Preface
Microsoft unveiled the .NET Framework in 2000, and in the decade that followed, it became an extremely popular choice for developing software for Windows. While .NET supports many programming languages, it is most strongly associated with the language designed specifically for the platform: C#.
C# has grown considerably since its launch. Each new version enabled new programming techniques—C# 2.0 added generics and enhanced functional programming capabilities, then integrated query features and yet more powerful functional capabilities arrived in C# 3.0, and now C# 4.0 adds new dynamic language capabilities.
The .NET Framework has grown with the language. Back in .NET 1.0, the class libraries offered relatively patchy coverage of the underlying Windows capabilities. Moreover, the library features that were unique to .NET, rather than being wrappers for something else, were relatively modest. Now, as well as more comprehensive platform coverage we have a GUI framework (WPF), much stronger database capabilities, powerful support for concurrent execution, and an extensive set of communication services (WCF), to name just a few of the available features. And the features that have been there since version 1.0, such as web support (ASP.NET), have been fleshed out substantially.
.NET is no longer limited to running just on Windows. Some people recognized its potential for platform independence early on, but for years, Microsoft supported C# just on Windows, leaving open source projects ...
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