Common Language Runtime

The Common Language Runtime (CLR) is the virtual machine component of Microsoft's .NET framework and is responsible for managing the execution of .NET programs. In a process known as Just-in-time compilation, the compiled code is converted into machine instructions that, in turn, are executed by the computer's CPU. The CLR provides additional services including memory management, type safety and exception handling. All programs written for the .NET framework, regardless of programming language, are executed by the CLR. It provides exception handling, garbage collection and thread management. CLR is common to all versions of the .NET framework.

The CLR is Microsoft's implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) standard.

Famous quotes containing the words common and/or language:

    Farmers in overalls and wide-brimmed straw hats lounge about the store on hot summer days, when the most common sound is the thump-thump-thump of a hound’s leg on the floor as he scratches contentedly. Oldtime hunters say that fleas are a hound’s salvation: his constant twisting and clawing in pursuit of the tormentors keeps his joints supple.
    —Administration in the State of Arka, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    When you’re lying awake with a dismal headache, and repose is
    taboo’d by anxiety,
    I conceive you may use any language you choose to indulge in without impropriety;
    Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)