1.

NET Framework

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.

1
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

2
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.

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

3
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.

4
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

5
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
F962F39776AE4DC3B7B04A7FE6F49F25F740423EBF2C0B89698D8D08AC48D69CED0FC8F8
3B465E08
07AC11EC1DCC7D054E807A43336DDE408A5393A48556123272CEEEE72F1660B71927D385
61AABF5C
AC1DF1734633C602F8F2D5:

6
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.

7
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:

8
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

9
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

10
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.

11
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();

12
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.

13
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.

What namespaces are necessary to create a localized application?

System.Globalization, System.Resources.

What does assert() 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 and for some applications that are constantly
running you run the risk of overloading the machine and the hard drive there. Five
levels range from None to Verbose, allowing 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.

What namespaces are necessary to create a localized application?

System.Globalization, System.Resources.

What are three test cases you should go through in unit testing?
Positive test cases (correct data, correct output), negative test cases (broken or
missing data, proper handling), exception test
cases (exceptions are thrown and caught properly).

Can you change the value of a variable while debugging a C# application?

Yes, if you are debugging via Visual Studio.NET, just go to Immediate window.

What's the implicit name of the parameter that gets passed into the class' set
method?
Value, and it's datatype depends on whatever variable we're changing.

14
How do you inherit from a class in C#?
Place a colon and then the name of the base class. Notice that it's double colon in
C++.

Does C# support multiple inheritance?

No, use interfaces instead.

When you inherit a protected class-level variable, who is it available to?

Derived Classes.

What's the top .NET class that everything is derived from?

System.Object.

How's method overriding different from overloading?

When overriding, you change the method behavior for a derived class. Overloading
simply involves having a method with the same name within the class.

What does the keyword virtual mean in the method definition?

The method can be over-ridden.

Can you declare the override method static while the original method is non-static?
No, you can't, the signature of the virtual method must remain the same, only the
keyword virtual is changed to keyword override.

Can you override private virtual methods?

No, moreover, you cannot access private methods in inherited classes, have to be
protected in the base class to allow any sort of access.

Can you prevent your class from being inherited and becoming a base class for
some other classes?
Yes, that's what keyword sealed in the class definition is for. The developer trying to
derive from your class will get a message: cannot inherit from Sealed class
WhateverBaseClassName. It's the same concept as final class in Java.

Can you allow class to be inherited, but prevent the method from being over-
ridden?
Yes, just leave the class public and make the method sealed.

Why can't you specify the accessibility modifier for methods inside the interface?
They all must be public. Therefore, to prevent you from getting the false impression
that you have any freedom of choice, you are not allowed to specify any accessibility,
it's public by default.

Can you inherit multiple interfaces?

Yes, why not.

And if they have conflicting method names?

It's up to you to implement the method inside your own class, so implementation is
left entirely up to you. This might cause a problem on a higher-level scale if similarly

15
named methods from different interfaces expect different data, but as far as compiler
cares you're
okay.

What's the difference between an interface and abstract class?

In the interface all methods must be abstract, in the abstract class some methods can
be concrete. In the interface no accessibility modifiers are allowed, which is ok in
abstract classes.

How can you overload a method?

Different parameter data types, different number of parameters, different order of
parameters.

If a base class has a bunch of overloaded constructors, and an inherited class has
another bunch of overloaded constructors, can you enforce a call from an
inherited constructor to an arbitrary base constructor?
Yes, just place a colon, and then keyword base (parameter list to invoke the
appropriate constructor) in the overloaded constructor definition inside the inherited
class.

What's the difference between System.String and System.StringBuilder classes?

System.String is immutable, System.StringBuilder was designed with the purpose of
having a mutable string where a variety of operations can be performed.

Does C# support multiple-inheritance?

No, use interfaces instead.

When you inherit a protected class-level variable, who is it available to?

The derived class.

Are private class-level variables inherited?

Yes, but they are not accessible. Although they are not visible or accessible via the
class interface, they are inherited.

Describe the accessibility modifier "protected internal".

It is available to derived classes and classes within the same Assembly (and naturally
from the base class it's declared in).

What's the top .NET class that everything is derived from?

System.Object.

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

StringBuilder is more efficient in cases where there is a large amount of string
manipulation. 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.

16
What's the .NET class that allows the retrieval of a data element using a unique
key?
HashTable.

Will the finally block get executed if an exception has not occurred?
Yes.

What's an abstract class?

A class that cannot be instantiated. An abstract class is a class that must be inherited
and have the methods overridden. An abstract class is essentially a blueprint for a
class without any implementation.

When do you absolutely have to declare a class as abstract?

1. When at least one of the methods in the class is abstract.
2. When the class itself is inherited from an abstract class, but not all base
abstract methods have been overridden.

What's an interface?
It's an abstract class with public abstract methods all of which must be implemented in
the inherited classes.

Why can't you specify the accessibility modifier for methods inside the interface?
They all must be public. Therefore, to prevent you from getting the false impression
that you have any freedom of choice,
you are not allowed to specify any accessibility, it's public by default.

What's the difference between an interface and abstract class?

In an interface class, all methods must be abstract. In an abstract class some methods
can be concrete. In an interface class, no accessibility modifiers are allowed, which is
ok in an abstract class.

How is method overriding different from method overloading?

When overriding a method, you change the behavior of the method for the derived
class. Overloading a method simply involves
having another method with the same name within the class.

Can you declare an override method to be static if the original method is non-
static?
No. The signature of the virtual method must remain the same, only the keyword
virtual is changed to keyword override.

Can you override private virtual methods?

No. Private methods are not accessible outside the class.

Can you write a class without specifying namespace? Which namespace does it
belong to by default?
Yes, you can, then the class belongs to global namespace which has no name. For
commercial products, naturally, you wouldn't want global namespace.

17
What is a formatter?
A formatter is an object that is responsible for encoding and serializing data into
messages on one end, and deserializing and decoding messages into data on the other
end.

Different b/w .NET & J2EE ?

Differences between J2EE and the .NET Platform

Vendor Neutrality

The .NET platform is not vendor neutral, it is tied to the Microsoft operating systems.
But neither are any of the J2EE implementations
Many companies buy into J2EE believing that it will give them vendor neutrality. And,
in fact, this is a stated goal of Sun's vision:
A wide variety of J2EE product configurations and implementations, all of which meet
the requirements of this specification, are possible. A portable J2EE application will
function correctly when successfully deployed in any of these products. (ref : Java 2
Platform Enterprise Edition Specification, v1.3, page 2-7 available at
http://java.sun.com/j2ee/)

Overall Maturity

Given that the .NET platform has a three year lead over J2EE, it should be no surprise
to learn that the .NET platform is far more mature than the J2EE platform. Whereas
we have high volume highly reliable web sites using .NET technologies (NASDAQ and
Dell being among many examples)

Interoperability and Web Services

The .NET platform eCollaboration model is, as I have discussed at length, based on the
UDDI and SOAP standards. These standards are widely supported by more than 100
companies. Microsoft, along with IBM and Ariba, are the leaders in this area. Sun is a
member of the UDDI consortium and recognizes the importance of the UDDI standards.
In a recent press release, Sun's George Paolini, Vice President for the Java Community
Development, says:

"Sun has always worked to help establish and support open, standards-based
technologies that facilitate the growth of network-based applications, and we see
UDDI as an important project to establish a registry framework for business-to-business
e-commerce

But while Sun publicly says it believes in the UDDI standards, in reality, Sun has done
nothing whatsoever to incorporate any of the UDDI standards into J2EE.

Scalability

Typical Comparision w.r.t Systems and their costs

J2EE

18
Company System Total Sys. Cost
Bull Escala T610 c/s 16,785 $1,980,179
IBM RS/6000 Enterprise Server F80 16,785 $2,026,681
Bull Escala EPC810 c/s 33,375 $3,037,499
IBM RS/6000 Enterprise Server M80 33,375 $3,097,055
Bull Escala EPC2450 110,403 $9,563,263
IBM IBM eServer pSeries 680 Model 7017-S85 110,403 $9,560,594

.NET platform systems

Company System Total Sys. Cost

Dell PowerEdge 4400 16,263 $273,487
Compaq ProLiant ML-570-6/700-3P 20,207 $201,717
Dell PowerEdge 6400 30,231 $334,626
IBM Netfinity 7600 c/s 32,377 $443,463
Compaq ProLiant 8500-X550-64P 161,720 $3,534,272
Compaq ProLiant 8500-X700-64P 179,658 $3,546,582
Compaq ProLiant 8500-X550-96P 229,914 $5,305,571
Compaq ProLiant 8500-X700-96P 262,244 $5,305,571
Compaq ProLiant 8500-700-192P 505,303 $10,003,826

Framework Support

The .NET platform includes such an eCommerce framework called Commerce Server.
At this point, there is no equivalent vendor-neutral framework in the J2EE space. With
J2EE, you should assume that you will be building your new eCommerce solution from
scratch

Moreover, no matter what [J2EE] vendor you choose, if you expect a component
framework that will allow you to quickly field complete e-business applications, you
are in for a frustrating experience

Language

In the language arena, the choice is about as simple as it gets. J2EE supports Java, and
only Java. It will not support any other language in the foreseeable future. The .NET
platform supports every language except Java (although it does support a language
that is syntactically and functionally equivalent to Java, C#). In fact, given the
importance of the .NET platform as a language independent vehicle, it is likely that
any language that comes out in the near future will include support for the .NET
platform.

Some companies are under the impression that J2EE supports other languages.
Although both IBM's WebSphere and BEA's WebLogic support other languages, neither

19
does it through their J2EE technology. There are only two official ways in the J2EE
platform to access other languages, one through the Java Native Interface and the
other through CORBA interoperability. Sun recommends the later approach. As Sun's
Distinguished Scientist and Java Architect Rick Cattell said in a recent interview.

Portability

The reason that operating system portability is a possibility with J2EE is not so much
because of any inherent portability of J2EE, as it is that most of the J2EE vendors
support multiple operating systems. Therefore as long as one sticks with a given J2EE
vendor and a given database vendor, moving from one operating system to another
should be possible. This is probably the single most important benefit in favor of J2EE
over the .NET platform, which is limited to the Windows operating system. It is worth
noting, however, that Microsoft has submitted the specifications for C# and a subset of
the .NET Framework (called the common language infrastructure) to ECMA, the group
that standardizes JavaScript.

J2EE offers an acceptable solution to ISVs when the product must be marketed to non-
Windows customers, particularly when the J2EE platform itself can be bundled with
the ISV's product as an integrated offering.

If the primary customer base for the ISV is Windows customers, then the .NET
platform should be chosen. It will provide much better performance at a much lower
cost.

Client device independence

The major difference being that with Java, it is the presentation tier programmer that
determines the ultimate HTML that will be delivered to the client, and with .NET, it is
a Visual Studio.NET control.

This Java approach has three problems. First, it requires a lot of code on the
presentation tier, since every possible thin client system requires a different code
path. Second, it is very difficult to test the code with every possible thin client
system. Third, it is very difficult to add new thin clients to an existing application,
since to do so involves searching through, and modifying a tremendous amount of
presentation tier logic.

The .NET Framework approach is to write device independent code that interacts with
visual controls. It is the control, not the programmer, that is responsible for
determining what HTML to deliver, based on the capabilities of the client device.. In
the .NET Framework model, one can forget that such a thing as HTML even exists!
Contd ....

Conclusion

20
Sun's J2EE vision is based on a family of specifications that can be implemented by
many vendors. It is open in the sense that any company can license and implement the
technology, but closed in the sense that it is controlled by a single vendor, and a self
contained architectural island with very limited ability to interact outside of itself.
One of J2EE's major disadvantages is that the choice of the platform dictates the use
of a single programming language, and a programming language that is not well suited
for most businesses. One of J2EE's major advantages is that most of the J2EE vendors
do offer operating system portability.

Microsoft's .NET platform vision is a family of products rather than specifications, with
specifications used primarily to define points of interoperability. The major
disadvantage of this approach is that if is limited to the Windows platform, so
applications written for the .NET platform can only be run on .NET platforms. Their
are several important advantages to the .NET platform:

* The cost of developing applications is much lower, since standard business languages
can be used and device independent presentation tier logic can be written.

* The cost of running applications is much lower, since commodity hardware platforms
(at 1/5 the cost of their Unix counterparts) can be used.

* The ability to scale up is much greater, with the proved ability to support at least ten
times the number of clients any J2EE platform has shown itself able to support.

* Interoperability is much stronger, with industry standard eCollaboration built into the
platform.

What are the Main Features of .NET platform?

Features of .NET Platform are :-

Common Language Runtime

Explains the features and benefits of the common language runtime, a run-time
environment that manages the execution of code and provides services that simplify
the development process.

Assemblies
Defines the concept of assemblies, which are collections of types and resources that
form logical units of functionality. Assemblies are the fundamental units of
deployment, version control, reuse, activation scoping, and security permissions.

Application Domains
Explains how to use application domains to provide isolation between applications.

