335, Common Language Infrastructure (CLI). ECMA International. Retrieved on Aug 17., 2007.

External links

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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 00:27:18 PDT (GMT -0700)
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