What is Common Language Runtime?

The CLR is the layer of the .NET Framework that makes language independence work. Written mostly in Microsoft's new language, C#, the CLR provides services that any .NET program can use. Because of .NET's component architecture, software written in any language can call upon these services.

Microsoft has also submitted a subset of the CLR to ECMA, the European information and communications standards organization. This subset is referred to as the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI).

CLR provides following services:

• Language Integration
• Memory Management (Memory Allocation and Garbage Collection)
• Memory Type Safety (Memory Leaks)
• Security
• Thread management
• Exception handling