.NET Interview Question Answers
1. What are the benefits of using of ADO.NET in .NET .?
Answer: The following are the benefits of using ADO.NET in .NET 4.0 are as follows: Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) - Adds native data-querying capabilities to .NET languages by using a syntax similar to that of SQL. This means that LINQ simplifies querying by eliminating the need to use a separate query language. LINQ is an innovative technology that was introduced in .NET Framework 3.5. LINQ to DataSet - Allows you to implement LINQ queries for disconnected data stored in a dataset. LINQ to DataSet enables you to query data that is cached in a DataSet object. DataSet objects allow you to use a copy of the data stored in the tables of a database, without actually getting connected to the database. LINQ to SQL - Allows you to create queries for data stored in SQL server database in your .NET application. You can use the LINQ to SQL technology to translate a query into a SQL query and then use it to retrieve or manipulate data contained in tables of an SQL Server database. LINQ to SQL supports all the key functions that you like to perform while working with SQL, that is, you can insert, update, and delete information from a table. SqlClient Support for SQL Server 2008 - Specifies that with the starting of .NET Framework version 3.5 Service Pack (SP) 1, .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server (System.Data.SqlClient namespace) includes all the new features that make it fully compatible with SQL Server 2008 Database Engine. ADO.NET Data Platform - Specifies that with the release of .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack (SP) 1, an Entity Framework 3.5 was introduced that provides a set of Entity Data Model (EDM) functions. These functions are supported by all the data providers; thereby, reducing the amount of coding and maintenance in your application. In .NET Framework 4.0, many new functions, such as string, aggregate, mathematical, and date/time functions have been added.
2. How does an AppDomain get created?
Answer: AppDomains are usually created by hosts. Examples of hosts are the Windows Shell, ASP.NET and IE. When you run a .NET application from the command-line, the host is the Shell. The Shell creates a new AppDomain for every application. AppDomains can also be explicitly created by .NET applications. Here is a C# sample which creates an AppDomain, creates an instance of an object inside it, and then executes one of the object's methods: using System; using System.Runtime.Remoting; using System.Reflection; public class CAppDomainInfo : MarshalByRefObject { public string GetName() { return AppDomain.CurrentDomain.FriendlyName; } } public class App { public static int Main() { AppDomain ad = AppDomain.CreateDomain( "Andy's new domain" ); CAppDomainInfo adInfo = (CAppDomainInfo)ad.CreateInstanceAndUnwrap( Assembly.GetCallingAssembly().GetName().Name, "CAppDomainInfo" ); Console.WriteLine( "Created AppDomain name = " + adInfo.GetName() ); return 0; } }
3. What is managed extensibility framework?
Answer: Managed extensibility framework (MEF) is a new library that is introduced as a part of .NET 4.0 and Silverlight 4. It helps in extending your application by providing greater reuse of applications and components. MEF provides a way for host application to consume external extensions without any configuration requirement.
4. Differentiate between managed and unmanaged code?
Answer: Managed code is the code that is executed directly by the CLR instead of the operating system. The code compiler first compiles the managed code to intermediate language (IL) code, also called as MSIL code. This code doesn't depend on machine configurations and can be executed on different machines. Unmanaged code is the code that is executed directly by the operating system outside the CLR environment. It is directly compiled to native machine code which depends on the machine configuration. In the managed code, since the execution of the code is governed by CLR, the runtime provides different services, such as garbage collection, type checking, exception handling, and security support. These services help provide uniformity in platform and language-independent behavior of managed code applications. In the unmanaged code, the allocation of memory, type safety, and security is required to be taken care of by the developer. If the unmanaged code is not properly handled, it may result in memory leak. Examples of unmanaged code are ActiveX components and Win32 APIs that execute beyond the scope of native CLR.
5. What is Boxing and unboxing ?
Answer: Boxing: The conversion of a value type instance to an object, which implies that the instance will carry full type information at run time and will be allocated in the heap. The Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) instruction set's box instruction converts a value type to an object by making a copy of the value type and embedding it in a newly allocated object. Un-Boxing: The conversion of an object instance to a value type.
6. Do I have any control over the garbage collectionalgorithm?
Answer: A little. For example the System.GC class exposes a Collect method, which forces the garbage collector to collect all unreferenced objects immediately. Also there is a gcConcurrent setting that can be specified via the application configuration file. This specifies whether or not the garbage collector performs some of its collection activities on a separate thread. The setting only applies on multi-processor machines, and defaults to true.
