NP74 language-agnostic

Question

Hi Guys NP74 language - agnostic “As developers first come to understand the language-agnostic nature of .NET numerous questions arise”. When I was reading a book I encountered a word “ language - agnostic” in the above sentence. Anyone knows please explain the meaning of word. Thank you

Maha · Answer

Thank you for your explanation Alan.

Alan · Answer

The .NET runtime is in fact the Common Language Runtime (CLR) - there's only one :)

Maha · Answer

“Officially speaking the term used to describe the code targeting the . NET runtime is managed code . The binary unit that contains the managed code is termed an assembly (more details in just a bit).” Above sentence is in a book. What is . NET runtime meant by? Is author meaning common language runtime (CLR) or something else? Anyone knows please explain.

Maha · Answer

Thank you for your help Alan.

Alan · Answer

Yes that's essentially correct. The Common Intermediate Language (CIL) produced by .NET compilers has been designed to be processor-independent. The Just in time compiler (JIT) then takes the CIL and converts it to machine code which can be run immediately on the processor for which the runtime is currently installed.

Maha · Answer

All .NET- compliant languages are processor independent. That means JET compiler imbedded in the .NET platform have a capability to compile a machine language that is compatible with the particular processor. I wish to know whether my above understanding is correct. Anyone knows confirm it please.

Maha · Answer

Thank you for your explanation Alan.

Alan · Answer

The literal meaning of agnostic is unknown or unknowable. So when a programming environment such as .NET is said to be language-agnostic it means that the runtime does not know (or care) in which language a program has been written. This is because all .NET compilers produce MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language) which is then executed by the runtime by converting it to native code 'on the fly'. However there is no way of telling from the MSIL what the original programming language was nor does it matter. Currently there are more than 20 languages in which .NET programs can be written.