外文文献——Applications You Can Write with C#.docVIP

原文：摘自《Beginning Visual C# 2010》 作者：Karli Watson, Christin Nagel, Jacob Hammer Pedersen, Jon D. Reid, Morgan Skinner. Chapter 1 Introducing C# WHAT IS THE .NET FRAMEWORK? The .NET Framework (now at version 4) is a revolutionary platform created by Microsoft for developing applications. The most interesting thing about this statement is how vague it is — but there are good reasons for this. For a start, note that it doesn’t ‘‘develop applications on the Windows operating system.’’ Although the Microsoft release of the .NET Framework runs on the Windows operating system, it is possible to find alternative versions that will work on other systems. One example of this is Mono, an open-source version of the .NET Framework (including a C# compiler) that runs on several operating systems, including various flavors of Linux and Mac OS. In addition, you can use the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework (essentially a subset of the full .NET Framework) on personal digital assistant (PDA) class devices and even some smartphones. One of the key motivations behind the .NET Framework is its intended use as a means of integrating disparate operating systems. In addition, the preceding definition of the .NET Framework includes no restriction on the type of applications that are possible. That’s because there is no restriction — the .NET Framework enables the creation of Windows applications, Web applications, Web services, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Also, with Web applications it’s worth noting that these are, by definition, multiplatform applications, since any system with a Web browser can access them. With the recent addition of Silverlight, this category also includes applications that run inside browsers on the client, as well as applications that merely render Web content in the form of HTML. The .NET Framework has been designed so that it can be used from any language, including C# (the subject of this book) as well as C++, Visual Basic, JScript, and even olde