NET FrameWork FAQ's

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When was .NET announced?

Bill Gates delivered a keynote at Forum 2000, held June 22, 2000, outlining the .NET 'vision'. The
July 2000 PDC had a number of sessions on .NET technology, and delegates were given CDs
containing a pre-release version of the .NET framework/SDK and Visual Studio.NET.

When was the first version of .NET released?

The final version of the 1.0 SDK and runtime was made publicly available around 6pm PST on
15-Jan-2002. At the same time, the final version of Visual Studio.NET was made available to
MSDN subscribers.

What platforms does the .NET Framework run on?

The runtime supports Windows XP, Windows 2000, NT4 SP6a and Windows ME/98. Windows 95
is not supported. Some parts of the framework do not work on all platforms - for example,
ASP.NET is only supported on Windows XP and Windows 2000. Windows 98/ME cannot be used
for development.
IIS is not supported on Windows XP Home Edition, and so cannot be used to host ASP.NET.
However, the ASP.NET Web Matrix

web server does run on XP Home.

The Mono project is attempting to implement the .NET framework on Linux.

What is the CLR?

CLR = Common Language Runtime. The CLR is a set of standard resources that (in theory)
any .NET program can take advantage of, regardless of programming language. Robert Schmidt
(Microsoft) lists the following CLR resources in his MSDN PDC# article:
Object-oriented programming model (inheritance, polymorphism, exception handling, garbage
collection)
Security model
Type system
All .NET base classes
Many .NET framework classes
Development, debugging, and profiling tools
 Execution and code management
IL-to-native translators and optimizers
What this means is that in the .NET world, different programming languages will be more equal in
capability than they have ever been before, although clearly not all languages will support all CLR
services.

What is the CTS?

CTS = Common Type System. This is the range of types that the .NET runtime understands, and
therefore that .NET applications can use. However note that not all .NET languages will support
all the types in the CTS. The CTS is a superset of the CLS.

What is the CLS?

CLS = Common Language Specification. This is a subset of the CTS which all .NET languages
are expected to support. The idea is that any program which uses CLS-compliant types can
interoperate with any .NET program written in any language.
In theory this allows very tight interop between different .NET languages - for example allowing a
C# class to inherit from a VB class.

What is IL?
IL = Intermediate Language. Also known as MSIL (Microsoft Intermediate Language) or CIL
(Common Intermediate Language). All .NET source code (of any language) is compiled to IL. The
IL is then converted to machine code at the point where the software is installed, or at run-time by
a Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler.

What does 'managed' mean in the .NET context?

The term 'managed' is the cause of much confusion. It is used in various places within .NET,
meaning slightly different things.Managed code: The .NET framework provides several core run-
time services to the programs that run within it - for example

exception handling and security. For these services to work, the code must provide a minimum
level of information to the runtime.

Such code is called managed code. All C# and Visual Basic.NET code is managed by default.
VS7 C++ code is not managed by default, but the compiler can produce managed code by
specifying a command-line switch (/com+).
Managed data: This is data that is allocated and de-allocated by the .NET runtime's garbage
collector. C# and VB.NET data is always managed. VS7 C++ data is unmanaged by default, even
when using the /com+ switch, but it can be marked as managed using the __gc
keyword.Managed classes: This is usually referred to in the context of Managed Extensions (ME)
for C++. When using ME C++, a class can be marked with the __gc keyword. As the name
suggests, this means that the memory for instances of the class is managed by the garbage
collector, but it also means more than that. The class becomes a fully paid-up member of the
.NET community with the benefits and restrictions that brings. An example of a benefit is proper
interop with classes written in other languages - for example, a managed C++ class can inherit
from a VB class. An example of a restriction is that a managed class can only inherit from one
base class.

