Microsoft’s Dot Net 3.5 Framework

The .NET Framework 3.5 is a software framework developed by Microsoft that allows developers to create and run applications on Windows-based operating systems. It is an extension of the .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.0, and includes several new features and enhancements that improve performance, security, and productivity.

Some of the key features and enhancements of the .NET Framework 3.5 include:

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) – a unified programming model for building service-oriented applications that can communicate with each other using different protocols and transport mechanisms.

Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) – a new user interface framework that allows developers to create rich and immersive user experiences.

Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) – a framework for building workflows and business processes that can be integrated with other applications and services.

LINQ (Language Integrated Query) – a language extension that provides a unified syntax for querying different types of data sources, including databases, XML documents, and objects.

ADO.NET Entity Framework – a new technology that provides a high-level object-relational mapping (ORM) framework for accessing and manipulating data in databases.

ASP.NET AJAX – a set of client-side technologies that enable developers to create fast and responsive web applications.

.NET Compact Framework – a subset of the .NET Framework that allows developers to create and run applications on mobile devices and embedded systems. The .NET Framework 3.5 also includes several improvements to existing features, such as improved performance and security for ASP.NET, better support for XML-based web services, and enhanced debugging and tracing capabilities.

The .NET Framework is the base of what geeks call the stack. You can think of the stack as a multilayered cake where layers depend on the layer below for support. The .NET Framework (technically, a compiled portion called the Common Language Runtime, or CLR) sits at the bottom, and its code talks to the underlying operating system, such as Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. ASP.NET 3.5 depends on the .NET 3.5 Framework.

You hear geeks refer to classes or class libraries that make up the .NET Framework. They use dot-filled names like System.Web, System.Data and System.Xml. This dot stuff is just a way to organize and categorize thousands of chunks of prewritten code that programmers can tap into via programming languages, such as C#, C++, and Visual Basic.

Microsoft provides tons of reference documentation on everything that’s in the .NET Framework. If you still don’t find what you need, you can peek into its source code to see how Microsoft makes it all work.