Common Language Infrastructure

Common Language Infrastructure
ISO/IEC 23271:2012(E)
AbbreviationCLI
StatusPublished
Year started2000 (2000)
First published2001 (2001) (Ecma) and 2003 (2003) (ISO/IEC)
Latest versionSixth edition
June 2012 (2012-06)
OrganizationDeveloped by: Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and others
Standardized by: Ecma, ISO/IEC
CommitteeISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22
DomainCommon Language (Cross-platform)
LicenseRAND
WebsiteECMA-335,
ISO/IEC 23271

The Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) is an open specification and technical standard originally developed by Microsoft and standardized by ISO/IEC (ISO/IEC 23271) and Ecma International (ECMA 335)[1][2] that describes executable code and a runtime environment that allows multiple high-level languages to be used on different computer platforms without being rewritten for specific architectures. This implies it is platform agnostic. The .NET Framework, .NET and Mono are implementations of the CLI. The metadata format is also used to specify the API definitions exposed by the Windows Runtime.[3][4]

  1. ^ "ISO/IEC 23271:2012 - Information technology -- Common Language Infrastructure (CLI)". ISO. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023.
  2. ^ "ECMA-335". ECMA International. June 2012. Archived from the original on October 16, 2023.
  3. ^ "Introduction to Advanced Windows Store App Development using HTML5 and JavaScript". Microsoft Press Store. October 15, 2013. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023.
  4. ^ de Icaza, Miguel (September 15, 2011). "WinRT demystified". Archived from the original on November 30, 2023.