What is reflection?
All .NET compilers produce metadata about the types defined in the modules they produce. This
metadata is packaged along with the module (modules in turn are packaged together in
assemblies), and can be accessed by a mechanism called reflection. The System.Reflection
namespace contains classes that can be used to interrogate the types for a module/assembly.
Using reflection to access .NET metadata is very similar to using ITypeLib/ITypeInfo to access
type library data in COM, and it is used for similar purposes - e.g. determining data type sizes for
marshaling data across context/process/machine boundaries.
Reflection can also be used to dynamically invoke methods (see System.Type.InvokeMember ) ,
or even create types dynamically at run-time (see System.Reflection.Emit.TypeBuilder).

What is the difference between Finalize and Dispose (Garbage collection) ?

Class instances often encapsulate control over resources that are not managed by the runtime,
such as window handles (HWND), database connections, and so on. Therefore, you should
provide both an explicit and an implicit way to free those resources. Provide implicit control by
implementing the protected Finalize Method on an object (destructor syntax in C# and the
Managed Extensions for C++). The garbage collector calls this method at some point after there
are no longer any valid references to the object. In some cases, you might want to provide
programmers using an object with the ability to explicitly release these external resources before
the garbage collector frees the object. If an external resource is scarce or expensive, better
performance can be achieved if the programmer explicitly releases resources when they are no
longer being used. To provide explicit control, implement the Dispose method provided by the
IDisposable Interface. The consumer of the object should call this method when it is done using
the object.

Dispose can be called even if other references to the object are alive. Note that even when you
provide explicit control by way of Dispose, you should provide implicit cleanup using the Finalize
method. Finalize provides a backup to prevent resources from

permanently leaking if the programmer fails to call Dispose.

What is Partial Assembly References?

Full Assembly reference: A full assembly reference includes the assembly's text name, version,
culture, and public key token (if the assembly has a strong name). A full assembly reference is
required if you reference any assembly that is part of the common

language runtime or any assembly located in the global assembly cache.

Partial Assembly reference: We can dynamically reference an assembly by providing only partial
information, such as specifying only the assembly name. When you specify a partial assembly
reference, the runtime looks for the assembly only in the application

directory.
We can make partial references to an assembly in your code one of the following ways:
-> Use a method such as System.Reflection.Assembly.Load and specify only a partial reference.
The runtime checks for the assembly in the application directory.
-> Use the System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadWithPartialName method and specify only a partial
reference. The runtime checks for the assembly in the application directory and in the global
assembly cache

Changes to which portion of version number indicates an incompatible change?

Major or minor. Changes to the major or minor portion of the version number indicate an
incompatible change. Under this convention then, version 2.0.0.0 would be considered
incompatible with version 1.0.0.0. Examples of an incompatible change would be a change to the
types of some method parameters or the removal of a type or method altogether. Build. The Build
number is typically used to distinguish between daily builds or smaller compatible releases.
Revision. Changes to the revision number are typically reserved for an incremental build needed
to fix a particular bug. You'll sometimes hear this referred to as the "emergency bug fix" number
in that the revision is what is often changed when a fix to a specific bug is shipped to a customer.

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What is side-by-side execution? Can two application one using private assembly and other
using Shared assembly be stated as a side-by-side executables?
Side-by-side execution is the ability to run multiple versions of an application or component on the
same computer. You can have multiple versions of the common language runtime, and multiple
versions of applications and components that use a version of the runtime, on the same computer
at the same time. Since versioning is only applied to shared assemblies, and not to private
assemblies, two application one using private assembly and one using shared assembly cannot
be stated as side-by-side

executables.

Why string are called Immutable data Type ?

The memory representation of string is an Array of Characters, So on re-assigning the new array
of Char is formed & the start address is changed . Thus keeping the Old string in Memory for
Garbage Collector to be disposed.

What does assert() method do?

In debug compilation, assert takes in a Boolean condition as a parameter, and shows the error
dialog if the condition is false. The program proceeds without any interruption if the condition is
true.

What's the difference between the Debug class and Trace class?
Documentation looks the same. Use Debug class for debug builds, use Trace class for both
debug and release builds.