7. How has exception handling changed in .NET Framework .?
Answer: In .NET 4.0, a new namespace, System.Runtime.ExceptionServices, has been introduced which contains the following classes for handling exceptions in a better and advanced manner: HandleProcessCorruptedStateExceptionsAttribute Class - Enables managed code to handle the corrupted state exceptions that occur in an operating system. These exceptions cannot be caught by specifying the try...catch block. To handle such exceptions, you can apply this attribute to the method that is assigned to handle these exceptions. FirstChanceExceptionEventArgs Class - Generates an event whenever a managed exception first occurs in your code, before the common language runtime begins searching for event handlers.
8. How do assemblies find each other?
Answer: By searching directory paths. There are several factors which can affect the path (such as the AppDomain host, and application configuration files), but for private assemblies the search path is normally the application's directory and its sub-directories. For shared assemblies, the search path is normally same as the private assembly path plus the shared assembly cache.
9. What is an assembly?
Answer: An assembly is sometimes described as a logical .EXE or .DLL, and can be an application (with a main entry point) or a library. An assembly consists of one or more files (dlls, exes, html files etc), and represents a group of resources, type definitions, and implementations of those types. An assembly may also contain references to other assemblies. These resources, types and references are described in a block of data called a manifest. The manifest is part of the assembly, thus making the assembly self-describing. An important aspect of assemblies is that they are part of the identity of a type. The identity of a type is the assembly that houses it combined with the type name. This means, for example, that if assembly A exports a type called T, and assembly B exports a type called T, the .NET runtime sees these as two completely different types. Furthermore, don't get confused between assemblies and namespaces - namespaces are merely a hierarchical way of organising type names. To the runtime, type names are type names, regardless of whether namespaces are used to organise the names. It's the assembly plus the typename (regardless of whether the type name belongs to a namespace) that uniquely indentifies a type to the runtime. Assemblies are also important in .NET with respect to security - many of the security restrictions are enforced at the assembly boundary. Finally, assemblies are the unit of versioning in .NET - more on this below.
10. What are different types of directives in .NET?
Answer: @Page: Defines page-specific attributes used by the ASP.NET page parser and compiler. Can be included only in .aspx files <%@ Page AspCompat="TRUE" language="C#" %> @Control: Defines control-specific attributes used by the ASP.NET page parser and compiler. Can be included only in .ascx files. <%@ Control Language="VB" EnableViewState="false" %> @Import: Explicitly imports a namespace into a page or user control. The Import directive cannot have more than one namespace attribute. To import multiple namespaces, use multiple @Import directives. <% @ Import Namespace="System.web" %> @Implements: Indicates that the current page or user control implements the specified .NET framework interface.<%@ Implements Interface="System.Web.UI.IPostBackEventHandler" %> @Register: Associates aliases with namespaces and class names for concise notation in custom server control syntax.<%@ Register Tagprefix="Acme" Tagname="AdRotator" Src="AdRotator.ascx" %> @Assembly: Links an assembly to the current page during compilation, making all the assembly's classes and interfaces available for use on the page. <%@ Assembly Name="MyAssembly" %><%@ Assembly Src="MySource.vb" %> @OutputCache: Declaratively controls the output caching policies of an ASP.NET page or a user control contained in a page<%@ OutputCache Duration="#ofseconds" Location="Any | Client | Downstream | Server | None" Shared="True | False" VaryByControl="controlname" VaryByCustom="browser | customstring" VaryByHeader="headers" VaryByParam="parametername" %> @Reference: Declaratively indicates that another user control or page source file should be dynamically compiled and linked against the page in which this directive is declared.
11. Can I customise the serialization process?
Answer: Yes. XmlSerializer supports a range of attributes that can be used to configure serialization for a particular class. For example, a field or property can be marked with the [XmlIgnore] attribute to exclude it from serialization. Another example is the [XmlElement] attribute, which can be used to specify the XML element name to be used for a particular property or field. Serialization via SoapFormatter/BinaryFormatter can also be controlled to some extent by attributes. For example, the [NonSerialized] attribute is the equivalent of XmlSerializer's [XmlIgnore] attribute. Ultimate control of the serialization process can be acheived by implementing the the ISerializable interface on the class whose instances are to be serialized.
