Central to the .NET platform is a development environment known as the .NET Framework. The framework provides a lot of features, but for now all you need to know is that the C# language provides you with the elements that allow you to access the framework to make your programs work. You will learn about these elements in the chapters ahead.

The .NET Framework sits on top of any flavor of the Windows operating system. The most important components of the framework are the CLR, which is what allows you to compile and execute applications, and the Framework Class Library (FCL), which provides an enormous number of predefined types or classes for you to use in your programs. You will learn how to define your own classes in Chapter 7.