Runtime Hosts
Describes the runtime hosts supported by the .NET Framework, including ASP.NET,
Internet Explorer, and shell executables.

21
Common Type System
Identifies the types supported by the common language runtime.

Metadata and Self-Describing Components

Explains how the .NET Framework simplifies component interoperation by allowing
compilers to emit additional declarative information, or metadata, into all modules
and assemblies.

Cross-Language Interoperability
Explains how managed objects created in different programming languages can
interact with one another.

.NET Framework Security

Describes mechanisms for protecting resources and code from unauthorized code and
unauthorized users.

.NET Framework Class Library

Introduces the library of types provided by the .NET Framework, which expedites and
optimizes the development process and gives you access to system functionality.

What is the use of JIT ?

JIT (Just - In - Time) is a compiler which converts MSIL code to Native Code (ie.. CPU-
specific code that runs on the same computer architecture).

Because the common language runtime supplies a JIT compiler for each supported CPU
architecture, developers can write a set of MSIL that can be JIT-compiled and run on
computers with different architectures. However, your managed code will run only on
a specific operating system if it calls platform-specific native APIs, or a platform-
specific class library.

JIT compilation takes into account the fact that some code might never get called
during execution. Rather than using time and memory to convert all the MSIL in a
portable executable (PE) file to native code, it converts the MSIL as needed during
execution and stores the resulting native code so that it is accessible for subsequent
calls. The loader creates and attaches a stub to each of a type's methods when the
type is loaded. On the initial call to the method, the stub passes control to the JIT
compiler, which converts the MSIL for that method into native code and modifies the
stub to direct execution to the location of the native code. Subsequent calls of the
JIT-compiled method proceed directly to the native code that was previously
generated, reducing the time it takes to JIT-compile and run the code.

What meant of assembly & global assembly cache (gac) & Meta data.
Assembly :-- An assembly is the primary building block of a .NET based application. It
is a collection of functionality that is built, versioned, and deployed as a single
implementation unit (as one or more files). All managed types and resources are
marked either as accessible only within their implementation unit, or as accessible by
code outside that unit. It overcomes the problem of 'dll Hell'.The .NET Framework uses
assemblies as the fundamental unit for several purposes:

22
 • Security
• Type Identity
• Reference Scope
• Versioning
• Deployment

Global Assembly Cache :-- Assemblies can be shared among multiple applications on
the machine by registering them in global Assembly cache(GAC). GAC is a machine
wide a local cache of assemblies maintained by the .NET Framework. We can register
the assembly to global assembly cache by using gacutil command.
We can Navigate to the GAC directory, C:\winnt\Assembly in explore. In the tools menu
select the cache properties; in the windows displayed you can set the memory limit in
MB used by the GAC
MetaData :--Assemblies have Manifests. This Manifest contains Metadata information of
the Module/Assembly as well as it contains detailed Metadata of other
assemblies/modules references (exported). It's the Assembly Manifest which
differentiates between an Assembly and a Module.

What are the mobile devices supported by .net platform

The Microsoft .NET Compact Framework is designed to run on mobile devices such as
mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and embedded devices. The easiest
way to develop and test a Smart Device Application is to use an emulator.

These devices are divided into two main divisions:

1) Those that are directly supported by .NET (Pocket PCs, i-Mode phones, and WAP
devices)
2) Those that are not (Palm OS and J2ME-powered devices).

What is GUID , why we use it and where?

GUID :-- GUID is Short form of Globally Unique Identifier, a unique 128-bit number that
is produced by the Windows OS or by some Windows applications to identify a
particular component, application, file, database entry, and/or user. For instance, a
Web site may generate a GUID and assign it to a user's browser to record and track the
session. A GUID is also used in a Windows registry to identify COM DLLs. Knowing where
to look in the registry and having the correct GUID yields a lot information about a
COM object (i.e., information in the type library, its physical location, etc.). Windows
also identifies user accounts by a username (computer/domain and username) and
assigns it a GUID. Some database administrators even will use GUIDs as primary key
values in databases.

GUIDs can be created in a number of ways, but usually they are a combination of a
few unique settings based on specific point in time (e.g., an IP address, network MAC
address, clock date/time, etc.).

Describe the difference between inline and code behind - which is best in a loosely
coupled solution
ASP.NET supports two modes of page development: Page logic code that is written
inside runat="server"> blocks within an .aspx file and dynamically compiled the first
time the page is requested on the server. Page logic code that is written within an

23
external class that is compiled prior to deployment on a server and linked ""behind""
the .aspx file at run time.

Whats MSIL, and why should my developers need an appreciation of it if at all?

When compiling the source code to managed code, the compiler translates the source
into Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL). This is a CPU-independent set of
instructions that can efficiently be converted to native code. Microsoft intermediate
language (MSIL) is a translation used as the output of a number of compilers. It is the
input to a just-in-time (JIT) compiler. The Common Language Runtime includes a JIT
compiler for the conversion of MSIL to native code.

Before Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) can be executed it, must be converted
by the .NET Framework just-in-time (JIT) compiler to native code. This is CPU-specific
code that runs on the same computer architecture as the JIT compiler. Rather than
using time and memory to convert all of the MSIL in a portable executable (PE) file to
native code. It converts the MSIL as needed whilst executing, then caches the resulting
native code so its accessible for any subsequent calls.

How many .NET languages can a single .NET DLL contain?

One

What type of code (server or client) is found in a Code-Behind class?

Server

Whats an assembly?
Assemblies are the building blocks of .NET Framework applications; they form the
fundamental unit of deployment, version control, reuse, activation scoping, and
security permissions. An assembly is a collection of types and resources that are built
to work together and form a logical unit of functionality. An assembly provides the
common language runtime with the information it needs to be aware of type
implementations. To the runtime, a type does not exist outside the context of an
assembly.

How many classes can a single .NET DLL contain?

Unlimited.

What is the difference between string and String ?

No difference

What is manifest?
It is the metadata that describes the assemblies.

What is metadata?
Metadata is machine-readable information about a resource, or ""data about data.""
Such information might include details on content, format, size, or other
characteristics of a data
source. In .NET, metadata includes type definitions, version information, external
assembly references, and other standardized information.

24
What are the types of assemblies?
There are four types of assemblies in .NET:

Static assemblies
These are the .NET PE files that you create at compile time.

Dynamic assemblies
These are PE-formatted, in-memory assemblies that you dynamically create at runtime
using the classes in the System.Reflection.Emit namespace.

Private assemblies
These are static assemblies used by a specific application.

Public or shared assemblies

These are static assemblies that must have a unique shared name and can be used by
any application.

An application uses a private assembly by referring to the assembly using a static path
or through an XML-based application configuration file. While the CLR doesn't enforce
versioning policies-checking whether the correct version is used-for private
assemblies, it ensures that an
application uses the correct shared assemblies with which the application was built.
Thus, an application uses a specific shared assembly by referring to the specific shared
assembly, and the CLR ensures that the correct version is loaded at runtime.

In .NET, an assembly is the smallest unit to which you can associate a version number;

What are delegates?where are they used ?

A delegate defines a reference type that can be used to encapsulate a method with a
specific signature. A delegate instance encapsulates a static or an instance method.
Delegates are roughly similar to function pointers in C++; however, delegates are type-
safe and secure.

When do you use virutal keyword?.

When we need to override a method of the base class in the sub class, then we give
the virtual keyword in the base class method. This makes the method in the base class
to be overridable. Methods, properties, and indexers can be virtual, which means that
their implementation can be overridden in derived classes.

What are class access modifiers ?

Access modifiers are keywords used to specify the declared accessibility of a member
or a type. This section introduces the four access modifiers:
· Public - Access is not restricted.
· Protected - Access is limited to the containing class or types derived from the
containing class.
· Internal - Access is limited to the current assembly.
· Protected inertnal - Access is limited to the current assembly or types derived · from
the containing class.
· Private - Access is limited to the containing type.

25
What Is Boxing And Unboxing?
Boxing :- Boxing is an implicit conversion of a value type to the type object type

Eg:-
Consider the following declaration of a value-type variable:
int i = 123;
object o = (object) i;
Boxing Conversion

UnBoxing :- Unboxing is an explicit conversion from the type object to a value type
Eg:
int i = 123; // A value type
object box = i; // Boxing
int j = (int)box; // Unboxing

What is Value type and refernce type in .Net?.

Value Type : A variable of a value type always contains a value of that type. The
assignment to a variable of a value type creates a copy of the assigned value, while
the assignment to a variable of a reference type creates a copy of the reference but
not of the referenced object.

The value types consist of two main categories:

* Stuct Type
* Enumeration Type

Reference Type :Variables of reference types, referred to as objects, store references

to the actual data. This section introduces the following keywords used to declare
reference types:
* Class
* Interface
* Delegate

This section also introduces the following built-in reference types:

* object
* string

What is the difference between structures and enumeration?.

Unlike classes, structs are value types and do not require heap allocation. A variable of
a struct type directly contains the data of the struct, whereas a variable of a class
type contains a reference to the data. They are derived from System.ValueType class.

Enum->An enum type is a distinct type that declares a set of named constants.They
are strongly typed constants. They are unique types that allow to declare symbolic
names to integral values. Enums are value types, which means they contain their own
value, can't inherit or be inherited from and assignment copies the value of one enum
to another.

public enum Grade

{

26
 A,
B,
C
}

What is namespaces?.
Namespace is a logical naming scheme for group related types.Some class types that
logically belong together they can be put into a common namespace. They prevent
namespace collisions and they provide scoping. They are imported as "using" in C# or
"Imports" in Visual Basic. It seems as if these directives specify a particular assembly,
but they don't. A namespace can span multiple assemblies, and an assembly can define
multiple namespaces. When the compiler needs the definition for a class type, it
tracks through each of the different imported namespaces to the type name and
searches each referenced assembly until it is found.
Namespaces can be nested. This is very similar to packages in Java as far as scoping is
concerned.

How do you create shared assemblies?.

Just look through the definition of Assemblies..
* An Assembly is a logical unit of code
* Assembly physically exist as DLLs or EXEs
* One assembly can contain one or more files
* The constituent files can include any file types like image files, text files etc. along
with DLLs or EXEs
* When you compile your source code by default the exe/dll generated is actually an
assembly
* Unless your code is bundled as assembly it can not be used in any other application
* When you talk about version of a component you are actually talking about version
of the assembly to which the component belongs.
* Every assembly file contains information about itself. This information is called as
Assembly Manifest.

Following steps are involved in creating shared assemblies :

* Create your DLL/EXE source code

* Generate unique assembly name using SN utility
* Sign your DLL/EXE with the private key by modifying AssemblyInfo file
* Compile your DLL/EXE
* Place the resultant DLL/EXE in global assembly cache using AL utility

What is global assembly cache?

Each computer where the common language runtime is installed has a machine-wide
code cache called the global assembly cache. The global assembly cache stores
assemblies specifically designated to be shared by several applications on the
computer.
There are several ways to deploy an assembly into the global assembly cache:
· Use an installer designed to work with the global assembly cache. This is the

27
preferred option for installing assemblies into the global assembly cache.
· Use a developer tool called the Global Assembly Cache tool (Gacutil.exe), provided
by the .NET Framework SDK.
· Use Windows Explorer to drag assemblies into the cache.

What is MSIL?.
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 run, 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 run 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.

What is Jit compilers?.how many are available in clr?

Just-In-Time compiler- it converts the language that you write in .Net into machine
language that a computer can understand. there are tqo types of JITs one is memory
optimized & other is performace optimized.

What is tracing?Where it used.Explain few methods available

Tracing refers to collecting information about the application while it is running. You
use tracing information to troubleshoot an application.
Tracing allows us to observe and correct programming errors. Tracing enables you to
record information in various log files about the errors that might occur at run time.
You can analyze these log files to find the cause of the errors.

In .NET we have objects called Trace Listeners. A listener is an object that receives the
trace output and outputs it somewhere; that somewhere could be a window in your
development environment, a file on your hard drive, a Windows Event log, a SQL
Server or Oracle database, or any other customized data store.

The System.Diagnostics namespace provides the interfaces, classes, enumerations and

structures that are used for tracing The System.Diagnostics namespace provides two
classes named Trace and Debug that are used for writing errors and application
execution information in logs.

28
All Trace Listeners have the following functions. Functionality of these functions is
same except that the target media for the tracing output is determined by the Trace
Listener.

Method Name
Result Fail Outputs the specified text with the Call Stack.
Write Outputs the specified text.
WriteLine Outputs the specified text and a carriage return.
Flush Flushes the output buffer to the target media.
Close Closes the output stream in order to not receive the tracing/debugging output.

How to set the debug mode?

Debug Mode for ASP.NET applications - To set ASP.NET appplication in debugging mode,
edit the application's web.config and assign the "debug" attribute in < compilation >
section to "true" as show below:
< configuration >
< system.web >
< compilation defaultLanguage="vb" debug="true" / >
....
...
..
< / configuration >

This case-sensitive attribute 'debug tells ASP.NET to generate symbols for dynamically
generated files and enables the
debugger to attach to the ASP.NET application. ASP.NET will detect this change
automatically, without the need to restart the server. Debug Mode for ASP.NET
Webservices - Debugging an XML Web service created with ASP.NET is similar to the
debugging an ASP.NET Web application.