12. What is a DataReader object?
Answer: The DataReader object helps in retrieving the data from a database in a forward-only, read-only mode. The base class for all the DataReader objects is the DbDataReader class. The DataReader object is returned as a result of calling the ExecuteReader() method of the Command object. The DataReader object enables faster retrieval of data from databases and enhances the performance of .NET applications by providing rapid data access speed. However, it is less preferred as compared to the DataAdapter object because the DataReader object needs an Open connection till it completes reading all the rows of the specified table. An Open connection to read data from large tables consumes most of the system resources. When multiple client applications simultaneously access a database by using the DataReader object, the performance of data retrieval and other related processes is substantially reduced. In such a case, the database might refuse connections to other .NET applications until other clients free the resources.
13. What is .NET?
Answer: .NET is a general-purpose software development platform, similar to Java. At its core is a virtual machine that turns intermediate language (IL) into machine code. High-level language compilers for C#, VB.NET and C++ are provided to turn source code into IL. C# is a new programming language, very similar to Java. An extensive class library is included, featuring all the functionality one might expect from a contempory development platform - windows GUI development (Windows Form s), database access (ADO.NET), web development (ASP.NET), web services, XML etc.
14. How is .NET able to support multiple languages?
Answer: A language should comply with the Common Language Runtime standard to become a .NET language. In .NET, code is compiled to Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL for short). This is called as Managed Code. This Managed code is run in .NET environment. So after compilation to this IL the language is not a barrier. A code can call or use a function written in another language.
15. What is C#?
Answer: C# is a new language designed by Microsoft to work with the .NET framework. In their "Introduction to C#" whitepaper, Microsoft describe C# as follows: "C# is a simple, modern, object oriented, and type-safe programming language derived from C and C++. C# (pronounced “C sharp”) is firmly planted in the C and C++ family tree of languages, and will immediately be familiar to C and C++ programmers. C# aims to combine the high productivity of Visual Basic and the raw power of C++." Substitute 'Java' for 'C#' in the quote above, and you'll see that the statement still works pretty well :-).
16. Explain ADO.NET in brief?
Answer: ADO.NET is a very important feature of .NET Framework, which is used to work with data that is stored in structured data sources, such as databases and XML files. The following are some of the important features of ADO.NET: Contains a number of classes that provide you with various methods and attributes to manage the communication between your application and data source. Enables you to access different data sources, such as Microsoft SQL Server, and XML, as per your requirements. Provides a rich set of features, such as connection and commands that can be used to develop robust and highly efficient data services in .NET applications. Provides various data providers that are specific to databases produced by various vendors. For example, ADO.NET has a separate provider to access data from Oracle databases; whereas, another provider is used to access data from SQL databases.
17. What is Manifest?
Answer: Assembly metadata is stored in Manifest. Manifest contains all the metadata needed to do the following things Version of assembly. Security identity. Scope of the assembly. Resolve references to resources and classes. The assembly manifest can be stored in a PE file either (an .exe or) .dll with Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL code with Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) code or in a stand-alone PE file, that contains only assembly manifest information.
18. What size is a .NET object?
Answer: Each instance of a reference type has two fields maintained by the runtime - a method table pointer and a sync block. These are 4 bytes each on a 32-bit system, making a total of 8 bytes per object overhead. Obviously the instance data for the type must be added to this to get the overall size of the object. So, for example, instances of the following class are 12 bytes each: class MyInt { ... private int x; } However, note that with the current implementation of the CLR there seems to be a minimum object size of 12 bytes, even for classes with no data (e.g. System.Object). Values types have no equivalent overhead.
19. What is Difference between NameSpace and Assembly?
Answer: Following are the differences between namespace and assembly: Assembly is physical grouping of logical units, Namespace, logically groups classes. Namespace can span multiple assembly.
20. What is an application domain?
Answer: An AppDomain can be thought of as a lightweight process. Multiple AppDomains can exist inside a Win32 process. The primary purpose of the AppDomain is to isolate applications from each other, and so it is particularly useful in hosting scenarios such as ASP.NET. An AppDomain can be destroyed by the host without affecting other AppDomains in the process. Win32 processes provide isolation by having distinct memory address spaces. This is effective, but expensive. The .NET runtime enforces AppDomain isolation by keeping control over the use of memory - all memory in the AppDomain is managed by the .NET runtime, so the runtime can ensure that AppDomains do not access each other's memory. One non-obvious use of AppDomains is for unloading types. Currently the only way to unload a .NET type is to destroy the AppDomain it is loaded into. This is particularly useful if you create and destroy types on-the-fly via reflection.
