5.7 Summary
Let's recap what you've learned in this chapter about writing .NET managed components.
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Managed code is application code that executes within the .NET Framework.
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Runtime systems enable application programs you write to access operating systemlevel services. Several different runtime environments are available for various systems. A runtime environment is usually specific to a programming language.
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Intermediate languages provide an additional layer of abstraction over another existing runtime environment. The goal of intermediate languages is to provide portability of application code across operating systems. The intermediate language for the .NET Framework is called the Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL).
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The runtime environment for the .NET Framework is called the Common Language Runtime (CLR). It supports self-describing code through metadata, a specification for the Common Type System (CTS), just-in-time compilation of code, and the concept of assembly manifests, which describe a packaged set of components, programs, files, and other dependencies an application needs in order to function properly.
- COM is a programming model invented by Microsoft that allows for binary-level software component reuse.
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Transactions provide consistency and data integrity to a software system. By checking the success or failure of smaller atomic tasks that make up the transaction, you can decide whether the transaction should succeed as a whole.
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Windows provides programmers with easy transaction support for their applications through COM+ Component Services. COM+ Component Services provides transaction support, object pooling, and component-level runtime security.
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Components are simply classes at their most basic level. Components have properties and methods, which roughly correspond to member functions and member variables, respectively.
- Serviced components are classes that take advantage of COM+ Component Services. Security is provided by grouping users into roles and assigning those roles to components.