What is the property available to check if the page posted or not?

The Page_Load event handler in the page checks for IsPostBack property value, to
ascertain whether the page is posted. The Page.IsPostBack gets a value indicating
whether the page is being loaded in response to the client postback, or it is for the
first time. The value of Page.IsPostBack is True, if the page is being loaded in response
to the client postback; while its value is False, when the page is loaded for the first
time. The Page.IsPostBack property facilitates execution of certain routine in
Page_Load, only once (for e.g. in Page load, we need to set default value in controls,
when page is loaded for the first time. On post back, we check for true value for
IsPostback value and then invoke server-side code to
update data).

Which are the abstract classes available under system.xml namespace?

The System.XML namespace provides XML related processing ability in .NET
framework. XmlReader and XMLWriter are the two abstract classes at the core of .NET
Framework XML classes:

1. XmlReader provides a fast, forward-only, read-only cursor for processing an XML

document stream.

29
2. XmlWriter provides an interface for producing XML document streams that conform
to the W3C's XML standards.

Both XmlReader and XmlWriter are abstract base classes, which define the
functionality that all derived classes must support.

Is it possible to use multipe inheritance in .net?

Multiple Inheritance is an ability to inherit from more than one base class i.e. ability
of a class to have more than one superclass, by inheriting from different sources and
thus combine separately-defined behaviors in a single class. There are two types of
multiple inheritance: multiple type/interface inheritance and multiple
implementation inheritance. C# & VB.NET supports only multiple type/interface
inheritance, i.e.
you can derive an class/interface from multiple interfaces. There is no support for
multiple implementation inheritance in .NET. That means a class can only derived from
one class.

What are the derived classes from xmlReader and xmlWriter?

Both XmlReader and XmlWriter are abstract base classes, which define the
functionality that all derived classes must support.
There are three concrete implementations of XmlReader:
1.XmlTextReader
2.XmlNodeReader
3.XmlValidatingReader
There are two concrete implementations of XmlWriter:
1.XmlTextWriter
2.XmlNodeWriter
XmlTextReader and XmlTextWriter support reading data to/from text-based stream,
while XmlNodeReader and XmlNodeWriter are designed for working with in-memory
DOM tree structure. The custom readers and writers can also be developed to extend
the built-in functionality of XmlReader and XmlWriter.

What is managed and unmanaged 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. i.e., code
executing under the control of the CLR is called managed code. For example, any code
written in C# or Visual Basic .NET is managed code.

Code that runs outside the CLR is referred to as "unmanaged code." COM components,
ActiveX components, and Win32 API functions are examples of unmanaged code.

How you deploy .NET assemblies?

One way is simply use xcopy. others are use and the setup projects in .net. and one
more way is use of nontuch deployment.

What is Globalizationa and Localization ?

Globalization is the process of creating an application that meets the needs of users
from multiple cultures. It includes using the correct
currency, date and time format, calendar, writing direction, sorting rules, and other

30
issues. Accommodating these cultural differences in an application is called
localization.Using classes of System.Globalization namespace, you can set application's
current culture.

This can be achieved by using any of the following 3 approaches.

1. Detect and redirect
2. Run-time adjustment
3. Using Satellite assemblies.

Whate are Resource Files ? How are they used in .NET?

Resource files are the files containing data that is logically deployed with an
application.These files can contain data in a number of formats including strings,
images and persisted objects. It has the main advantage of If we store data in these
files then we don't need to compile these if the data get changed. In .NET we basically
require them storing culture specific informations by localizing application's resources.
You can deploy your resources using satellite assemblies.

Difference between Dispose and Finallize method?

Finalize method is used to free the memory used by some unmanaged resources like
window handles (HWND). It's similar to the destructor syntax in C#. The GC calls this
method when it founds no more references to the object. But, In some cases we may
need release the memory used by the resources explicitely.To release the memory
explicitly we need to implement the Dispose method of IDisposable interface.

What is encapsulation ?
Encapsulation is the ability to hide the internal workings of an object's behavior and its
data. For instance, let's say you have a object named Bike and this object has a
method named start(). When you create an instance of a Bike object and call its
start() method you are not worried about what happens to accomplish this, you just
want to make sure the state of the bike is changed to 'running' afterwards. This kind of
behavior hiding is encapsulation and it makes programming much easier.

How can you prevent your class to be inherated further?

By setting Sealed - Key word

public sealed class Planet

{
//code goes here
}

class Moon:Planet
{
//Not allowed as base class is sealed
}

What is GUID and why we need to use it and in what condition? How this is created.
A GUID is a 128-bit integer (16 bytes) that can be used across all computers and
networks wherever a unique identifier is required. Such an identifier has a very low

31
probability of being duplicated. Visual Studio .NET IDE has a utility under the tools
menu to generate GUIDs.

Why do you need to serialize.?

We need to serialize the object,if you want to pass object from one
computer/application domain to another.Process of converting complex objects into
stream of bytes that can be persisted or transported.Namespace for serialization is
System.Runtime.Serialization.The ISerializable interface allows you to make any class
Serializable..NET framework features 2 serializing method.
1.Binary Serialization 2.XML Serialization

What is inline schema, how does it works?

Schemas can be included inside of XML file is called Inline Schemas.This is useful
when it is inconvenient to physically seprate the schema and the XML document.A
schema is an XML document that defines the structure, constraints, data types, and
relationships of the elements that constitute the data contained inside the XML
document or in another XML document.Schema can be an external file which uses the
XSD or XDR extension called external schema. Inline schema can take place even when
validation is turned off.

Describe the advantages of writing a managed code application instead of

unmanaged one. What's involved in certain piece of code being managed?
"Advantage includes automatic garbage collection,memory management,security,type
checking,versioning

Managed code is compiled for the .NET run-time environment. It runs in the Common
Language Runtime (CLR), which is the heart of the .NET Framework. The CLR provides
services such as security,
memory management, and cross-language integration. Managed applications written
to take advantage of the features of the CLR perform more efficiently and safely, and
take better advantage of developers existing expertise in languages that support the
.NET Framework.

Unmanaged code includes all code written before the .NET Framework was introduced
—this includes code written to use COM, native Win32, and Visual Basic 6. Because it
does not run inside the .NET environment, unmanaged code cannot make use of any
.NET managed facilities."

What are multicast delegates ? give me an example ?

Delegate that can have more than one element in its invocation List.

using System;
namespace SampleMultiCastDelegate
{
class MultiCast
{
public delegate string strMultiCast(string s);
}
}

32
MainClass defines the static methods having same signature as delegate.
using System;

namespace SampleMultiCastDelegate
{

public class MainClass

{
public MainClass()
{
}

public static string Jump(string s)

{
Console.WriteLine("Jump");
return String.Empty;
}

public static string Run(string s)

{
Console.WriteLine("Run");
return String.Empty;
}

public static string Walk(string s)

{
Console.WriteLine("Walk");
return String.Empty;
}
}
}

The Main class:

using System;
using System.Threading;
namespace SampleMultiCastDelegate
{

public class MainMultiCastDelegate

{
public static void Main()
{
MultiCast.strMultiCast Run,Walk,Jump;

MultiCast.strMultiCast myDelegate;

33
 ///here mydelegate used the Combine method of System.MulticastDelegate
///and the delegates combine
myDelegate=(MultiCast.strMultiCast)System.Delegate.Combine(Run,Walk);

}
}
}

Can a nested object be used in Serialization ?

Yes. If a class that is to be serialized contains references to objects of other classes,
and if those classes have been marked as serializable, then their objects are serialized
too.

Difference between int and int32 ?

Both are same. System.Int32 is a .NET class. Int is an alias name for System.Int32.

Describe the difference between a Thread and a Process?

A Process is an instance of an running application. And a thread is the Execution
stream of the Process. A process can have multiple Thread.
When a process starts a specific memory area is allocated to it. When there is multiple
thread in a process, each thread gets a memory for storing the variables in it and plus
they can access to the global variables which is common for all the thread. Eg.A
Microsoft Word is a Application. When you open a word file,an instance of the Word
starts and a process is allocated to this instance which has one thread.

What is the difference between an EXE and a DLL?

You can create an objects of Dll but not of the EXE.
Dll is an In-Process Component whereas EXE is an OUt-Process Component.
Exe is for single use whereas you can use Dll for multiple use.
Exe can be started as standalone where dll cannot be.

What is strong-typing versus weak-typing? Which is preferred? Why?

Strong typing implies that the types of variables involved in operations are associated
to the variable, checked at compile-time, and require explicit conversion; weak typing
implies that they are associated to the value, checked at run-time, and are implicitly
converted as required. (Which is preferred is a disputable point, but I personally
prefer strong typing because I like my errors to be found as soon as possible.)

What is a PID? How is it useful when troubleshooting a system?

PID is the process Id of the application in Windows. Whenever a process starts running
in the Windows environment, it is associated with an individual process Id or PID.

The PID (Process ID) a unique number for each item on the Process Tab, Image Name
list. How do you get the PID to appear? In Task Manger, select the View menu, then
select columns and check PID (Process Identifier).

In Linux, PID is used to debug a process explicitly. However we cannot do this in a

windows environment.

34
Microsoft has launched a SDK called as Microsoft Operations Management (MOM). This
uses the PID to find out which dll’s have been loaded by a process in the memory. This
is essentially helpful in situations where the Process which has a memory leak is to be
traced to a erring dll. Personally I have never used a PID, our Windows debugger does
the things required to find out.

What is the GAC? What problem does it solve?

Each computer where the common language runtime is installed has a machine-wide
code cache called the global assembly cache. The global assembly cache stores
assemblies that are to be shared by several applications on the computer. This area is
typically the folder under windows or winnt in the machine.

All the assemblies that need to be shared across applications need to be done through
the Global assembly Cache only. However it is not necessary to install assemblies into
the global assembly cache to make them accessible to COM interop or unmanaged
code.

There are several ways to deploy an assembly into the global assembly cache:
· Use an installer designed to work with the global assembly cache. This is the
preferred option for installing assemblies into the global assembly cache.
· Use a developer tool called the Global Assembly Cache tool (Gacutil.exe), provided
by the .NET Framework SDK.
· Use Windows Explorer to drag assemblies into the cache.

GAC solves the problem of DLL Hell and DLL versioning. Unlike earlier situations, GAC
can hold two assemblies of the same name but different version. This ensures that the
applications which access a particular assembly continue to access the same assembly
even if another version of that assembly is installed on that machine.

Describe what an Interface is and how it’s different from a Class.

An interface is a structure of code which is similar to a class. An interface is a
prototype for a class and is useful from a logical design perspective. Interfaces provide
a means to define the protocols for a class without worrying about the implementation
details. The syntax for creating interfaces follows:
interface Identifier {
InterfaceBody
}

Identifier is the name of the interface and InterfaceBody refers to the abstract
methods and static final variables that make up the interface. Because it is assumed
that all the methods in an interface are abstract, it isn't necessary to use the abstract
keyword

An interface is a description of some of the members available from a class. In

practice, the syntax typically looks similar to a class definition, except that there's no
code defined for the methods — just their name, the arguments passed and the type of
the value returned.
So what good is it? None by itself. But you create an interface so that classes will
implement it.

35
But what does it mean to implement an interface. The interface acts as a contract or
promise. If a class implements an interface, then it must have the properties and
methods of the interface defined in the class. This is enforced by the compiler.

Broadly the differentiators between classes and interfaces is as follows

• Interface should not have any implementation.
• Interface can not create any instance.
• Interface should provide high level abstraction from the implementation.
• Interface can have multiple inheritances.
• Default access level of the interface is public.

What is the difference between XML Web Services using ASMX and .NET Remoting
using SOAP?
ASP.NET Web services and .NET Remoting provide a full suite of design options for
cross-process and cross-plaform communication in distributed applications. In general,
ASP.NET Web services provide the highest levels of interoperability with full support
for WSDL and SOAP over HTTP, while .NET Remoting is designed for common language
runtime type-system fidelity and supports additional data format and communication
channels. Hence if we looking cross-platform communication than web services is the
choice coz for .NET remoting .Net framework is requried which may or may not
present for the other platform.

Serialization and Metadata

ASP.NET Web services rely on the System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer class to
marshal data to and from SOAP messages at runtime. For metadata, they generate
WSDL and XSD definitions that describe what their messages contain. The reliance on
pure WSDL and XSD makes ASP.NET Web services metadata portable; it expresses data
structures in a way that other Web service toolkits on different platforms and with
different programming models can understand. In some cases, this imposes constraints
on the types you can expose from a Web service—XmlSerializer will only marshal things
that can be expressed in XSD. Specifically, XmlSerializer will not marshal object graphs
and it has limited support for container types.