21. Explain memory-mapped files?
Answer: Memory-mapped files (MMFs) allow you map the content of a file to the logical address of an application. These files enable the multiple processes running on the same machine to share data with each Other. The MemoryMappedFile.CreateFromFile() method is used to obtain a MemoryMappedFile object that represents a persisted memory-mapped file from a file on disk. These files are included in the System.IO.MemoryMappedFiles namespace. This namespace contains four classes and three enumerations to help you access and secure your file mappings.
22. What tools can I use to develop .NET applications?
Answer: There are a number of tools, described here in ascending order of cost: · The .NET Framework SDK is free and includes command-line compilers for C++, C#, and VB.NET and various other utilities to aid development. · ASP.NET Web Matrix is a free ASP.NET development environment from Microsoft. As well as a GUI development environment, the download includes a simple web server that can be used instead of IIS to host ASP.NET apps. This opens up ASP.NET development to users of Windows XP Home Edition, which cannot run IIS. · Microsoft Visual C# .NET Standard 2003 is a cheap (around $100) version of Visual Studio limited to one language and also with limited wizard support. For example, there's no wizard support for class libraries or custom UI controls. Useful for beginners to learn with, or for savvy developers who can work around the deficiencies in the supplied wizards. As well as C#, there are VB.NET and C++ versions. · Microsoft Visual Studio.NET Professional 2003. If you have a license for Visual Studio 6.0, you can get the upgrade. You can also upgrade from VS.NET 2002 for a token $30. Visual Studio.NET includes support for all the MS languages (C#, C++, VB.NET) and has extensive wizard support. At the top end of the price spectrum are the Visual Studio.NET 2003 Enterprise and Enterprise Architect editions. These offer extra features such as Visual Sourcesafe (version control), and performance and analysis tools.
23. How does CAS works?
Answer: There are two key concepts of CAS security policy- code groups and permissions. A code group contains assemblies in it in a manner that each .NET assembly is related to a particular code group and some permissions are granted to each code group. For example, using the default security policy, a control downloaded from a Web site belongs to the Zone, Internet code group, which adheres to the permissions defined by the named permission set. (Normally, the named permission set represents a very restrictive range of permissions.) Assembly execution involves the following steps: 1. Evidences are gathered about assembly. 2. Depending on the gathered evidences, the assembly is assigned to a code group. 3. Security rights are allocated to the assembly, depending on the code group. 4. Assembly runs as per the rights assigned to it.
24. What is the difference between a private assembly and ashared assembly?
Answer: · Location and visibility: A private assembly is normally used by a single application, and is stored in the application's directory, or a subdirectory beneath. A shared assembly is normally stored in the global assembly cache, which is a repository of assemblies maintained by the .NET runtime. Shared assemblies are usually libraries of code which many applications will find useful, e.g. the .NET framework classes. · Versioning: The runtime enforces versioning constraints only on shared assemblies, not on private assemblies.
25. What is serialization?
Answer: Serialization is the process of converting an object into a stream of bytes. Deserialization is the opposite process, i.e. creating an object from a stream of bytes. Serialization/Deserialization is mostly used to transport objects (e.g. during remoting), or to persist objects (e.g. to a file or database).
26. What is the syntax to declare a namespace in .NET?
Answer: In .NET, the namespace keyword is used to declare a namespace in the code. The syntax for declaring a namespace in C# is: namespace UserNameSpace; The syntax for declaring a namespace in VB is: Namespace UserNameSpace
27. What are the types of authentication in .net?
Answer: We have three types of authentication: 1. Form authentication 2. Windows authentication 3. Passport This has to be declared in web.config file.
28. What is the CTS, and how does it relate to the CLS?
Answer: CTS = Common Type System. This is the full range of types that the .NET runtime understands. Not all .NET languages support all the types in the CTS. CLS = Common Language Specification. This is a subset of the CTS which all .NET languages are expected to support. The idea is that any program which uses CLS-compliant types can interoperate with any .NET program written in any language. This interop is very fine-grained - for example a VB.NET class can inherit from a C# class.
