Dot Net has evolved as a gem of an enterprise software development technology ever since it was introduced back in 2002.
Although .NET has been constantly undergoing some changes but the .NET version 4.0 has come up with some significantly important ones.
These changes are related to the overall architecture and greatly enhance its functionality.
Dynamic Language Run time (DLR): Engineers at Microsoft have come up with Dynamic Language Run time (DLR), which is built above the Common Language Run time (CLR) and facilitates easy interoperability of like set of technologies inside a regular framework.
It allows .NET developers to build applications using dynamic languages like Ruby, Python etc on top of .NET Framework run time.
A set of new services have been added through DLR, which allows the implementation of dynamic languages on the managed platform of .NET.
The dynamic type system, regular hosting model, and quick dynamic code generation are some modules that are supported by these services.
Contents
DLR comprises of 3 layers which are as such:
- .NET Language Integration level
- Language Binders
- Dynamic Language Runtime Code Components
Support for Parallel Computing: Writing robust multithreaded applications and asynchronous code is possible with the parallel computing model provided in .NET 4.0. A managed library for design and implementation, called Parallel Extensions Library, will utilize the parallel hardware of a system to carry out parallel computing.
Managed Extensibility Framework: A new Managed Extensibility Framework has been introduced which can be applied to build lightweight, extensible and unified applications, by influencing the characteristics and benefits of the run time environment (CLR).
Although Windows Communication Foundation was introduced in .NET 3.0, certain enhancements like simplified configuration, IIS hosting, REST features, Workflow and Routing services have come up with .NET 4.0.
Similarly, the Windows Workflow Foundation has also witnessed enhanced extensibility in WF designer, improved activity model, and built-in activity library in this latest version.
