NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Common Intermediate Language

Common Intermediate Language (CIL, pronounced either "sill" or "kill") (formerly called Microsoft Intermediate Language or MSIL) is the lowest-level human-readable programming language in the Common Language Infrastructure and in the .NET Framework. Languages which target the .NET Framework compile to CIL, which is assembled into bytecode. CIL resembles an object-oriented assembly language, and is entirely stack-based. It is executed by a virtual machine. The primary .NET languages are C#, Visual Basic .NET, C++/CLI, and J#. Human-readable refers to a representation of information that can be naturally read by humans. ... A programming language is an artificial language that can be used to control the behavior of a machine, particularly a computer. ... Visual overview of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) The Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) is an open specification developed by Microsoft that describes the executable code and runtime environment that form the core of the Microsoft . ... The Microsoft . ... Bytecode is a binary representation of an executable program designed to be executed by a virtual machine rather than by dedicated hardware. ... Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a computer programming paradigm in which a software system is modeled as a set of objects that interact with each other. ... See the terminology section, below, regarding inconsistent use of the terms assembly and assembler. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In computer science, a virtual machine is software that creates a virtualized environment between the computer platform and its operating system, so that the end user can operate software on an abstract machine. ... C# (pronounced see-sharp) is an object-oriented programming language developed by Microsoft as part of their . ... Visual Basic . ... C++/CLI (Common Language Infrastructure) is the newer language specification due to supersede Managed Extensions for C++. Completely reviewed to simplify the older Managed C++ syntax, it provides much more clarity over code readability than Managed C++. C++/CLI is standardized by ECMA. It is currently only available on Visual... The J# (pronounced J-sharp) programming language is a transitional language for programmers of Suns Java and Microsofts J++ languages, so they may use their existing knowledge, and applications on Microsofts . ...

CIL was originally known as Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) during the beta releases of the .NET languages. Due to standardization of C# and the Common Language Infrastructure, the bytecode is now officially known as CIL. Because of this legacy, CIL is still frequently referred to as MSIL, especially by long-standing users of the .NET languages.

General information

During compilation of .NET programming languages, the source code is translated into CIL code rather than platform or processor-specific object code. CIL is a CPU- and platform-independent instruction set that can be executed in any environment supporting the .NET framework. CIL code is verified for safety during runtime, providing better security and reliability than natively compiled binaries. A programming language is an artificial language that can be used to control the behavior of a machine, particularly a computer. ... Source code (commonly just source or code) is any series of statements written in some human-readable computer programming language. ... In computer science, object file or object code is an intermediate representation of code generated by a compiler after it processes a source code file. ... CPU can stand for: in computing: Central processing unit in journalism: Commonwealth Press Union in law enforcement: Crime prevention unit in software: Critical patch update, a type of software patch distributed by Oracle Corporation in Macleans College is often known as Ash Lim. ...

Just-In-Time (JIT) Compilation

Just-in-time compilation involves the byte-code being turned into code immediately executable by the CPU. The conversion is performed gradually during the program's execution. JIT compilation provides environment-specific optimization, runtime type safety, and assembly verification. To accomplish this, the JIT compiler examines the assembly metadata for any illegal accesses and handles violations appropriately. For other uses, see Just In Time. ...

NGEN (Native Image Generator) Compilation

NGEN produces a native binary image for the current environment. The byte-code is either skipped entirely or converted into native CPU instructions completely before runtime. This eliminates the JIT overhead at the expense of portability; whenever an NGEN-generated image is run in an incompatible environment, .NET framework automatically reverts to using JIT.

Once NGEN is run against an assembly, the resulting native image is placed into the Native Image Cache for use by all other .NET assemblies. It is advised that NGEN is run during applications' deployment.

Metadata

Metadata is information about the compiled classes. It serves the same purpose as a type library in COM. Metadata enables applications to support and discover the interfaces, classes, types, methods, and fields in the assembly. The process of reading metadata is called reflection. Metadata is data about data. ... Component Object Model (COM) is a platform for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. ... In computer science, reflection is the process by which a computer program of the appropriate type can be modified in the process of being executed, in a manner that depends on abstract features of its code and its runtime behavior. ...

Executing CIL

In the Microsoft . ... The Common Language Runtime (CLR) is the virtual machine component of Microsofts . ...

