2.1 CLR Environment
The CLR is the underlying .NET infrastructure. Its facilities cover all the goals that we spelled out in Chapter 1. Unlike software libraries such as MFC or ATL, the CLR is built from a clean slate. The CLR manages the execution of code in the .NET Framework.
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Figure 2-1 shows the two portions of the .NET environment, with the bottom portion representing the CLR and the top portion representing the CLR executables or Portable Executable (PE) files, which are .NET assemblies or units of deployment. The CLR is the runtime engine that loads required classes, performs just-in-time compilation on needed methods, enforces security checks, and accomplishes a bunch of other runtime functionalities. The CLR executables shown in Figure 2-1 are either EXE or DLL files that consist mostly of metadata and code.
Figure 2-1. The CLR environment
