Chapter 4. Overview of .NET Framework Classes

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.