.NET Framework Security

Metadata

Closely tied to MSIL is metadata. Metadata isn't a set of instructions like MSIL. Rather, it is information that describes the compiled code. It is stored in an assembly with MSIL to make one logical unit.

Here is a sampling of the information that metadata contains:

• Full assembly name (simple name, version, public key, and culture)

• Referenced assemblies

• Visibility, inherited class, and implemented interfaces of each defined class

• Information about class members such as methods, fields, and properties

Metadata allows .NET assemblies to be self-describing. This means that an assembly contains enough information to be closely inspected by other assemblies. There are unmanaged and managed APIs to view an assembly's metadata.

One other interesting ...