Chapter 4. Introduction to the .NET Framework Class Library

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Introducing the Framework Class Library

• Enhancing Developer Productivity

• The Elements of a Namespace

• Programming with the Framework Class Library

The Framework Class Library is a vast tapestry; it will take a while before you are familiar enough with it to immediately identify its possible uses in a given situation. This chapter will introduce you to the class library that ships with the .NET Framework. We will examine its organization, and look at exactly how the classes operate as a reusable layer of functional building blocks for .NET developers. You should walk away from this chapter understanding, in principle, what position in the larger .NET initiative that the Framework Class Library holds, and how it is really designed with the end developer in mind. You should also be primed and ready to look at actual code examples in the chapters that follow in Part II, “Working with the .NET Namespaces,” of this book.

This chapter will specifically

• Describe the organization of the class library namespaces.

• Illustrate how the class library implements the core concepts of classes, enumerations, delegates, interfaces, and structures.

• Identify the key productivity enhancements offered by programming against the class library.

So, before getting in to the actual makeup of the .NET base classes, we will examine a few basic aspects of the namespaces that constitute the class library.