Why are there five tracing levels in System.Diagnostics.TraceSwitcher?

The tracing dumps can be quite verbose. For applications that are constantly running you run the
risk of overloading the machine and the hard drive. Five levels range from None to Verbose,
allowing you to fine-tune the tracing activities.

Where is the output of TextWriterTraceListener redirected?

To the Console or a text file depending on the parameter passed to the constructor.

How do assemblies find each other?

By searching directory paths. There are several factors which can affect the path (such as the
AppDomain host, and application configuration files), but for private assemblies the search path is
normally the application's directory and its sub-directories. For shared assemblies, the search
path is normally same as the private assembly path plus the shared assembly cache.
How does assembly versioning work?
Each assembly has a version number called the compatibility version. Also each reference to an
assembly (from another assembly) includes both the name and version of the referenced
assembly.The version number has four numeric parts (e.g. 5.5.2.33). Assemblies with either of
the first two parts different are normally viewed as incompatible. If the first two parts are the
same, but the third is different, the assemblies are deemed as 'maybe compatible'. If only the
fourth part is different, the assemblies are deemed compatible. However, this is just the default
guideline - it is the version policy that decides to what extent these rules are enforced. The
version policy can be specified via the application configuration file.

What is garbage collection?

Garbage collection is a system whereby a run-time component takes responsibility for managing
the lifetime of objects and the heap memory that they occupy. This concept is not new to .NET -
Java and many other languages/runtimes have used garbage collection for some time.

Why doesn't the .NET runtime offer deterministic destruction?

Because of the garbage collection algorithm. The .NET garbage collector works by periodically
running through a list of all the objects that are currently being referenced by an application. All
the objects that it doesn't find during this search are ready to be destroyed and the memory
reclaimed. The implication of this algorithm is that the runtime doesn't get notified immediately
when the final reference on an object goes away - it only finds out during the next sweep of the
heap.
Futhermore, this type of algorithm works best by performing the garbage collection sweep as
rarely as possible. Normally heap exhaustion is the trigger for a collection sweep.

Is the lack of deterministic destruction in .NET a problem?

It's certainly an issue that affects component design. If you have objects that maintain expensive
or scarce resources (e.g. database locks), you need to provide some way for the client to tell the
object to release the resource when it is done. Microsoft recommend that you provide a method
called Dispose() for this purpose. However, this causes problems for distributed objects - in a
distributed system who calls the Dispose() method? Some form of reference-counting or
ownership-management mechanism is needed to handle distributed objects - unfortunately the
runtime offers no help with this.
What is serialization?
Serialization is the process of converting an object into a stream of bytes. Deserialization is the
opposite process of creating an object from a stream of bytes. Serialization / Deserialization is
mostly used to transport objects (e.g. during remoting), or to persist

objects (e.g. to a file or database).

Does the .NET Framework have in-built support for serialization?

There are two separate mechanisms provided by the .NET class library - XmlSerializer and
SoapFormatter/BinaryFormatter. Microsoft uses XmlSerializer for Web Services, and uses
SoapFormatter/BinaryFormatter for remoting. Both are available for use in your own code.

Can I customise the serialization process?

Yes. XmlSerializer supports a range of attributes that can be used to configure serialization for a
particular class. For example, a field or property can be marked with the [XmlIgnore] attribute to
exclude it from serialization. Another example is the [XmlElement]

attribute, which can be used to specify the XML element name to be used for a particular property
or field.
Serialization via SoapFormatter/BinaryFormatter can also be controlled to some extent by
attributes. For example, the [NonSerialized] attribute is the equivalent of XmlSerializer's
[XmlIgnore] attribute. Ultimate control of the serialization process can be acheived by
implementing the the ISerializable interface on the class whose instances are to be serialized.

Why is XmlSerializer so slow?