.NET Remoting relies on the pluggable implementations of the IFormatter interface

used by the System.Runtime.Serialization engine to marshal data to and from
messages. There are two standard formatters,
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter and
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap.SoapFormatter. The BinaryFormatter
and SoapFormatter, as the names suggest, marshal types in binary and SOAP format
respectively. For metadata, .NET Remoting relies on the common language runtime
assemblies, which contain all the relevant information about the data types they
implement, and expose it via reflection. The reliance on the assemblies for metadata
makes it easy to preserve the full runtime type-system fidelity. As a result, when the
.NET Remoting plumbing marshals data, it includes all of a class's public and private
members; handles object graphs correctly; and supports all container types (e.g.,
System.Collections.Hashtable). However, the reliance on runtime metadata also limits
the reach of a .NET Remoting system—a client has to understand .NET constructs in
order to communicate with a .NET Remoting endpoint. In addition to pluggable
formatters, the .NET Remoting layer supports pluggable channels, which abstract away
the details of how messages are sent. There are two standard channels, one for raw

36
TCP and one for HTTP. Messages can be sent over either channel independent of
format.

Distributed Application Design: ASP.NET Web Services vs. .NET Remoting

ASP.NET Web services favor the XML Schema type system, and provide a simple
programming model with broad cross-platform reach. .NET Remoting favors the
runtime type system, and provides a more complex programming model with much
more limited reach. This essential difference is the primary factor in determining
which technology to use. However, there are a wide range of other design factors,
including transport protocols, host processes, security, performance, state
management, and support for transactions to consider as well.

Security
Since ASP.NET Web services rely on HTTP, they integrate with the standard Internet
security infrastructure. ASP.NET leverages the security features available with IIS to
provide strong support for standard HTTP authentication schemes including Basic,
Digest, digital certificates, and even Microsoft® .NET Passport. (You can also use
Windows Integrated authentication, but only for clients in a trusted domain.) One
advantage of using the available HTTP authentication schemes is that no code change
is required in a Web service; IIS performs authentication before the ASP.NET Web
services are called. ASP.NET also provides support for .NET Passport-based
authentication and other custom authentication schemes. ASP.NET supports access
control based on target URLs, and by integrating with the .NET code access security
(CAS) infrastructure. SSL can be used to ensure private communication over the wire.

Although these standard transport-level techniques to secure Web services are quite
effective, they only go so far. In complex scenarios involving multiple Web services in
different trust domains, you have to build custom ad hoc solutions. Microsoft and
others are working on a set of security specifications that build on the extensibility of
SOAP messages to offer message-level security capabilities. One of these is the XML
Web Services Security Language (WS-Security), which defines a framework for
message-level credential transfer, message integrity, and message confidentiality.

As noted in the previous section, the .NET Remoting plumbing does not secure cross-
process invocations in the general case. A .NET Remoting endpoint hosted in IIS with
ASP.NET can leverage all the same security features available to ASP.NET Web services,
including support for secure communication over the wire using SSL. If you are using
the TCP channel or the HTTP channel hosted in processes other than aspnet_wp.exe,
you have to implement authentication, authorization and privacy mechanisms
yourself.

One additional security concern is the ability to execute code from a semi-trusted
environment without having to change the default security policy. ASP.NET Web
Services client proxies work in these environments, but .NET Remoting proxies do not.
In order to use a .NET Remoting proxy from a semi-trusted environment, you need a
special serialization permission that is not given to code loaded from your intranet or
the Internet by default. If you want to use a .NET Remoting client from within a semi-
trusted environment, you have to alter the default security policy for code loaded
from those zones. In situations where you are connecting to systems from clients
running in a sandbox—like a downloaded Windows Forms application, for instance—

37
ASP.NET Web Services are a simpler choice because security policy changes are not
required.

Conceptually, what is the difference between early-binding and late-binding?

Early binding – Binding at Compile Time
Late Binding – Binding at Run Time

Early binding implies that the class of the called object is known at compile-time;
late-binding implies that the class is not known until run-time, such as a call through
an interface or via Reflection.

Early binding is the preferred method. It is the best performer because your
application binds directly to the address of the function being called and there is no
extra overhead in doing a run-time lookup. In terms of overall execution speed, it is at
least twice as fast as late binding.

Early binding also provides type safety. When you have a reference set to the
component's type library, Visual Basic provides IntelliSense support to help you code
each function correctly. Visual Basic also warns you if the data type of a parameter or
return value is incorrect, saving a lot of time when writing and debugging code.

Late binding is still useful in situations where the exact interface of an object is not
known at design-time. If your application seeks to talk with multiple unknown servers
or needs to invoke functions by name (using the Visual Basic 6.0 CallByName function
for example) then you need to use late binding. Late binding is also useful to work
around compatibility problems between multiple versions of a component that has
improperly modified or adapted its interface between versions.

What is an Asssembly Qualified Name? Is it a filename? How is it different?

An assembly qualified name isn't the filename of the assembly; it's the internal name
of the assembly combined with the assembly version, culture, and public key, thus
making it unique.

e.g. (""System.Xml.XmlDocument, System.Xml, Version=1.0.3300.0, Culture=neutral,

PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089"")

How is a strongly-named assembly different from one that isn’t strongly-named?

Strong names are used to enable the stricter naming requirements associated with
shared assemblies. These strong names are created by a .NET utility – sn.exe

Strong names have three goals:

· Name uniqueness. Shared assemblies must have names that are globally unique.
· Prevent name spoofing. Developers don't want someone else releasing a subsequent
version of one of your assemblies and falsely claim it came from you, either by
accident or intentionally.
· Provide identity on reference. When resolving a reference to an assembly, strong
names are used to guarantee the assembly that is loaded came from the expected
publisher.

38
Strong names are implemented using standard public key cryptography. In general, the
process works as follows: The author of an assembly generates a key pair (or uses an
existing one), signs the file containing the manifest with the private key, and makes
the public key available to callers. When references are made to the assembly, the
caller records the public key corresponding to the private key used to generate the
strong name.

Weak named assemblies are not suitable to be added in GAC and shared. It is essential
for an assembly to be strong named.

Strong naming prevents tampering and enables assemblies to be placed in the GAC
alongside other assemblies of the same name.

How does the generational garbage collector in the .NET CLR manage object
lifetime? What is non-deterministic finalization?
The hugely simplistic version is that every time it garbage-collects, it starts by
assuming everything to be garbage, then goes through and builds a list of everything
reachable. Those become not-garbage, everything else doesn't, and gets thrown away.
What makes it generational is that every time an object goes through this process and
survives, it is noted as being a member of an older generation (up to 2, right now).
When the garbage-collector is trying to free memory, it starts with the lowest
generation (0) and only works up to higher ones if it can't free up enough space, on the
grounds that shorter-lived objects are more likely to have been freed than longer-lived
ones.

Non-deterministic finalization implies that the destructor (if any) of an object will not
necessarily be run (nor its memory cleaned up, but that's a relatively minor issue)
immediately upon its going out of scope. Instead, it will wait until first the garbage
collector gets around to finding it, and then the finalisation queue empties down to it;
and if the process ends before this happens, it may not be finalised at all. (Although
the operating system will usually clean up any process-external resources left open -
note the usually there, especially as the exceptions tend to hurt a lot.)

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

Dispose() is called by the user of an object to indicate that he is finished with it,
enabling that object to release any unmanaged resources it holds. Finalize() is called
by the run-time to allow an object which has not had Dispose() called on it to do the
same. However, Dispose() operates determinalistically, whereas there is no guarantee
that Finalize() will be called immediately when an object goes out of scope - or indeed
at all, if the program ends before that object is GCed - and as such Dispose() is
generally preferred.

How is the using() pattern useful? What is IDisposable? How does it support
deterministic finalization?
The using() pattern is useful because it ensures that Dispose() will always be called
when a disposable object (defined as one that implements IDisposable, and thus the
Dispose() method) goes out of scope, even if it does so by an exception being thrown,
and thus that resources are always released.

39
What does this useful command line do? tasklist /m "mscor*"
Lists all the applications and associated tasks/process currently running on the system
with a module whose name begins "mscor" loaded into them; which in nearly all cases
means "all the .NET processes".

What’s wrong with a line like this? DateTime.Parse(myString);

Therez nothing wrong with this declaration.Converts the specified string
representation of a date and time to its DateTime equivalent.But If the string is not a
valid DateTime,It throws an exception.

What are PDBs? Where must they be located for debugging to work?
A program database (PDB) files holds debugging and project state information that
allows incremental linking of debug configuration of your program.There are several
different types of symbolic debugging information. The default type for Microsoft
compiler is the so-called PDB file. The compiler setting for creating this file is /Zi, or
/ZI for C/C++(which creates a PDB file with additional information that enables a
feature called ""Edit and Continue"") or a Visual Basic/C#/JScript .NET program with
/debug.

A PDB file is a separate file, placed by default in the Debug project subdirectory, that
has the same name as the executable file with the extension .pdb. Note that the
Visual C++ compiler by default creates an additional PDB file called VC60.pdb for
VisulaC++6.0 and VC70.PDB file for VisulaC++7.0. The compiler creates this file during
compilation of the source code, when the compiler isn't aware of the final name of the
executable. The linker can merge this temporary PDB file into the main one if you tell
it to, but it won't do it by default. The PDB file can be useful to display the detailed
stack trace with source files and line numbers.

What is FullTrust? Do GAC’ed assemblies have FullTrust?

Before the .NET Framework existed, Windows had two levels of trust for downloaded
code. This old model was a binary trust model. You only had two choices: Full Trust,
and No Trust. The code could either do anything you could do, or it wouldn't run at all.

The permission sets in .NET include FullTrust, SkipVerification, Execution, Nothing,

LocalIntranet, Internet and Everything. Full Trust Grants unrestricted permissions to
system resources. Fully trusted code run by a normal, nonprivileged user cannot do
administrative tasks, but can access any resources the user can access, and do
anything the user can do. From a security standpoint, you can think of fully trusted
code as being similar to native, unmanaged code, like a traditional ActiveX control.
GAC assemblies are granted FullTrust. In v1.0 and 1.1, the fact that assemblies in the
GAC seem to always get a FullTrust grant is actually a side effect of the fact that the
GAC lives on the local machine. If anyone were to lock down the security policy by
changing the grant set of the local machine to something less than FullTrust, and if
your assembly did not get extra permission from some other code group, it would no
longer have FullTrust even though it lives in the GAC.

What does this do? gacutil /l | find /i "Corillian"

The Global Assembly Cache tool allows you to view and manipulate the contents of the
global assembly cache and download cache.The tool comes with various optional
params to do that.

40
""/l"" option Lists the contents of the global assembly cache. If you specify the
assemblyName parameter(/l [assemblyName]), the tool lists only the assemblies
matching that name.

What does this do .. sn -t foo.dll ?

Sn -t option displays the token for the public key stored in infile. The contents of infile
must be previously generated using -p.
Sn.exe computes the token using a hash function from the public key. To save space,
the common language runtime stores public key tokens in the manifest as part of a
reference to another assembly when it records a dependency to an assembly that has
a strong name. The -tp option displays the public key in addition to the token.

How do you generate a strong name?

.NET provides an utility called strong name tool. You can run this toolfrom the VS.NET
command prompt to generate a strong name with an option "-k" and providing the
strong key file name. i.e. sn- -k < file-name >

What is the difference between a Debug and Release build? Is there a significant speed
difference? Why or why not?
The Debug build is the program compiled with full symbolic debug information and no
optimization. The Release build is the program compiled employing optimization and
contains no symbolic debug information. These settings can be changed as per need
from Project Configuration properties. The release runs faster since it does not have
any debug symbols and is optimized.

Explain the use of virtual, sealed, override, and abstract.

Abstract: The keyword can be applied for a class or method.
1. Class: If we use abstract keyword for a class it makes the
class an abstract class, which means it cant be instantiated. Though
it is not nessacary to make all the method within the abstract class to be virtual. ie,
Abstract class can have concrete methods
2. Method: If we make a method as abstract, we dont need to provide implementation
of the method in the class but the derived class need to implement/override this
method.

Sealed: It can be applied on a class and methods. It stops the type from further
derivation i.e no one can derive class
from a sealed class,ie A sealed class cannot be inherited.A sealed class cannot be a
abstract class.A compile time error is thrown if you try to specify sealed class as a
base class.
When an instance method declaration includes a sealed modifier, that method is said
to be a sealed method. If an instance method declaration includes the sealed modifier,
it must also include the override modifier. Use of the sealed modifier prevents a
derived class from further overriding the method For Egs: sealed override public void
Sample() { Console.WriteLine("Sealed Method"); }

Virtual & Override: Virtual & Override keywords provides runtime polymorphism. A
base class can make some of its methods
as virtual which allows the derived class a chance to override the base class

41
implementation by using override keyword.

For e.g. class Shape

{
int a
public virtual void Display()
{
Console.WriteLine("Shape");
}
}

class Rectangle:Shape
{
public override void Display()
{
Console.WriteLine("Derived");
}
}

Explain the importance and use of each, Version, Culture and PublicKeyToken for
an assembly.
This three alongwith name of the assembly provide a strong name or fully qualified
name to the assembly. When a assebly is referenced with all three.