29. What is Reference type and value type ?
Answer: Reference Type: Reference types are allocated on the managed CLR heap, just like object types. A data type that is stored as a reference to the value's location. The value of a reference type is the location of the sequence of bitsthat represent the type's data. Reference types can be self-describing types, pointer types, or interface types. Value Type: Value types are allocated on the stack just like primitive types in VBScript, VB6 and C/C++. Value types are not instantiated using new go out of scope when the function they are defined within returns. Value types in the CLR are defined as types that derive from system.valueType.A data type that fully describes a value by specifying the sequence of bitsthat constitutes the value's representation. Type information for a value type instance is not stored with the instance at run time, but it is available in metadata. Value type instances can be treated as objects using boxing.
30. What is the role of the JIT compiler in .NET Framework?
Answer: The JIT compiler is an important element of CLR, which loads MSIL on target machines for execution. The MSIL is stored in .NET assemblies after the developer has compiled the code written in any .NET-compliant programming language, such as Visual Basic and C#. JIT compiler translates the MSIL code of an assembly and uses the CPU architecture of the target machine to execute a .NET application. It also stores the resulting native code so that it is accessible for subsequent calls. If a code executing on a target machine calls a non-native method, the JIT compiler converts the MSIL of that method into native code. JIT compiler also enforces type-safety in runtime environment of .NET Framework. It checks for the values that are passed to parameters of any method. For example, the JIT compiler detects any event, if a user tries to assign a 32-bit value to a parameter that can only accept 8-bit value.
31. What is garbage collection?
Answer: Garbage collection is a heap-management strategy where a run-time component takes responsibility for managing the lifetime of the memory used by objects. This concept is not new to .NET - Java and many other languages/runtimes have used garbage collection for some time.
32. State the differences between the Dispose() and Finalize()?
Answer: CLR uses the Dispose and Finalize methods to perform garbage collection of run-time objects of .NET applications. The Finalize method is called automatically by the runtime. CLR has a garbage collector (GC), which periodically checks for objects in heap that are no longer referenced by any object or program. It calls the Finalize method to free the memory used by such objects. The Dispose method is called by the programmer. Dispose is another method to release the memory used by an object. The Dispose method needs to be explicitly called in code to dereference an object from the heap. The Dispose method can be invoked only by the classes that implement the IDisposable interface.
33. What is IL?
Answer: IL = Intermediate Language. Also known as MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language) or CIL (Common Intermediate Language). All .NET source code (of any language) is compiled to IL during development. The IL is then converted to machine code at the point where the software is installed, or (more commonly) at run-time by a Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler
34. What does 'managed' mean in the .NET context?
Answer: The term 'managed' is the cause of much confusion. It is used in various places within .NET, meaning slightly different things. Managed code: The .NET framework provides several core run-time services to the programs that run within it - for example exception handling and security. For these services to work, the code must provide a minimum level of information to the runtime. Such code is called managed code. Managed data: This is data that is allocated and freed by the .NET runtime's garbage collector. Managed classes: This is usually referred to in the context of Managed Extensions (ME) for C++. When using ME C++, a class can be marked with the __gc keyword. As the name suggests, this means that the memory for instances of the class is managed by the garbage collector, but it also means more than that. The class becomes a fully paid-up member of the .NET community with the benefits and restrictions that brings. An example of a benefit is proper interop with classes written in other languages - for example, a managed C++ class can inherit from a VB class. An example of a restriction is that a managed class can only inherit from one base class.
35. What are the usages of the Command object in ADO.NET?
Answer: The following are the usages of the Command object in AD0.NET: The Command object in AD0.NET executes a command against the database and retrieves a DataReader or DataSet object. It also executes the INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE command against the database. All the command objects are derived from the DbCommand class. The command object is represented by two classes: SqlCommand and OleDbCommand. The Command object provides three methods to execute commands on the database: o The ExecuteNonQuery() method executes the commands and does not return any value. o The ExecuteScalar() method returns a single value from a database query. o The ExecuteReader() method returns a result set by using the DataReader object.