There is a once-per-process-per-type overhead with XmlSerializer. So the first time you serialize
or deserialize an object of a given type in an application, there is a significant delay. This normally
doesn't matter, but it may mean, for example, that XmlSerializer is a poor choice for loading
configuration settings during startup of a GUI application.

Why do I get errors when I try to serialize a Hashtable?

XmlSerializer will refuse to serialize instances of any class that implements IDictionary, e.g.
Hashtable. SoapFormatter and BinaryFormatter do not have this restriction.
What are attributes?
There are at least two types of .NET attribute. The first type I will refer to as a metadata attribute -
it allows some data to be attached to a class or method. This data becomes part of the metadata
for the class, and (like other class metadata) can be accessed via reflection.
The other type of attribute is a context attribute. Context attributes use a similar syntax to
metadata attributes but they are fundamentally different. Context attributes provide an
interception mechanism whereby instance activation and method calls can be

pre- and/or post-processed.

How does CAS work?

The CAS security policy revolves around two key concepts - code groups and permissions.
Each .NET assembly is a member of a particular code group, and each code group is granted the
permissions specified in a named permission set.
For example, using the default security policy, a control downloaded from a web site belongs to
the 'Zone - Internet' code group, which adheres to the permissions defined by the 'Internet'
named permission set. (Naturally the 'Internet' named permission set represents a very restrictive
range of permissions.)

Who defines the CAS code groups?

Microsoft defines some default ones, but you can modify these and even create your own. To see
the code groups defined on your system, run 'caspol -lg' from the command-line. On my system it
looks like this:
Level = Machine

Code Groups:

1. All code: Nothing

1.1. Zone - MyComputer: FullTrust
1.1.1. Honor SkipVerification requests: SkipVerification
1.2. Zone - Intranet: LocalIntranet
1.3. Zone - Internet: Internet
1.4. Zone - Untrusted: Nothing
1.5. Zone - Trusted: Internet
1.6. StrongName - 0024000004800000940000000602000000240000525341310004000003
000000CFCB3291AA715FE99D40D49040336F9056D7886FED46775BC7BB5430BA4444FEF8
348EBD06
F962F39776AE4DC3B7B04A7FE6F49F25F740423EBF2C0B89698D8D08AC48D69CED0FC8F
83B465E08
07AC11EC1DCC7D054E807A43336DDE408A5393A48556123272CEEEE72F1660B71927D385
61AABF5C
AC1DF1734633C602F8F2D5:

Note the hierarchy of code groups - the top of the hierarchy is the most general ('All code'), which
is then sub-divided into several

groups, each of which in turn can be sub-divided. Also note that (somewhat counter-intuitively) a
sub-group can be associated with a more permissive permission set than its parent.

How do I define my own code group?

Use caspol. For example, suppose you trust code from www.mydomain.com and you want it have
full access to your system, but you want to keep the default restrictions for all other internet sites.
To achieve this, you would add a new code group as a sub-group of the

'Zone - Internet' group, like this:

caspol -ag 1.3 -site www.mydomain.com FullTrust
Now if you run caspol -lg you will see that the new group has been added as group 1.3.1:

1.3. Zone - Internet: Internet

1.3.1. Site - www.mydomain.com: FullTrust

Note that the numeric label (1.3.1) is just a caspol invention to make the code groups easy to
manipulate from the command-line. The underlying runtime never sees it.

How do I change the permission set for a code group?

Use caspol. If you are the machine administrator, you can operate at the 'machine' level - which
means not only that the changes you make become the default for the machine, but also that
users cannot change the permissions to be more permissive. If you are a normal (non-admin)
user you can still modify the permissions, but only to make them more restrictive. For example, to
allow intranet code to do what it likes you might do this:
caspol -cg 1.2 FullTrust
Note that because this is more permissive than the default policy (on a standard system), you
should only do this at the machine level - doing it at the user level will have no effect.

I can't be bothered with all this CAS stuff. Can I turn it off?
Yes, as long as you are an administrator. Just run: caspol -s off
Can I look at the IL for an assembly?
Yes. MS supply a tool called Ildasm which can be used to view the metadata and IL for an
assembly.