See also

This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

External links

Categories: Assembly languages | .NET programming languages | .NET framework The Microsoft . ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ... The Base Class Library (BCL) is a library of types and functionalities available to all languages using the . ... Visual overview of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) The Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) is an open specification developed by Microsoft that describes the executable code and runtime environment that form the core of the Microsoft . ... In the Microsoft . ... . ... Visual overview of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) The Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) is an open specification developed by Microsoft that describes the executable code and runtime environment that form the core of the Microsoft . ... The Common Language Runtime (CLR) is the virtual machine component of Microsofts . ... The Common Type System (CTS) is used by every language built on the . ... The Virtual Execution System(VES) provides an environment for executing managed code. ... The Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR) from Microsoft is a set of services that run on top of the CLR and provides language services like: Dynamic type system Dynamic method dispatch Dynamic code generation Hosting API It can be used to implement dynamic languages like Python and Ruby on the . ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... CÏ‰ (pronounced C omega and usually written as Cw or Comega language) is a free extension to the C# programming language, developed by the WebData team in SQL Server in collaboration with Microsoft Research in the UK and Redmond. ... Visual Basic . ... C++/CLI (Common Language Infrastructure) is the newer language specification due to supersede Managed Extensions for C++. Completely reviewed to simplify the older Managed C++ syntax, it provides much more clarity over code readability than Managed C++. C++/CLI is standardized by ECMA. It is currently only available on Visual... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Managed C Plus Plus. ... The J# (pronounced J-sharp) programming language is a transitional language for programmers of Suns Java and Microsofts J++ languages, so they may use their existing knowledge, and applications on Microsofts . ... JScript . ... Windows PowerShell, previously Microsoft Shell or MSH (codenamed Monad) is an extensible command line interface (CLI) shell and scripting language product developed by Microsoft. ... IronPython is an implementation of the Python programming language, targeting . ... IronRuby is an implementation of the Ruby programming language targeting Microsoft . ... F# (pronounced F sharp) is a functional and object oriented programming language for the Microsoft . ... Microsoft . ... A# is a port of the Ada programming language to the Microsoft . ... Boo is an object oriented, statically typed programming language developed starting in 2003, which seeks to make use of the Common Language Infrastructure support for Unicode, globalization and web style applications, while using a Python-inspired syntax and a special focus on language and compiler extensibility. ... IronLisp is an implementation of the Lisp programming language targeting Microsoft . ... L# .NET is a Lisp-based scripting language for . ... Nemerle logo Nemerle is a high-level statically-typed programming language for the . ... P# is a Prolog (logic programming language) interpreter written for the Common Language Infrastructure. ... Scala is a multi-paradigm programming language designed to express common programming patterns in a concise, elegant, and type-safe way. ... This subsystem is a part of . ... This subsystem is a part of . ... This subsystem is a part of . ... ADO.NET is a set of computer software components that can be used by programmers to access data and data services. ... ASP.NET logo ASP.NET is a web application framework marketed by Microsoft that programmers can use to build dynamic web sites, web applications and XML web services. ... . ... Language intergrated query (LINQ) is a Microsoft project that aims to add a native querying syntax to C# and VB.Net. ... Microsoft Silverlight (code-named Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere or WPF/E) is a proprietary runtime for browser-based Rich Internet Applications, providing a subset of the animation, vector graphics, and video playback capabilities of Windows Presentation Foundation. ... This subsystem is a part of . ... Microsoft Windows Forms is the name given to the GUI portion of the Microsoft . ... Extensible Application Markup Language (pronounced zammel ()) by Microsoft is a declarative XML-based language used to define objects and their properties, relationships and interactions. ... DotGNU is a part of the GNU Project that aims to provide a free software replacement for the Microsoft . ... Mono is a project led by Novell (formerly by Ximian) to create an ECMA standard compliant . ... The Microsoft . ... The Microsoft . ... . ... DotGNU Portable . ... The Shared Source Common Language Infrastructure (SSCLI), previously codenamed Rotor, is Microsofts shared source implementation of the CLI, the core of . ... This is a comparison of the C# programming language with the Java programming language. ... The original . ... This is a comparison of the . ... Microsoft Codename Acropolis, currently available as a CTP release, is a set of tools and components that can be used to build . ... Microsoft Codename Astoria is a platform for what Microsoft calls Data Services. ... 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