36. What is global assembly cache?
Answer: Each computer where the common language runtime is installed has a machine-wide code cache called the global assembly cache. The global assembly cache stores assemblies specifically designated to be shared by several applications on the computer. There are several ways to deploy an assembly into the global assembly cache: · Use an installer designed to work with the global assembly cache. This is the preferred option for installing assemblies into the global assembly cache. · Use a developer tool called the Global Assembly Cache tool (Gacutil.exe), provided by the .NET Framework SDK. · Use Windows Explorer to drag assemblies into the cache.
37. How does assembly versioning work?
Answer: Each assembly has a version number called the compatibility version. Also each reference to an assembly (from another assembly) includes both the name and version of the referenced assembly. The version number has four numeric parts (e.g. 5.5.2.33). Assemblies with either of the first two parts different are normally viewed as incompatible. If the first two parts are the same, but the third is different, the assemblies are deemed as 'maybe compatible'. If only the fourth part is different, the assemblies are deemed compatible. However, this is just the default guideline - it is the version policy that decides to what extent these rules are enforced. The version policy can be specified via the application configuration file.
38. What is ASP.NET?
Answer: ASP.NET is a specification developed by Microsoft to create dynamic Web applications, Web sites, and Web services. It is a part of .NET Framework. You can create ASP.NET applications in most of the .NET compatible languages, such as Visual Basic, C#, and J#. The ASP.NET compiles the Web pages and provides much better performance than scripting languages, such as VBScript. The Web Forms support to create powerful forms-based Web pages. You can use ASP.NET Web server controls to create interactive Web applications. With the help of Web server controls, you can easily create a Web application.
39. Can I write IL programs directly?
Answer: Yes. Peter Drayton posted this simple example to the DOTNET mailing list: .assembly MyAssembly {} .class MyApp { .method static void Main() { .entrypoint ldstr "Hello, IL!" call void System.Console::WriteLine(class System.Object) ret } } Just put this into a file called hello.il, and then run ilasm hello.il. An exe assembly will be generated.
40. Name the classes that are introduced in the System.Numerics namespace?
Answer: The following two new classes are introduced in the System.Numerics namespace: BigInteger - Refers to a non-primitive integral type, which is used to hold a value of any size. It has no lower and upper limit, making it possible for you to perform arithmetic calculations with very large numbers, even with the numbers which cannot hold by double or long. Complex - Represents complex numbers and enables different arithmetic operations with complex numbers. A number represented in the form a + bi, where a is the real part, and b is the imaginary part, is a complex number.
41. What is difference between System.String and System.StringBuilder classes?
Answer: String and StringBuilder classes are used to store string values but the difference in them is that String is immutable (read only) by nature, because a value once assigned to a String object cannot be changed after its creation. When the value in the String object is modified, a new object is created, in memory, with a new value assigned to the String object. On the other hand, the StringBuilder class is mutable, as it occupies the same space even if you change the value. The StringBuilder class is more efficient where you have to perform a large amount of string manipulation.
42. What operating systems does the .NET Framework run on?
Answer: The runtime supports Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows 2000, NT4 SP6a and Windows ME/98. Windows 95 is not supported. Some parts of the framework do not work on all platforms - for example, ASP.NET is only supported on XP and Windows 2000/2003. Windows 98/ME cannot be used for development. IIS is not supported on Windows XP Home Edition, and so cannot be used to host ASP.NET. However, the ASP.NET Web Matrix web server does run on XP Home. The .NET Compact Framework is a version of the .NET Framework for mobile devices, running Windows CE or Windows Mobile. The Mono project has a version of the .NET Framework that runs on Linux.
43. What is Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR)?What are the advantages of DLR?
Answer: DLR is a runtime environment that allows you to integrate dynamic languages with the Common Language Runtime (CLR) by adding a set of services, such as expression trees, call site caching, and dynamic object interoperability to the CLR. The System.Dynamic and System.Runtime.CompilerServices namespaces are used to hold the classes for DLR. It also provides dynamic features to statically-typed languages, such as C# and Visual Basic to enable their interoperation with dynamic languages. The various advantages provided by DLR are: Allows you to easily implement the dynamic languages to the .NET Framework. Provides dynamic features to statically-typed languages. The statically-typed .NET Framework languages, such as C# and Visual Basic can create dynamic objects and use them together with statically-typed objects. Implements sharing of libraries and objects, which means that the objects and libraries implemented in one language can be used by other languages using DLR. The DLR also enables interoperation between statically-typed and dynamic languages. Enables fast execution of dynamic operations by supporting advance caching.
