The Common Language Runtime (CLR) is a framework that allows programs to run on multiple computer environments. It abstracts the details of the computer and provides a layer of abstraction that allows programs to run on various operating systems and computers. Programs are compiled into an instruction set for a virtual CPU, allowing all CPU and OS specific changes to be made in the CLR. The CLR provides benefits such as not having to worry about getting programs to work on every computer and allowing for performance optimizations. As of 2010, the CLR was only available on Windows, but there are CLI implementations created by non-Microsoft groups that run on other operating systems.
The common language runtime (CLR) provides computer programmers with a framework that allows programs to run in multiple computer environments.
The CLR is designed to be a working implementation of the Microsoft Common Language Infrastructure (CLI). It is one of the key elements of Microsoft’s .NET Framework and provides programmers with intermediate programming code.
Computer programs are made up of a series of machine codes that instruct the Central Processing Unit (CPU) what to do. The list of instructions that a specific CPU can understand is known as an instruction set. Different CPU models have different instruction sets.
Your computer’s operating system fixes most of these problems. The operating system works to abstract the details of the computer so that programs can run on different types of computers. The specifics of how the operating system does this varies between operating systems.
This is where the Common Language Runtime comes into effect. It provides another layer of abstraction that can allow programs to run on various operating systems and computers. This has a double benefit. Not only does it mean that programs can run on different types of hardware, but it also ensures that application programmers have more time to work on their program’s features.
Instead of building programs into a CPU-specific instruction set, the common language infrastructure allows programs to be compiled into an instruction set for a virtual CPU. These instructions are then used by the common language runtime to execute the program. This allows all CPU and OS specific changes to be made in the common language runtime rather than in each individual computer program.
There are many benefits of using the common language runtime. The most obvious benefit is that application programmers no longer have to worry about getting their programs to work on every computer. Additionally, the CLR allows you to perform a variety of performance optimizations that would otherwise not be available to your application. This allows programs to run much more efficiently than would otherwise be possible.
As of 2010, Microsoft’s common language runtime was only available on the Windows® platform. There are a number of CLI implementations that have been created by non-Microsoft groups that run on other operating systems. Using the CLI allows you to create programs that can run on any computer and operating system that supports it.
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