PublicKeyToken: Each assembly can have a public key embedded in its manifest that
identifies the developer. This ensures that once the assembly ships, no one can modify
the code or other resources contained in the assembly.

Culture: Specifies which culture the assembly supports

Version: The version number of the assembly.It is of the following form

major.minor.build.revision.

Explain the differences between public, protected, private and internal.

These all are access modifier and they governs the access level. They can be applied
to class, methods, fields.

Public: Allows class, methods, fields to be accessible from anywhere i.e. within and
outside an assembly.
Private: When applied to field and method allows to be accessible within a class.
Protected: Similar to private but can be accessed by members of derived class also.
Internal: They are public within the assembly i.e. they can be accessed by anyone
within an assembly but outside assembly they are not visible.

What is the difference between typeof(foo) and myFoo.GetType()?

Typeof is operator which applied to a object returns System.Type object. Typeof
cannot be overloaded white GetType has lot of overloads.GetType is a method which
also returns System.Type of an object. GetType is used to get the runtime type of the
object.

42
Example from MSDN showing Gettype used to retrive type at untime:-

public class MyBaseClass: Object {

}

public class MyDerivedClass: MyBaseClass {

}

public class Test {

public static void Main() {

MyBaseClass myBase = new MyBaseClass();
MyDerivedClass myDerived = new MyDerivedClass();
object o = myDerived;
MyBaseClass b = myDerived;

Console.WriteLine("mybase: Type is {0}", myBase.GetType());

Console.WriteLine("myDerived: Type is {0}", myDerived.GetType());
Console.WriteLine("object o = myDerived: Type is {0}", o.GetType());
Console.WriteLine("MyBaseClass b = myDerived: Type is {0}", b.GetType());
}
}

/*

This code produces the following output.

mybase: Type is MyBaseClass

myDerived: Type is MyDerivedClass
object o = myDerived: Type is MyDerivedClass
MyBaseClass b = myDerived: Type is MyDerivedClass

*/

Can "this" be used within a static method?

No 'This' cannot be used in a static method. As only static variables/methods can be
used in a static method.

What is the purpose of XML Namespaces?

An XML Namespace is a collection of element types and attribute names. It consists of
2 parts
1) The first part is the URI used to identify the namespace
2) The second part is the element type or attribute name itself.
Together they form a unique name. The various purpose of XML Namespace are

1. Combine fragments from different documents without any naming conflicts. (See
example below.)
2. Write reusable code modules that can be invoked for specific elements and

43
attributes. Universally unique names guarantee that
such modules are invoked only for the correct elements and attributes.
3. Define elements and attributes that can be reused in other schemas or instance
documents without fear of name collisions. For
example, you might use XHTML elements in a parts catalog to provide part
descriptions. Or you might use the nil attribute
defined in XML Schemas to indicate a missing value.

< Department >

< Name >DVS1< /Name >
< addr:Address xmlns:addr="http://www.tu-darmstadt.de/ito/addresses" >
< addr:Street >Wilhelminenstr. 7< /addr:Street >
< addr:City >Darmstadt< /addr:City >
< addr:State >Hessen< /addr:State >
< addr:Country >Germany< /addr:Country >
< addr:PostalCode >D-64285< /addr:PostalCode >
< /addr:Address >
< serv:Server xmlns:serv="http://www.tu-darmstadt.de/ito/servers" >
< serv:Name >OurWebServer< /serv:Name >
< serv:Address >123.45.67.8< /serv:Address >
< /serv:Server >
< /Department >

What is difference between MetaData and Manifest ?

Metadata and Manifest forms an integral part of an assembly( dll / exe ) in .net
framework .
Out of which Metadata is a mandatory component , which as the name suggests gives
the details about various components of IL code viz : Methods , properties , fields ,
class etc.

Essentially Metadata maintains details in form of tables like Methods Metadata tables ,
Properties Metadata tables , which maintains the list of given type and other details
like access specifier , return type etc.

Now Manifest is a part of metadata only , fully called as “manifest metadata tables” ,
it contains the details of the references needed by the assembly of any other external
assembly / type , it could be a custom assembly or standard System namespace .

Now for an assembly that can independently exists and used in the .Net world both the
things ( Metadata with Manifest ) are mandatory , so that it can be fully described
assembly and can be ported anywhere without any system dependency . Essentially
.Net framework can read all assembly related information from assembly itself at
runtime .

But for .Net modules , that can’t be used independently , until they are being
packaged as a part of an assembly , they don’t contain Manifest but their complete
structure is defined by their respective metadata .

Ultimately . .Net modules use Manifest Metadata tables of parent assembly which
contain them .

44
What is the use of Internal keyword?
Internal keyword is one of the access specifier available in .Net framework , that
makes a type visible in a given assembly , for e.g : a single dll can contain multiple
modules , essentially a multi file assembly , but it forms a single binary component ,
so any type with internal keyword will be visible throughout the assembly and can be
used in any of the modules .

What actually happes when you add a something to arraylistcollection ?

Following things will happen :

Arraylist is a dynamic array class in c# in System.Collections namespace derived from

interfaces – ICollection , IList , ICloneable , IConvertible . It terms of in memory
structure following is the implementation .

a. Check up the total space if there’s any free space on the declared list .
b. If yes add the new item and increase count by 1 .
c. If No Copy the whole thing to a temporary Array of Last Max. Size .
d. Create new Array with size ( Last Array Size + Increase Value )
e. Copy back values from temp and reference this new array as original array .
f. Must doing Method updates too , need to check it up .

What is Boxing and unboxing? Does it occure automaatically or u need to write

code to box and unbox?
Boxing – Process of converting a System.ValueType to Reference Type , Mostly base
class System.Object type and allocating it memory on Heap .Reverse is unboxing , but
can only be done with prior boxed variables.

Boxing is always implicit but Unboxing needs to be explicitly done via casting , thus
ensuring the value type contained inside .

How Boxing and unboxing occures in memory?

Boxing converts value type to reference type , thus allocating memory on Heap .
Unboxing converts already boxed reference types to value types through explicit
casting , thus allocating memory on stack .

Why only boxed types can be unboxed?

Unboxing is the process of converting a Reference type variable to Value type and thus
allocating memory on the stack . It happens only to those Reference type variables
that have been earlier created by Boxing of a Value Type , therefore internally they
contain a value type , which can be obtained through explicit casting . For any other
Reference type , they don’t internally contain a Value type to Unboxed via explicit
casting . This is why only boxed types can be unboxed .

45
2. WinForms FAQ :

What base class do all Web Forms inherit from?

System.Windows.Forms.Form

What is the difference between Debug.Write and Trace.Write? When should each
be used?
The Debug.Write call won't be compiled when the DEBUGsymbol is not defined (when
doing a release build). Trace.Write calls will be compiled. Debug.Write is for
information you want only in debug builds, Trace.Write is for when you want it in
release build as well.

Difference between Anchor and Dock Properties?

Dock Property->Gets or sets which edge of the parent container a control is docked to.
A control can be docked to one edge of its parent container or can be docked to all
edges and fill the parent container. For example, if you set this property to
DockStyle.Left, the left edge of the
control will be docked to the left edge of its parent control. Additionally, the docked
edge of the control is resized to match that of its container
control.
Anchor Property->Gets or sets which edges of the control are anchored to the edges of
its container. A control can be anchored to one or more edges of its parent container.
Anchoring a control to its parent ensures that the anchored edges remain in the same
position relative to the edges of the parent container when the parent container is
resized.

When would you use ErrorProvider control?

ErrorProvider control is used in Windows Forms application. It is like Validation Control
for ASP.NET pages. ErrorProvider control is used to provide validations in Windows
forms and display user friendly messages to the user if the validation fails.
E.g
If we went to validate the textBox1 should be empty, then we can validate as below
1). You need to place the errorprovide control on the form
private void textBox1_Validating(object sender,
System.ComponentModel.CancelEventArgs e)
{
ValidateName();
}
private bool ValidateName()
{
bool bStatus = true;
if (textBox1.Text == "")
{
errorProvider1.SetError (textBox1,"Please enter your Name");
bStatus = false;
}
else
errorProvider1.SetError (textBox1,"");

46
return bStatus;
}
it check the textBox1 is empty . If it is empty, then a message Please enter your name
is displayed.

Can you write a class without specifying namespace? Which namespace does it
belong to by default??
Yes, you can, then the class belongs to global namespace which has no name. For
commercial products, naturally, you wouldn't want global namespace.

You are designing a GUI application with a windows and several widgets on it. The
user then resizes the app window and sees a lot of grey space, while the widgets
stay in place. What's the problem?
One should use anchoring for correct resizing. Otherwise the default property of a
widget on a form is top-left, so it stays at the same location when resized.

How can you save the desired properties of Windows Forms application?
.config files in .NET are supported through the API to allow storing and retrieving
information. They are nothing more than simple XML files, sort of like what .ini files
were before for Win32 apps.

So how do you retrieve the customized properties of a .NET application from XML
.config file?
Initialize an instance of AppSettingsReader class. Call the GetValue method of
AppSettingsReader class, passing in the name of the property and the type expected.
Assign the result to the appropriate variable.

Can you automate this process?

In Visual Studio yes, use Dynamic Properties for automatic .config creation, storage
and retrieval.

My progress bar freezes up and dialog window shows blank, when an intensive
background process takes over.
Yes, you should've multi-threaded your GUI, with taskbar and main form being one
thread, and the background process being the other.

What's the safest way to deploy a Windows Forms app?

Web deployment: the user always downloads the latest version of the code, the
program runs within security sandbox, properly written app will not require additional
security privileges.

Why is it not a good idea to insert code into InitializeComponent method when
working with Visual Studio?
The designer will likely through it away, most of the code inside InitializeComponent is
auto-generated.

What's the difference between WindowsDefaultLocation and

WindowsDefaultBounds?
WindowsDefaultLocation tells the form to start up at a location selected by OS, but

47
with internally specified size. WindowsDefaultBounds delegates both size and starting
position choices to the OS.

What's the difference between Move and LocationChanged? Resize and

SizeChanged?
Both methods do the same, Move and Resize are the names adopted from VB to ease
migration to C#.

How would you create a non-rectangular window, let's say an ellipse?

Create a rectangular form, set the TransparencyKey property to the same value as
BackColor, which will effectively make the background of the form transparent. Then
set the FormBorderStyle to FormBorderStyle.None, which will remove the contour and
contents of the form.

How do you create a separator in the Menu Designer?

A hyphen '-' would do it. Also, an ampersand '&\' would underline the next letter.

How's anchoring different from docking?

Anchoring treats the component as having the absolute size and adjusts its location
relative to the parent form. Docking treats the component location as absolute and
disregards the component size. So if a status bar must always be at the bottom no
matter what, use docking. If a button should be on the top right, but change its
position with the form being resized, use anchoring.

How do you trigger the Paint event in System.Drawing?

Invalidate the current form, the OS will take care of repainting. The Update method
forces the repaint.

With these events, why wouldn't Microsoft combine Invalidate and Paint, so that
you wouldn't have to tell it to repaint, and then to force it to repaint?
Painting is the slowest thing the OS does, so usually telling it to repaint, but not
forcing it allows for the process to take place in the background.

How can you assign an RGB color to a System.Drawing.Color object?

Call the static method FromArgb of this class and pass it the RGB values.

What class does Icon derive from?

Isn't it just a Bitmap with a wrapper name around it? No, Icon lives in System.Drawing
namespace. It's not a Bitmap by default, and is treated separately by .NET. However,
you can use ToBitmap method to get a valid Bitmap object from a valid Icon object.

Before in my VB app I would just load the icons from DLL. How can I load the icons
provided by .NET dynamically?
By using System.Drawing.SystemIcons class, for example
System.Drawing.SystemIcons.Warning produces an Icon with a warning sign in it.

When displaying fonts, what's the difference between pixels, points and ems?
A pixel is the lowest-resolution dot the computer monitor supports. Its size depends on
user's settings and monitor size. A point is always 1/72 of an inch. An em is the number
of pixels that it takes to display the letter M.

48
3. ASP.NET FAQ's

What is view state and use of it?

The current property settings of an ASP.NET page and those of any ASP.NET server
controls contained within the page. ASP.NET can detect when a form is requested for
the first time versus when the form is posted (sent to the server), which allows you to
program accordingly.

What are user controls and custom controls?

Custom controls:
A control authored by a user or a third-party software vendor that does not belong to
the .NET Framework class library. This is a generic term that includes user controls.
A custom server control is used in Web Forms (ASP.NET pages). A custom client control
is used in Windows Forms applications.

User Controls:
In ASP.NET: A user-authored server control that enables an ASP.NET page to be re-used
as a server control. An ASP.NET user control is authored declaratively and persisted as
a text file with an .ascx extension. The ASP.NET page framework compiles a user
control on the fly to a class that derives from the System.Web.UI.UserControl
class.

What are the validation controls?