Can source code be reverse-engineered from IL?

Yes, it is often relatively straightforward to regenerate high-level source (e.g. C#) from IL.

How can I stop my code being reverse-engineered from IL?

There is currently no simple way to stop code being reverse-engineered from IL. In future it is
likely that IL obfuscation tools will become available, either from MS or from third parties. These
tools work by 'optimising' the IL in such a way that reverse-engineering becomes much more
difficult.
Of course if you are writing web services then reverse-engineering is not a problem as clients do
not have access to your IL.

Is there built-in support for tracing/logging?

Yes, in the System.Diagnostics namespace. There are two main classes that deal with tracing -
Debug and Trace. They both work in a similar way - the difference is that tracing from the Debug
class only works in builds that have the DEBUG symbol defined, whereas tracing from the Trace
class only works in builds that have the TRACE symbol defined. Typically this means that you
should use System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine for tracing that you want to work in debug and
release builds, and System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine for tracing that you want to work only in
debug builds.

Can I redirect tracing to a file?

Yes. The Debug and Trace classes both have a Listeners property, which is a collection of sinks
that receive the tracing that you send via Debug.WriteLine and Trace.WriteLine respectively. By
default the Listeners collection contains a single sink, which is an

instance of the DefaultTraceListener class. This sends output to the Win32 OutputDebugString()
function and also the System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Log() method. This is useful when
debugging, but if you're trying to trace a problem at a customer site, redirecting the output to a file
is more appropriate. Fortunately, the TextWriterTraceListener class is provided for this purpose.
What are the contents of assembly?
In general, a static assembly can consist of four elements:
The assembly manifest, which contains assembly metadata.
Type metadata.
Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) code that implements the types.
A set of resources.

What is GC (Garbage Collection) and how it works

One of the good features of the CLR is Garbage Collection, which runs in the background
collecting unused object references, freeing us from having to ensure we always destroy them. In
reality the time difference between you releasing the object instance and it being garbage
collected is likely to be very small, since the GC is always running.

[The process of transitively tracing through all pointers to actively used objects in order to locate
all objects that can be referenced, and then arranging to reuse any heap memory that was not
found during this trace. The common language runtime garbage collector also compacts the
memory that is in use to reduce the working space needed for the heap.]

Heap:

A portion of memory reserved for a program to use for the temporary storage of data structures
whose existence or size cannot be determined until the program is running.

Differnce between Managed code and unmanaged code ?

Managed Code:

Code that runs under a "contract of cooperation" with the common language runtime. Managed
code must supply the metadata necessary for the runtime to provide services such as memory
management, cross-language integration, code access security, and

automatic lifetime control of objects. All code based on Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL)
executes as managed code.

Un-Managed Code:
Code that is created without regard for the conventions and requirements of the common
language runtime. Unmanaged code executes in the common language runtime environment with
minimal services (for example, no garbage collection, limited debugging, and so on).

What is MSIL, IL, CTS and, CLR ?

MSIL: (Microsoft intermediate language)

When compiling to managed code, the compiler translates your source code into Microsoft
intermediate language (MSIL), which is a CPU-independent set of instructions that can be
efficiently converted to native code. MSIL includes instructions for loading, storing, initializing, and
calling methods on objects, as well as instructions for arithmetic and logical operations, control
flow, direct memory access, exception handling, and other operations. Before code can be
executed, MSIL must be converted to CPU-specific code, usually by a just-in-time (JIT) compiler.
Because the common language runtime supplies one or more JIT compilers for each computer
architecture it supports, the same set of MSIL can be JIT-compiled and executed on any
supported architecture.
When a compiler produces MSIL, it also produces metadata. Metadata describes the types in
your code, including the definition of

each type, the signatures of each type's members, the members that your code references, and
other data that the runtime uses at

execution time. The MSIL and metadata are contained in a portable executable (PE) file that is
based on and extends the published

Microsoft PE and Common Object File Format (COFF) used historically for executable content.
This file format, which accommodates

MSIL or native code as well as metadata, enables the operating system to recognize common
language runtime images. The

presence of metadata in the file along with the MSIL enables your code to describe itself, which
means that there is no need for type libraries or Interface Definition Language (IDL). The runtime
locates and extracts the metadata from the file as needed during

execution.

