In early July my boss asked me to give him an overview of .NET. After a short struggle I send him a seven-page description, but continued my hunt for a brief and concise summary.

Microsoft's site revealed a surprising lack of one-page descriptions of what .NET and .NET Framework are (probably the most descriptive ones are the year-old memo from Bill Gates and the one-liner: software to connect information, people, systems and services) and a lack of consistency across multiple definitions, so I have created my own (influenced by Peter Drayton's "What is .NET"). YMMV.

.NET = .NET Servers + .NET Framework + XML Web Services + smart clients + .NET experience

.NET Servers = Windows .NET Server + .NET Enterprise Servers
Windows .NET Server = Application Services + Active Directory + Internet Information Services + Media Services + Clustering services + File and Print Services + Management Services + Terminal Server + Storage Management
.NET Enterprise Servers = SQL Server + Exchange + Application Center + BizTalk + Commerce Server + Content Management Server + Host Integration Server + Internet Security and Acceleration Server + Operations Manager + Mobile Information Server + SharePoint Portal Server + Project Server

.NET Framework = .NET Runtime + .NET SDK + .NET Development + .NET Deployment + .NET Security
.NET Runtime = CLR (Common Language Runtime) + IL (Intermediate Language) + CTS (Common Type System) + JIT (just-in-time compilation)
.NET SDK = BCL (Base Class Library) + Rotor (Shared Source Common Language Infrastructure) + ADO.NET + Speech SDK + Media SDK + DirectShow SDK + ...
.NET Development = Visual Studio .NET + XML Core + ASP.NET + .NET Remoting + Mobile and Embedded Development + Messaging + Windows Forms + languages
.NET Deployment = assembly + namespaces + zero-impact install + side-by-side execution
Mobile and Embedded Development = .NET Compact Framework + SDE (Smart Device Extensions) + Mobile Internet Toolkit + eMbedded Visual Tools + Pocket PC SDK + SmartPhone SDK + Handheld PC SDK + Smart Card SDK
languages = C# .NET + J# .NET + VB .NET + C++ .NET + FoxPro + JScript .NET + Perl + Python + Smalltalk + Java + COBOL + ...

XML Web Services = GXA (Global XML Architecture) + .NET Services + TrustBridge (Federated Security and Identity)
GXA = XML + SOAP + WSDL + UDDI + DIME + WS-Routing + WS-License + WS-Referral + WS-Attachments +WS-Inspection + WS-Security + WS-Policy + WS-Trust + WS-Privacy + WS-SecureConversations + WS-Federation + WS-Authorization + ...
.NET Services = .NET Messenger + .NET Passport + .NET Alerts + MapPoint .NET + .NET My Services

smart clients = smart client software + smart devices
smart client software = Windows XP + Windows CE .NET + Windows CE for Automotive + Windows XP Embedded
smart devices = PC + Tablet PC + Pocket PC + Handheld PC + XBox + SmartPhone + UltimateTV + Smart Card + ...

.NET experience = Office XP (knowledge workers) + MSDN, MSPress, Visio, and Visual Studio .NET (developers) + bCentral (small businesses) + MSN, Windows Media Technologies, Windows Messenger, Internet Explorer, and .NET Services (consumers) + partners + service providers

Drop me a line () if you have a better definition. I also played with RadioPoint and created a presentation.

Copyright (C) 2002 Paul Kulchenko Updated 8/22/2002; 5:35:02 PM