A set of server controls included with ASP.NET that test user input in HTML and Web
server controls for programmer-defined requirements. Validation controls perform
input checking in server code. If the user is working with a browser that supports
DHTML, the validation controls can also perform validation using client script.

What's the difference between Response.Write() andResponse.Output.Write()?

The latter one allows you to write formattedoutput.

What methods are fired during the page load? Init()

When the page is instantiated, Load() - when the page is loaded into server
memory,PreRender () - the brief moment before the page is displayed to the user as
HTML, Unload() - when page finishes loading.

Where does the Web page belong in the .NET Framework class hierarchy?
System.Web.UI.Page

Where do you store the information about the user's locale?

System.Web.UI.Page.Culture

What's the difference between Codebehind="MyCode.aspx.cs" and

Src="MyCode.aspx.cs"?
CodeBehind is relevant to Visual Studio.NET only.

What's a bubbled event?

When you have a complex control, likeDataGrid, writing an event processing routine
for each object (cell, button,row, etc.) is quite tedious. The controls can bubble up

49
their eventhandlers, allowing the main DataGrid event handler to take care of its
constituents.
Suppose you want a certain ASP.NET function executed on MouseOver over a certain
button.

Where do you add an event handler?

It's the Attributesproperty, the Add function inside that property.
e.g. btnSubmit.Attributes.Add("onMouseOver","someClientCode();")

What data type does the RangeValidator control support?

Integer,String and Date.

What are the different types of caching?

Caching is a technique widely used in computing to increase performance by
keeping frequently accessed or expensive data in memory. In context of web
application, caching is used to retain the pages or data across HTTP requests and reuse
them without the expense of recreating them.ASP.NET has 3 kinds of caching
strategiesOutput CachingFragment CachingData

CachingOutput Caching: Caches the dynamic output generated by a request. Some

times it is useful to cache the output of a website even for a minute, which will result
in a better performance. For caching the whole page the page should have
OutputCache directive.<%@ OutputCache Duration="60" VaryByParam="state" %>

Fragment Caching: Caches the portion of the page generated by the request. Some
times it is not practical to cache the entire page, in such cases we can cache a portion
of page<%@ OutputCache Duration="120" VaryByParam="CategoryID;SelectedID"%>

Data Caching: Caches the objects programmatically. For data caching asp.net
provides a cache object for eg: cache["States"] = dsStates;

What do you mean by authentication and authorization?

Authentication is the process of validating a user on the credentials (username and
password) and authorization performs after authentication. After Authentication a user
will be verified for performing the various tasks, It access is limited it is known as
authorization.

What are different types of directives in .NET?

@Page: Defines page-specific attributes used by the ASP.NET page parser and compiler.
Can be included only in .aspx files <%@ Page AspCompat="TRUE" language="C#" %>
@Control:Defines control-specific attributes used by the ASP.NET page parser and
compiler. Can be included only in .ascx files. <%@ Control Language="VB"
EnableViewState="false" %>
@Import: Explicitly imports a namespace into a page or user control. The Import
directive cannot have more than one namespace attribute. To import multiple
namespaces, use multiple @Import directives. <% @ Import
Namespace="System.web" %>
@Implements: Indicates that the current page or user control implements the
specified .NET framework interface.<%@ Implements
Interface="System.Web.UI.IPostBackEventHandler" %>

50
@Register: Associates aliases with namespaces and class names for concise notation in
custom server control syntax.<%@ Register Tagprefix="Acme" Tagname="AdRotator"
Src="AdRotator.ascx" %>
@Assembly: Links an assembly to the current page during compilation, making all
the assembly's classes and interfaces available for use on the page. <%@
Assembly Name="MyAssembly" %><%@ Assembly Src="MySource.vb" %>
@OutputCache: Declaratively controls the output caching policies of an ASP.NET page
or a user control contained in a page<%@ OutputCache Duration="#ofseconds"
Location="Any | Client | Downstream | Server | None" Shared="True | False"
VaryByControl="controlname" VaryByCustom="browser | customstring"
VaryByHeader="headers" VaryByParam="parametername" %>
@Reference: Declaratively indicates that another user control or page source file
should be dynamically compiled and linked against the page in which this
directive is declared.

How do I debug an ASP.NET application that wasn't written with Visual Studio.NET
and that doesn't use code-behind?
Start the DbgClr debugger that comes with the .NET Framework SDK, open the file
containing the code you want to debug, and set your breakpoints. Start the ASP.NET
application. Go back to DbgClr, choose Debug Processes from the Tools menu, and
select aspnet_wp.exe from the list of processes. (If aspnet_wp.exe doesn't appear in
the list,check the "Show system processes" box.) Click the Attach button to attach
to aspnet_wp.exe and begin debugging.
Be sure to enable debugging in the ASPX file before debugging it with DbgClr. You can
enable tell ASP.NET to build debug executables by placing a
<%@ Page Debug="true" %> statement at the top of an ASPX file or a <COMPILATION
debug="true" />statement in a Web.config file.

Can a user browsing my Web site read my Web.config or Global.asax files?

No. The <HTTPHANDLERS>section of Machine.config, which holds the master
configuration settings for ASP.NET, contains entries that map ASAX files, CONFIG files,
and selected other file types to an HTTP handler named HttpForbiddenHandler, which
fails attempts to retrieve the associated file. You can modify it by editing
Machine.config or including an section in a local Web.config file.

What's the difference between Page.RegisterClientScriptBlock and

Page.RegisterStartupScript?
RegisterClientScriptBlock is for returning blocks of client-side script
containing functions. RegisterStartupScript is for returning blocks of client-script not
packaged in functions-in other words, code that's to execute when the page is
loaded. The latter positions script blocks near the end of the document so elements on
the page that the script interacts are loaded before the script runs.<%@ Reference
Control="MyControl.ascx" %>

Is it necessary to lock application state before accessing it?

Only if you're performing a multistep update and want the update to be treated as an
atomic operation. Here's an example:
Application.Lock ();
Application["ItemsSold"] = (int) Application["ItemsSold"] + 1;
Application["ItemsLeft"] = (int) Application["ItemsLeft"] - 1;

51
 Application.UnLock ();
By locking application state before updating it and unlocking it afterwards, you
ensure that another request being processed on another thread doesn't read
application state at exactly the wrong time and see an inconsistent view of it. If I
update session state, should I lock it, too? Are concurrent accesses by multiple
requests executing on multiple threads a concern with session state?
Concurrent accesses aren't an issue with session state, for two reasons. One, it's
unlikely that two requests from the same user will overlap. Two, if they do overlap,
ASP.NET locks down session state during request processing so that two threads can't
touch it at once. Session state is locked down when the HttpApplication instance that's
processing the request fires an AcquireRequestState event and unlocked when it fires a
ReleaseRequestState event.

Do ASP.NET forms authentication cookies provide any protection against replay attacks?
Do they, for example, include the client's IP address or anything else that would
distinguish the real client from an attacker?
No. If an authentication cookie is stolen, it can be used by an attacker. It's up to you
to prevent this from happening by using an encrypted communications channel
(HTTPS). Authentication cookies issued as session cookies, do, however,include a time-
out valid that limits their lifetime. So a stolen session cookie can only be used in
replay attacks as long as the ticket inside the cookie is valid. The default time-out
interval is 30 minutes.You can change that by modifying the timeout attribute
accompanying the <forms> element in Machine.config or a local Web.config file.
Persistent authentication cookies do not time-out and therefore are a more serious
security threat if stolen.

How do I send e-mail from an ASP.NET application?

MailMessage message = new MailMessage ();

message.From = <email>;
message.To = <email>;
message.Subject = "Scheduled Power Outage";
message.Body = "Our servers will be down tonight.";
SmtpMail.SmtpServer = "localhost";
SmtpMail.Send (message);

MailMessage and SmtpMail are classes defined in the .NET Framework Class Library's
System.Web.Mail namespace. Due to a security change made to ASP.NET just before it
shipped, you need to set SmtpMail's SmtpServer property to "localhost" even though
"localhost" is the default. In addition, you must use the IIS configuration applet to
enable localhost (127.0.0.1) to relay messages through the local SMTP service.

What are VSDISCO files?

VSDISCO files are DISCO files that support dynamic discovery of Web services. If you
place the following VSDISCO file in a directory on your Web server, for example, it
returns references to all ASMX and DISCO files in the host directory and any
subdirectories not noted in <exclude> elements:
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<dynamicDiscovery

52
 xmlns="urn:schemas-dynamicdiscovery:disco.2000-03-17">
<exclude path="_vti_cnf" />
<exclude path="_vti_pvt" />
<exclude path="_vti_log" />
<exclude path="_vti_script" />
<exclude path="_vti_txt" />
</dynamicDiscovery>

How does dynamic discovery work?

ASP.NET maps the file name extension VSDISCO to an HTTP handler that scans the host
directory and subdirectories for ASMX and DISCO files and returns a dynamically
generated DISCO document. A client who requests a VSDISCO file gets back what
appears to be a static DISCO document.
Note that VSDISCO files are disabled in the release version of ASP.NET. You can
reenable them by uncommenting the line in the <httpHandlers> section of
Machine.config that maps *.vsdisco to
System.Web.Services.Discovery.DiscoveryRequestHandler and granting the ASPNET
user account permission to read the IIS metabase. However, Microsoft is actively
discouraging the use of VSDISCO files because they could represent a threat to Web
server security.

Is it possible to prevent a browser from caching an ASPX page?

Just call SetNoStore on the HttpCachePolicy object exposed through the Response
object's Cache property, as demonstrated here:

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>

<html>
<body>
<%
Response.Cache.SetNoStore ();
Response.Write (DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString ());
%>
</body>
</html>

SetNoStore works by returning a Cache-Control: private, no-store header in the HTTP

response. In this example, it prevents caching of a Web page that shows the current
time.

What does AspCompat="true" mean and when should I use it?

AspCompat is an aid in migrating ASP pages to ASPX pages. It defaults to false but
should be set to true in any ASPX file that creates apartment-threaded COM objects--
that is, COM objects registered ThreadingModel=Apartment. That includes all COM
objects written with Visual Basic 6.0. AspCompat should also be set to true (regardless
of threading model) if the page creates COM objects that access intrinsic ASP objects
such as Request and Response. The following directive sets AspCompat to true:

<%@ Page AspCompat="true" %>

53
Setting AspCompat to true does two things. First, it makes intrinsic ASP objects
available to the COM components by placing unmanaged wrappers around the
equivalent ASP.NET objects. Second, it improves the performance of calls that the
page places to apartment- threaded COM objects by ensuring that the page (actually,
the thread that processes the request for the page) and the COM objects it creates
share an apartment. AspCompat="true" forces ASP.NET request threads into single-
threaded apartments (STAs). If those threads create COM objects marked
ThreadingModel=Apartment, then the objects are created in the same STAs as the
threads that created them. Without AspCompat="true," request threads run in a
multithreaded apartment (MTA) and each call to an STA-based COM object incurs a
performance hit when it's marshaled across apartment boundaries.

Do not set AspCompat to true if your page uses no COM objects or if it uses COM
objects that don't access ASP intrinsic objects and that are registered
ThreadingModel=Free or ThreadingModel=Both.

Explain the differences between Server-side and Client-side code?

Server side scripting means that all the script will be executed by the server and
interpreted as needed. ASP doesn't have some of the functionality like sockets,
uploading, etc. For these you have to make a custom components usually in VB or
VC++. Client side scripting means that the script will be executed immediately in the
browser such as form field validation, clock, email validation, etc. Client side scripting
is usually done in VBScript or JavaScript. Download time, browser compatibility, and
visible code - since JavaScript and VBScript code is included in the HTML page, then
anyone can see the code by viewing the page source. Also a possible security hazards
for the client computer.

What type of code (server or client) is found in a Code-Behind class?

C#

Should validation (did the user enter a real date) occur server-side or client-side?
Why?
Client-side validation because there is no need to request a server side date when you
could obtain a date from the client machine.

What are ASP.NET Web Forms? How is this technology different than what is
available though ASP?
Web Forms are the heart and soul of ASP.NET. Web Forms are the User Interface (UI)
elements that give your Web applications their look and feel. Web Forms are similar to
Windows Forms in that they provide properties, methods, and events for the controls
that are placed onto them. However, these UI elements render themselves in the
appropriate markup language required by the request, e.g. HTML. If you use
Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, you will also get the familiar drag-and-drop interface
used to create your UI for your Web application.

What is the difference between Server.Transfer and Response.Redirect? Why would

I choose one over the other?
In earlier versions of IIS, if we wanted to send a user to a new Web page, the only
option we had was Response.Redirect. While this method does accomplish our goal, it
has several important drawbacks. The biggest problem is that this method causes each

54
page to be treated as a separate transaction. Besides making it difficult to maintain
your transactional integrity, Response.Redirect introduces some additional
headaches. First, it prevents good encapsulation of code. Second, you lose access to
all of the properties in the Request object. Sure, there are workarounds, but they're
difficult. Finally, Response.Redirect necessitates a round trip to the client, which, on
high-volume sites, causes scalability problems.
As you might suspect, Server.Transfer fixes all of these problems. It does this by
performing the transfer on the server without requiring a roundtrip to the client.