IL: (Intermediate Language)

A language used as the output of a number of compilers and as the input to a just-in-time (JIT)
compiler. The common language runtime includes a JIT compiler for converting MSIL to native
code.

CTS: (Common Type System)

The specification that determines how the common language runtime defines, uses, and
manages types

CLR: (Common Language Runtime)

The engine at the core of managed code execution. The runtime supplies managed code with
services such as cross-language integration, code access security, object lifetime management,
and debugging and profiling support.

What is Reference type and value type ?

Reference Type:
Reference types are allocated on the managed CLR heap, just like object types.
A data type that is stored as a reference to the value's location. The value of a reference type is
the location of the sequence of bits

that represent the type's data. Reference types can be self-describing types, pointer types, or
interface types

Value Type:
Value types are allocated on the stack just like primitive types in _VBScript, VB6 and C/C++.
Value types are not instantiated using new go out of scope when the function they are defined
within returns.
Value types in the CLR are defined as types that derive from system.valueType.

A data type that fully describes a value by specifying the sequence of bits that constitutes the
value's representation. Type information for a value type instance is not stored with the instance
at run time, but it is available in metadata. Value type instances can be treated as objects using
boxing.
What is Boxing and unboxing ?
Boxing:
The conversion of a value type instance to an object, which implies that the instance will carry full
type information at run time and will be allocated in the heap. The Microsoft intermediate
language (MSIL) instruction set's box instruction converts a value type to an object by making a
copy of the value type and embedding it in a newly allocated object.

Un-Boxing:
The conversion of an object instance to a value type.

What is JIT and how is works ?

An acronym for "just-in-time," a phrase that describes an action that is taken only when it
becomes necessary, such as just-in-time compilation or just-in-time object activation

What is portable executable (PE) ?

The file format used for executable programs and for files to be linked together to form executable
programs

What is strong name?

A name that consists of an assembly's identity—its simple text name, version number, and culture
information (if provided)—strengthened by a public key and a digital signature generated over the
assembly. Because the assembly manifest

contains file hashes for all the files that constitute the assembly implementation, it is sufficient to
generate the digital signature over just the one file in the assembly that contains the assembly
manifest. Assemblies with the same strong name are expected to be identical

What is global assembly cache?

A machine-wide code cache that stores assemblies specifically installed to be shared by many
applications on the computer. Applications deployed in the global assembly cache must have a
strong name.

What is difference between constants, readonly and, static ?

Constants: The value can’t be changed
Read-only: The value will be initialized only once from the constructor of the class.
Static: Value can be initialized once.

What is difference between shared and public?

An assembly that can be referenced by more than one application. An assembly must be
explicitly built to be shared by giving it a cryptographically strong name.

What is namespace used for loading assemblies at run time and name the methods?
System.Reflection

What are the types of authentication in .net?

We have three types of authentication:
1. Form authentication
2. Windows authentication
3. Passport
This has to be declared in web.config file.

What is the difference between a Struct and a Class ?

The struct type is suitable for representing lightweight objects such as Point, Rectangle, and
Color. Although it is possible to represent a point as a class, a struct is more efficient in some
scenarios. For example, if you declare an array of 1000 Point objects,
you will allocate additional memory for referencing each object. In this case, the struct is less
expensive.
When you create a struct object using the new operator, it gets created and the appropriate
constructor is called. Unlike classes, structs can be instantiated without using the new operator. If
you do not use new, the fields will remain unassigned and the object cannot be used until all of
the fields are initialized. It is an error to declare a default (parameterless) constructor for a struct.
A default constructor is always provided to initialize the struct members to their default values.
It is an error to initialize an instance field in a struct.
There is no inheritance for structs as there is for classes. A struct cannot inherit from another
struct or class, and it cannot be the base of a class. Structs, however, inherit from the base class
Object. A struct can implement interfaces, and it does that exactly as classes do.
A struct is a value type, while a class is a reference type.

