Click here

Common Language Infrastructure

Created by Microsoft as the foundation of its .NET technology, the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) is an ECMA standard (ECMA-335) that allows applications to be written in a variety of high-level programming languages and executed in different system environments.

Programming languages that conform to the CLI have access to the same base class library and are capable of being compiled into the same intermediate language (IL) and metadata. IL is then further compiled into native code particular to a specific architecture.

Because of this intermediate step, applications do not have to be rewritten from scratch. Their IL only needs to be further compiled into a system's native code.



Top Terms
  • 1

    private cloud project

    Companies initiate private cloud projects to enable their IT infrastructure to become more capable of quickly adapting to continually evolving...

    Read more »

  • 2

    cloud backup

    A cloud backup (cloud computer backup) refers to backing up data to a remote, cloud-based server. As a form of cloud storage, cloud backup data is...

    Read more »

  • Click Here!

Connect with Webopedia

  • Android Apps for Remote Computer Access

    Remote access is useful when you need to collaborate with co-workers, help a friend with PC problems or grab files from your desktop.

    Read More »

Did You Know? Archive »

  • Quick Reference Archive »