actually, .NET is a platform where individual compilers (C#, J#, VB, Fortran, etc)
generate an abstract code that is compiled and run in the .NET runtime. C# can not run and
execute Cobol for example, but you can freely intermix classes that each could be written
in any language. Any class no matter what language it is written in can be called by a
class or call another class.
A class may not be compiled until runtime (JIT - just in time), but once it is compiled
then it is available immediately.
best regards, Steve Thatcher
-----Original Message-----
From: Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk(a)yahoo.co.uk>
Hazy memory, but I thought .net was typically C# in a distributed
environment - in other words, Microsoft's rip-off of Java and JINI with
the added "benefit" of vendor lock-in :-)
I thought C# was *usually* interpreted, just with the option of
compilation if needs be (just as Java bytecode can be compiled to native
code if desired). Fair call on the compiler included with the OS though.
Also the code generator is capable of supporting
different .Net languages.
This means that a C# program can write and excute Cobol code, or a Visual
Basic program could write Fortran code and execute it.
Now that is interesting. A developer's nightmare, but interesting :-)
seeya,
Jules