How can you provide an alternating color scheme in a Repeater control?

AlternatingItemTemplate Like the ItemTemplate element, but rendered for every
other row (alternating items) in the Repeater control. You can specify a different
appearance for the AlternatingItemTemplate element by setting its style properties.

Which template must you provide, in order to display data in a Repeater control?
ItemTemplate

What event handlers can I include in Global.asax?

Application_Start,Application_End, Application_AcquireRequestState,
Application_AuthenticateRequest, Application_AuthorizeRequest,
Application_BeginRequest, Application_Disposed, Application_EndRequest,
Application_Error, Application_PostRequestHandlerExecute,
Application_PreRequestHandlerExecute,
Application_PreSendRequestContent, Application_PreSendRequestHeaders,
Application_ReleaseRequestState, Application_ResolveRequestCache,
Application_UpdateRequestCache, Session_Start,Session_End
You can optionally include "On" in any of method names. For example, you can name a
BeginRequest event handler.Application_BeginRequest or
Application_OnBeginRequest.You can also include event handlers in Global.asax for
events fired by custom HTTP modules.Note that not all of the event handlers make
sense for Web Services (they're designed for ASP.NET applications in general, whereas
.NET XML Web Services are specialized instances of an ASP.NET app). For example, the
Application_AuthenticateRequest and Application_AuthorizeRequest events are
designed to be used with ASP.NET Forms authentication.

What is different b/w webconfig.xml & Machineconfig.xml

Web.config & machine.config both are configuration files.Web.config contains settings
specific to an application where as machine.config contains settings to a computer.
The Configuration system first searches settings in machine.config file & then looks in
application configuration files.Web.config, can appear in multiple directories on an
ASP.NET Web application server. Each Web.config file applies configuration settings to
its own directory and all child directories below it. There is only Machine.config file on
a web server.

If I'm developing an application that must accomodate multiple security levels though
secure login and my ASP.NET web appplication is spanned across three web-servers
(using round-robbin load balancing) what would be the best approach to maintain
login-in state for the users?
Use the state server or store the state in the database. This can be easily done
through simple setting change in the web.config.

55
<SESSIONSTATE
StateConnectionString="tcpip=127.0.0.1:42424"
sqlConnectionString="data source=127.0.0.1; user id=sa; password="
cookieless="false"
timeout="30"
/>

You can specify mode as “stateserver” or “sqlserver”.

Where would you use an iHTTPModule, and what are the limitations of any approach
you might take in implementing one
"One of ASP.NET's most useful features is the extensibility of the HTTP pipeline, the
path that data takes between client and server. You can use them to extend your
ASP.NET applications by adding pre- and post-processing to each HTTP request coming
into your application. For example, if you wanted custom authentication facilities for
your application, the best technique would be to intercept the request when it comes
in and process the request in a custom HTTP module.

How do you turn off cookies for one page in your site?
Since no Page Level directive is present, I am afraid that cant be done.

How do you create a permanent cookie?

Permanent cookies are available until a specified expiration date, and are stored on
the hard disk.So Set the 'Expires' property any value greater than DataTime.MinValue
with respect to the current datetime. If u want the cookie which never expires set its
Expires property equal to DateTime.maxValue.

Which method do you use to redirect the user to another page without performing
a round trip to the client?
Server.Transfer and Server.Execute

What property do you have to set to tell the grid which page to go to when using
the Pager object?
CurrentPageIndex

Should validation (did the user enter a real date) occur server-side or client-side?
Why?
It should occur both at client-side and Server side.By using expression validator control
with the specified expression ie.. the regular expression provides the facility of only
validatating the date specified is in the correct format or not. But for checking the
date where it is the real data or not should be done at the server side, by getting the
system date ranges and checking the date whether it is in between that range or not.

What does the "EnableViewState" property do? Why would I want it on or off?
Enable ViewState turns on the automatic state management feature that enables
server controls to re-populate their values on a round trip without requiring you to
write any code. This feature is not free however, since the state of a control is passed
to and from the server in a hidden form field. You should be aware of when ViewState
is helping you and when it is not. For example, if you are binding a control to data on
every round trip, then you do not need the control to maintain it's view state, since

56
you will wipe out any re-populated data in any case. ViewState is enabled for all
server controls by default. To disable it, set the EnableViewState property of the
control to false.

What is the difference between Server.Transfer and Response.Redirect? Why would

I choose one over the other?
Server.Transfer() : client is shown as it is on the requesting page only, but the all the
content is of the requested page. Data can be persist accros the pages using
Context.Item collection, which is one of the best way to transfer data from one page
to another keeping the page state alive.

Response.Dedirect() :client know the physical location (page name and query string as
well). Context.Items loses the persisitance when nevigate to destination page. In
earlier versions of IIS, if we wanted to send a user to a new Web page, the only option
we had was Response.Redirect. While this method does accomplish our goal, it has
several important drawbacks. The biggest problem is that this method causes each
page to be treated as a separate transaction. Besides making it difficult to maintain
your transactional integrity, Response.Redirect introduces some additional headaches.
First, it prevents good encapsulation of code. Second, you lose access to all of the
properties in the Request object. Sure, there are workarounds, but they're difficult.
Finally, Response.Redirect necessitates a round trip to the client, which, on high-
volume sites, causes scalability problems. As you might suspect, Server.Transfer fixes
all of these problems. It does this by performing the transfer on the server without
requiring a roundtrip to the client.

Can you give an example of when it would be appropriate to use a web service as
opposed to a non-serviced .NET component?

• Communicating through a Firewall When building a distributed application with

100s/1000s of users spread over multiple locations, there is always the problem
of communicating between client and server because of firewalls and proxy
servers. Exposing your middle tier components as Web Services and invoking
the directly from a Windows UI is a very valid option.
• Application Integration When integrating applications written in various
languages and running on disparate systems. Or even applications running on
the same platform that have been written by separate vendors.
• Business-to-Business Integration This is an enabler for B2B intergtation which
allows one to expose vital business processes to authorized supplier and
customers. An example would be exposing electronic ordering and invoicing,
allowing customers to send you purchase orders and suppliers to send you
invoices electronically.
• Software Reuse This takes place at multiple levels. Code Reuse at the Source
code level or binary componet-based resuse. The limiting factor here is that
you can reuse the code but not the data behind it. Webservice overcome this
limitation. A scenario could be when you are building an app that aggregates
the functionality of serveral other Applicatons. Each of these functions could
be performed by individual apps, but there is value in perhaps combining the
the multiple apps to present a unifiend view in a Portal or Intranet.

57
 • When not to use Web Services: Single machine Applicatons When the apps are
running on the same machine and need to communicate with each other use a
native API. You also have the options of using component technologies such as
COM or .NET Componets as there is very little overhead.
• Homogeneous Applications on a LAN If you have Win32 or Winforms apps that
want to communicate to their server counterpart. It is much more efficient to
use DCOM in the case of Win32 apps and .NET Remoting in the case of .NET
Apps

Can you give an example of what might be best suited to place in the
Application_Start and Session_Start subroutines?
The Application_Start event is guaranteed to occur only once throughout the lifetime
of the application. It's a good place to initialize global variables. For example, you
might want to retrieve a list of products from a database table and place the list in
application state or the Cache object. SessionStateModule exposes both Session_Start
and Session_End events.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of viewstate?

The primary advantages of the ViewState feature in ASP.NET are:

1. Simplicity. There is no need to write possibly complex code to store form data
between page submissions.
2. Flexibility. It is possible to enable, configure, and disable ViewState on a control-by-
control basis, choosing to persist the values of some fields but not others.

There are, however a few disadvantages that are worth pointing out:

1. Does not track across pages. ViewState information does not automatically transfer
from page to page. With the session
approach, values can be stored in the session and accessed from other pages. This is
not possible with ViewState, so storing
data into the session must be done explicitly.

2. ViewState is not suitable for transferring data for back-end systems. That is, data
still has to be transferred to the back
end using some form of data object.

Describe session handling in a webfarm, how does it work and what are the limits?
ASP.NET Session supports storing of session data in 3 ways, i] in In-Process ( in the
same memory that ASP.NET uses) , ii] out-of-process using Windows NT Service )in
separate memory from ASP.NET ) or iii] in SQL Server (persistent storage). Both the
Windows Service and SQL Server solution support a webfarm scenario where all the
web-servers can be configured to share common session state store.

1. Windows Service :
We can start this service by Start | Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services | .
In that we service names ASP.NET State Service. We can start or stop service by
manually or configure to start automatically. Then we have to configure our
web.config file

58
<CONFIGURATION><configuration>
<system.web>
<SessionState
mode = “StateServer”
stateConnectionString = “tcpip=127.0.0.1:42424”
stateNetworkTimeout = “10”
sqlConnectionString=”data source = 127.0.0.1; uid=sa;pwd=”
cookieless =”Flase”
timeout= “20” />
</system.web>
</configuration> </SYSTEM.WEB>
</CONFIGURATION>
Here ASP.Net Session is directed to use Windows Service for state management on local
server (address : 127.0.0.1 is TCP/IP loop-back address). The default port is 42424. we
can configure to any port but for that we have to manually edit the registry.
Follow these simple steps
- In a webfarm make sure you have the same config file in all your web servers.
- Also make sure your objects are serializable.
- For session state to be maintained across different web servers in the webfarm, the
application path of the web-site in the IIS Metabase should be identical in all the web-
servers in the webfarm.

Which template must you provide, in order to display data in a Repeater control?
You have to use the ItemTemplate to Display data. Syntax is as follows,
< ItemTemplate >
< div class =”rItem” >
< img src=”images/<%# Container.DataItem(“ImageURL”)%>” hspace=”10” />
< b > <% # Container.DataItem(“Title”)%>
< /div >
< ItemTemplate >

How can you provide an alternating color scheme in a Repeater control?

Using the AlternatintItemTemplate

What property must you set, and what method must you call in your code, in order
to bind the data from some data source to the Repeater control?
Set the DataMember property to the name of the table to bind to. (If this property is
not set, by default the first table in the dataset is used.)
DataBind method, use this method to bind data from a source to a server control. This
method is commonly used after retrieving a data set through a database query.

What method do you use to explicitly kill a user s session?

You can dump (Kill) the session yourself by calling the method Session.Abandon.

ASP.NET automatically deletes a user's Session object, dumping its contents, after it
has been idle for a configurable timeout interval. This interval, in minutes, is set in
the <SESSIONSTATE>section of the web.config file. The default is 20 minutes.

59
How do you turn off cookies for one page in your site?
Use Cookie.Discard property, Gets or sets the discard flag set by the server. When
true, this property instructs the client application not to save the Cookie on the user's
hard disk when a session ends.

Which two properties are on every validation control?

We have two common properties for every validation controls
1. Control to Validate,
2. Error Message.

What tags do you need to add within the asp:datagrid tags to bind columns
manually?

< asp:DataGrid id="dgCart" AutoGenerateColumns="False" CellPadding="4"

Width="448px" runat="server" >
< Columns >
< asp:ButtonColumn HeaderText="SELECT" Text="SELECT" CommandName="select" ><
/asp:ButtonColumn >
< asp:BoundColumn DataField="ProductId" HeaderText="Product ID" ><
/asp:BoundColumn >
< asp:BoundColumn DataField="ProductName" HeaderText="Product Name" ><
/asp:BoundColumn >
< asp:BoundColumn DataField="UnitPrice" HeaderText="UnitPrice" ><
/asp:BoundColumn >
< /Columns >
< /asp:DataGrid >

How do you create a permanent cookie?

Permanent cookies are the ones that are most useful. Permanent cookies are available
until a specified expiration date, and are stored on the hard disk. The location of
cookies differs with each browser, but this doesn’t matter, as this is all handled by
your browser and the server. If you want to create a permanent cookie called Name
with a value of Nigel, which expires in one month, you’d use the following code
Response.Cookies ("Name") = "Nigel"
Response.Cookies ("Name"). Expires = DateAdd ("m", 1, Now ())

What tag do you use to add a hyperlink column to the DataGrid?

< asp:HyperLinkColumn > </ asp:HyperLinkColumn>

Which method do you use to redirect the user to another page without performing
a round trip to the client?
Server.transfer

What is the transport protocol you use to call a Web service SOAP ?
HTTP Protocol

Explain role based security ?

Role Based Security lets you identify groups of users to allow or deny based on their
role in the organization.In Windows NT and Windows XP, roles map to names used to
identify user groups. Windows defines several built-in groups, including Administrators,

60
Users, and Guests.To allow or deny access to certain groups of users, add the
<ROLES>element to the authorization list in your Web application's Web.config file.e.g.
<AUTHORIZATION>< authorization >
< allow roles="Domain Name\Administrators" / > < !-- Allow Administrators in
domain. -- >
< deny users="*" / > < !-- Deny anyone else. -- >
< /authorization >

How do you register JavaScript for webcontrols ?