44. What is the CLI? Is it the same as the CLR?
Answer: The CLI (Common Language Infrastructure) is the definition of the fundamentals of the .NET framework - the Common Type System (CTS), metadata, the Virtual Execution Environment (VES) and its use of intermediate language (IL), and the support of multiple programming languages via the Common Language Specification (CLS). The CLI is documented through ECMA - see http://msdn.microsoft.com/net/ecma/ for more details. The CLR (Common Language Runtime) is Microsoft's primary implementation of the CLI. Microsoft also have a shared source implementation known as ROTOR, for educational purposes, as well as the .NET Compact Framework for mobile devices. Non-Microsoft CLI implementations include Mono and DotGNU Portable. NET.
45. How can I produce an assembly?
Answer: The simplest way to produce an assembly is directly from a .NET compiler. For example, the following C# program: public class CTest { public CTest() { System.Console.WriteLine( "Hello from CTest" ); } } can be compiled into a library assembly (dll) like this: csc /t:library ctest.cs You can then view the contents of the assembly by running the "IL Disassembler" tool that comes with the .NET SDK. Alternatively you can compile your source into modules, and then combine the modules into an assembly using the assembly linker (al.exe). For the C# compiler, the /target:module switch is used to generate a module instead of an assembly.
46. What is reflection?
Answer: All .NET compilers produce metadata about the types defined in the modules they produce. This metadata is packaged along with the module (modules in turn are packaged together in assemblies), and can be accessed by a mechanism called reflection. The System.Reflection namespace contains classes that can be used to interrogate the types for a module/assembly. Using reflection to access .NET metadata is very similar to using ITypeLib/ITypeInfo to access type library data in COM, and it is used for similar purposes - e.g. determining data type sizes for marshaling data across context/process/machine boundaries. Reflection can also be used to dynamically invoke methods (see System.Type.InvokeMember), or even create types dynamically at run-time (see System.Reflection.Emit.TypeBuilder).
47. Mention different types of data providers available in .NET Framework?
Answer: .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server - Provides access to Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 or later version. It uses the System.Data.SqlClient namespace. .NET Framework Data Provider for OLE DB - Provides access to databases exposed by using OLE DB. It uses the System.Data.OleDb namespace. .NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC - Provides access to databases exposed by using ODBC. It uses the System.Data.Odbc namespace. .NET Framework Data Provider for Oracle - Provides access to Oracle database 8.1.7 or later versions. It uses the System.Data.OracleClient namespace.
48. How can you turn-on and turn-off CAS?
Answer: YOU can use the Code Access Security Tool (Caspol.exe) to turn security on and off. To turn off security, type the following command at the command prompt: caspol -security off To turn on security, type the following command at the command prompt: caspol -security on In the .NET Framework 4.0, for using Caspol.exe, you first need to set the <LegacyCasPolicy> element to true.
49. Should I implement Finalize on my class? Should Iimplement IDisposable?
Answer: This issue is a little more complex than it first appears. There are really two categories of class that require deterministic destruction - the first category manipulate unmanaged types directly, whereas the second category manipulate managed types that require deterministic destruction. An example of the first category is a class with an IntPtr member representing an OS file handle. An example of the second category is a class with a System.IO.FileStream member. For the first category, it makes sense to implement IDisposable and override Finalize. This allows the object user to 'do the right thing' by calling Dispose, but also provides a fallback of freeing the unmanaged resource in the Finalizer, should the calling code fail in its duty. However this logic does not apply to the second category of class, with only managed resources. In this case implementing Finalize is pointless, as managed member objects cannot be accessed in the Finalizer. This is because there is no guarantee about the ordering of Finalizer execution. So only the Dispose method should be implemented. (If you think about it, it doesn't really make sense to call Dispose on member objects from a Finalizer anyway, as the member object's Finalizer will do the required cleanup.) For classes that need to implement IDisposable and override Finalize, see Microsoft's documented pattern. Note that some developers argue that implementing a Finalizer is always a bad idea, as it hides a bug in your code (i.e. the lack of a Dispose call). A less radical approach is to implement Finalize but include a Debug.Assert at the start, thus signalling the problem in developer builds but allowing the cleanup to occur in release builds.