How big is the datatype int in .NET?

32 bits.
How big is the char?
16 bits (Unicode).

How do you initiate a string without escaping each backslash?

Put an @ sign in front of the double-quoted string.

What's the access level of the visibility type internal?

Current application.

Explain encapsulation ?
The implementation is hidden, the interface is exposed.

What data type should you use if you want an 8-bit value that's signed?
sbyte.

Speaking of Boolean data types, what's different between C# and C/C++?

There's no conversion between 0 and false, as well as any other number and true, like in C/C++.

Where are the value-type variables allocated in the computer RAM?

Stack.

Where do the reference-type variables go in the RAM?

The references go on the stack, while the objects themselves go on the heap.

What is the difference between the value-type variables and reference-type variables in
terms of garbage collection?
The value-type variables are not garbage-collected, they just fall off the stack when they fall out of
scope, the reference-type objects

are picked up by GC when their references go null.

How do you convert a string into an integer in .NET?

Int32.Parse(string)

How do you box a primitive data type variable?

Assign it to the object, pass an object.

Why do you need to box a primitive variable?

To pass it by reference.

What's the difference between Java and .NET garbage collectors?

Sun left the implementation of a specific garbage collector up to the JRE developer, so their
performance varies widely, depending on whose JRE you're using. Microsoft standardized on
their garbage collection.

How do you enforce garbage collection in .NET?

System.GC.Collect();

What's different about namespace declaration when comparing that to package

declaration in Java?
No semicolon.

What's the difference between const and readonly?

You can initialize readonly variables to some runtime values. Let's say your program uses current
date and time as one of the values that won't change. This way you declare public readonly string
DateT = new DateTime().ToString().
What happens when you encounter a continue statement inside the for loop?
The code for the rest of the loop is ignored, the control is transferred back to the beginning of the
loop.

What's the advantage of using System.Text.StringBuilder over System.String?

StringBuilder is more efficient in the cases, where a lot of manipulation is done to the text. Strings
are immutable, so each time it's being operated on, a new instance is created.

Can you store multiple data types in System.Array?

No.

What's the difference between the System.Array.CopyTo() and System.Array.Clone()?

The first one performs a deep copy of the array, the second one is shallow.

How can you sort the elements of the array in descending order?
By calling Sort() and then Reverse() methods.

What's the .NET datatype that allows the retrieval of data by a unique key?
HashTable.

What's class SortedList underneath?

A sorted HashTable.

Will finally block get executed if the exception had not occurred?
Yes.
Can multiple catch blocks be executed?
No, once the proper catch code fires off, the control is transferred to the finally block (if there are
any), and then whatever follows the finally block.

Why is it a bad idea to throw your own exceptions?

Well, if at that point you know that an error has occurred, then why not write the proper code to
handle that error instead of passing a new Exception object to the catch block? Throwing your
own exceptions signifies some design flaws in the project.

What's a delegate?
A delegate object encapsulates a reference to a method. In C++ they were referred to as function
pointers.

What's a multicast delegate?

It's a delegate that points to and eventually fires off several methods.

How's the DLL Hell problem solved in .NET?

Assembly versioning allows the application to specify not only the library it needs to run (which
was available under Win32), but also the version of the assembly.

What are the ways to deploy an assembly?

An MSI installer, a CAB archive, and XCOPY command.

What's a satellite assembly?

When you write a multilingual or multi-cultural application in .NET, and want to distribute the core
application separately from the localized modules, the localized assemblies that modify the core
application are called satellite assemblies.