You can register javascript for controls using <CONTROL -name>Attribtues.
Add(scriptname,scripttext) method.

When do you set "<IDENTITY impersonate="true" />" ?

Identity is a webconfig declaration under System.web, which helps to control the
application Identity of the web applicaton. Which can be at any
level(Machine,Site,application,subdirectory,or page), attribute impersonate with "true"
as value specifies that client impersonation is used.

What are different templates available in Repeater,DataList and Datagrid ?

Templates enable one to apply complicated formatting to each of the items displayed
by a control.Repeater control supports five types of templates.HeaderTemplate
controls how the header of the repeater control is formatted.ItemTemplate controls
the formatting of each item displayed.AlternatingItemTemplate controls how
alternate items are formatted and the SeparatorTemplate displays a separator
between each item displyed.FooterTemplate is used for controlling how the footer of
the repeater control is formatted.The DataList and Datagrid supports two templates in
addition to the above five.SelectedItem Template controls how a selected item is
formatted and EditItemTemplate controls how an item selected for editing is
formatted.

What is ViewState ? and how it is managed ?

ASP.NET ViewState is a new kind of state service that developers can use to track UI
state on a per-user basis. Internally it uses an an old Web programming trick-
roundtripping state in a hidden form field and bakes it right into the page-processing
framework.It needs less code to write and maintain state in your Web-based forms.

What is web.config file ?

Web.config file is the configuration file for the Asp.net web application. There is one
web.config file for one asp.net application which configures
the particular application. Web.config file is written in XML with specific tags having
specific meanings.It includes databa which includes
connections,Session States,Error Handling,Security etc.
For example :

< configuration >

< appSettings >
< add key="ConnectionString"
value="server=localhost;uid=sa;pwd=;database=MyDB" / >
< /appSettings >
< /configuration >

61
What is advantage of viewstate and what are benefits?
When a form is submitted in classic ASP, all form values are cleared. Suppose you have
submitted a form with a lot of information and the server comes back with an error.
You will have to go back to the form and correct the information. You click the back
button, and what happens.......ALL form values are CLEARED, and you will have to
start all over again! The site did not maintain your ViewState.With ASP .NET, the form
reappears in the browser window together with all form values.This is because ASP
.NET maintains your ViewState. The ViewState indicates the status of the page when
submitted to the server.

What tags do you need to add within the asp:datagrid tags to bind columns
manually?
Set AutoGenerateColumns Property to false on the datagrid tag and then use Column
tag and an ASP:databound tag

< asp:DataGrid runat="server" id="ManualColumnBinding"

AutoGenerateColumns="False" >
< Columns >
< asp:BoundColumn HeaderText="Column1" DataField="Column1"/ >
< asp:BoundColumn HeaderText="Column2" DataField="Column2"/ >
< /Columns >
< /asp:DataGrid >
<asp:DataGrid id=ManualColumnBinding runat="server" AutoGenerateColumns="False">
<COLUMNS> <asp:BoundColumn HeaderText="Column2"
DataField="Column2"></asp:BoundColumn>
</asp:DataGrid>Which property on a Combo Box do you set with a column name,
prior to setting the DataSource, to display data in the combo box?
DataTextField and DataValueField

Which control would you use if you needed to make sure the values in two
different controls matched?
CompareValidator is used to ensure that two fields are identical.

What is validationsummary server control?where it is used?.

The ValidationSummary control allows you to summarize the error messages from all
validation controls on a Web page in a single location. The summary can be displayed
as a list, a bulleted list, or a single paragraph, based on the value of the DisplayMode
property. The error message displayed in the ValidationSummary control for each
validation control on the page is specified by the ErrorMessage property of each
validation control. If the ErrorMessage property of the validation control is not set, no
error message is displayed in the ValidationSummary control for that validation
control. You can also specify a custom title in the heading section of the
ValidationSummary control by setting the HeaderText property.
You can control whether the ValidationSummary control is displayed or hidden by
setting the ShowSummary property. The summary can also be displayed in a message
box by setting the ShowMessageBox property to true.

What is the sequence of operation takes place when a page is loaded?

BeginTranaction - only if the request is transacted

62
Init - every time a page is processed
LoadViewState - Only on postback
ProcessPostData1 - Only on postback
Load - every time
ProcessData2 - Only on Postback
RaiseChangedEvent - Only on Postback
RaisePostBackEvent - Only on Postback
PreRender - everytime
BuildTraceTree - only if tracing is enabled
SaveViewState - every time
Render - Everytime
End Transaction - only if the request is transacted
Trace.EndRequest - only when tracing is enabled
UnloadRecursive - Every request

Difference between asp and asp.net?.

"ASP (Active Server Pages) and ASP.NET are both server side technologies for building
web sites and web applications, ASP.NET is Managed compiled code - asp is
interpreted. and ASP.net is fully Object oriented. ASP.NET has been entirely re-
architected to provide a highly productive programming experience based on the .NET
Framework, and a robust infrastructure for building reliable and scalable web
applications."

Name the validation control available in asp.net?.

RequiredField, RangeValidator,RegularExpression,Custom validator,compare Validator

What are the various ways of securing a web site that could prevent from hacking
etc .. ?
1) Authentication/Authorization
2) Encryption/Decryption
3) Maintaining web servers outside the corporate firewall. etc.,

What is the difference between in-proc and out-of-proc?

An inproc is one which runs in the same process area as that of the client giving tha
advantage of speed but the disadvantage of stability becoz if it crashes it takes the
client application also with it.Outproc is one which works outside the clients memory
thus giving stability to the client, but we have to compromise a bit on speed.

When you’re running a component within ASP.NET, what process is it running

within on Windows XP? Windows 2000? Windows 2003?
On Windows 2003 (IIS 6.0) running in native mode, the component is running within the
w3wp.exe process associated with the application pool which has been configured for
the web application containing the component.

On Windows 2003 in IIS 5.0 emulation mode, 2000, or XP, it's running within the IIS
helper process whose name I do not remember, it being quite a while since I last used
IIS 5.0.

What does aspnet_regiis -i do ?

Aspnet_regiis.exe is The ASP.NET IIS Registration tool allows an administrator or

63
installation program to easily update the script maps for an ASP.NET application to
point to the ASP.NET ISAPI version associated with the tool. The tool can also be used
to display the status of all installed versions of ASP. NET, register the ASP.NET version
coupled with the tool, create client-script directories, and perform other
configuration operations.

When multiple versions of the .NET Framework are executing side-by-side on a single
computer, the ASP.NET ISAPI version mapped to an ASP.NET application determines
which version of the common language runtime is used for the application.

The tool can be launched with a set of optional parameters. Option "i" Installs the
version of ASP.NET associated with Aspnet_regiis.exe and updates the script maps at
the IIS metabase root and below. Note that only applications that are currently
mapped to an earlier version of ASP.NET are affected

What is a PostBack?
The process in which a Web page sends data back to the same page on the server.

What is ViewState? How is it encoded? Is it encrypted? Who uses ViewState?

ViewState is the mechanism ASP.NET uses to keep track of server control state values
that don't otherwise post back as part of the HTTP form. ViewState Maintains the UI
State of a Page
ViewState is base64-encoded.
It is not encrypted but it can be encrypted by setting EnableViewStatMAC="true" &
setting the machineKey validation type to 3DES. If you want to NOT maintain the
ViewState, include the directive < %@ Page EnableViewState="false" % > at the top of
an .aspx page or add the attribute EnableViewState="false" to any control.

What is the < machinekey > element and what two ASP.NET technologies is it used
for?
Configures keys to use for encryption and decryption of forms authentication cookie
data and view state data, and for verification of out-of-process session state
identification.There fore 2 ASP.Net technique in which it is used are
Encryption/Decryption & Verification

What three Session State providers are available in ASP.NET 1.1? What are the pros
and cons of each?
ASP.NET provides three distinct ways to store session data for your application: in-
process session state, out-of-process session state as a Windows service, and out-of-
process session state in a SQL Server database. Each has it advantages.

1.In-process session-state mode

Limitations:
* When using the in-process session-state mode, session-state data is lost if
aspnet_wp.exe or the application domain restarts.
* If you enable Web garden mode in the < processModel > element of the application's
Web.config file, do not use in-process session-state mode. Otherwise, random data
loss can occur.
Advantage:
* in-process session state is by far the fastest solution. If you are storing only small

64
amounts of volatile data in session state, it is recommended that you use the in-
process provider.

2. The State Server simply stores session state in memory when in out-of-proc mode.
In this mode the worker process talks directly to the State Server

3. SQL mode, session states are stored in a SQL Server database and the worker
process talks directly to SQL. The ASP.NET worker processes are then able to take
advantage of this simple storage service by serializing and saving (using .NET
serialization services) all objects within a client's Session collection at the end of each
Web request
Both these out-of-process solutions are useful primarily if you scale your application
across multiple processors or multiple computers, or where data cannot be lost if a
server or process is restarted.

What is the difference between HTTP-Post and HTTP-Get?

As their names imply, both HTTP GET and HTTP POST use HTTP as their underlying
protocol. Both of these methods encode request parameters as name/value pairs in
the HTTP request.
The GET method creates a query string and appends it to the script's URL on the server
that handles the request.
The POST method creates a name/value pairs that are passed in the body of the HTTP
request message.

Name and describe some HTTP Status Codes and what they express to the
requesting client.
When users try to access content on a server that is running Internet Information
Services (IIS) through HTTP or File Transfer Protocol (FTP), IIS returns a numeric code
that indicates the status of the request. This status code is recorded in the IIS log, and
it may also be displayed in the Web browser or FTP client. The status code can
indicate whether a particular request is successful or unsuccessful and can also reveal
the exact reason why a request is unsuccessful. There are 5 groups ranging from 1xx -
5xx of http status codes exists.
101 - Switching protocols.
200 - OK. The client request has succeeded
302 - Object moved.
400 - Bad request.
500.13 - Web server is too busy.

Explain < @OutputCache% > and the usage of VaryByParam, VaryByHeader.

OutputCache is used to control the caching policies of an ASP.NET page or user control.
To cache a page @OutputCache directive should be defined as follows < %@
OutputCache Duration="100" VaryByParam="none" % >

VaryByParam: A semicolon-separated list of strings used to vary the output cache. By

default, these strings correspond to a query string value sent with GET method
attributes, or a parameter sent using the POST method. When this attribute is set to
multiple parameters, the output cache contains a different version of the requested
document for each specified parameter. Possible values include none, *, and any valid
query string or POST parameter name.

65
VaryByHeader: A semicolon-separated list of HTTP headers used to vary the output
cache. When this attribute is set to multiple headers, the output cache contains a
different version of the requested document for each specified header.

4. WebServices & WindowsServices

Can you give an example of when it would be appropriate to use a web service as
opposed to non-serviced .NET component
Web service is one of main component in Service Oriented Architecture. You could use
web services when your clients and servers are running on different networks and also
different platforms. This provides a loosely coupled system. And also if the client is
behind the firewall it would be easy to use web service since it runs on port 80 (by
default) instead of having some thing else in Service Oriented Architecture
applications.
What is the standard you use to wrap up a call to a Web service
"SOAP.
"
What is the transport protocol you use to call a Web service SOAP
HTTP with SOAP

What does WSDL stand for?

"WSDL stands for Web Services Dsescription Langauge. There is WSDL.exe that creates
a .wsdl Files which defines how an XML Web service behaves and instructs clients as to
how to interact with the service.
eg: wsdl http://LocalHost/WebServiceName.asmx"

Where on the Internet would you look for Web Services?

www.uddi.org

What does WSDL stand for?

Web Services Description Language

True or False: To test a Web service you must create a windows application or Web
application to consume this service?
False.

What are the various ways of accessing a web service ?

1.Asynchronous Call
Application can make a call to the Webservice and then continue todo watever oit
wants to do.When the service is ready it will notify the application.Application can
use BEGIN and END method to make asynchronous call to the webmethod.We can use
either a WaitHandle or a Delegate object when making asynchronous call.
The WaitHandle class share resources between several objects. It provides several
methods which will wait for the resources to become available
The easiest and most powerful way to to implement an asynchronous call is using a
delegate object. A delegate object wraps up a callback function. The idea is to pass a
method in the invocation of the web method. When the webmethod has finished it
will call this callback function to process the result

2.Synchronous Call
Application has to wait until execution has completed.

66
What are VSDISCO files?
VSDISCO files are DISCO files that support dynamic discovery of Web services. If you
place the following VSDISCO file in a directory on your Web server, for example, it
returns references to all ASMX and DISCO files in the host directory and any
subdirectories not noted in <EXCLUDE>elements:

<DYNAMICDISCOVERY
xmlns="urn:schemas-dynamicdiscovery:disco.2000-03-17">
<EXCLUDE path="_vti_cnf" />
<EXCLUDE path="_vti_pvt" />
<EXCLUDE path="_vti_log" />
<EXCLUDE path="_vti_script" />
<EXCLUDE path="_vti_txt" />
</DYNAMICDISCOVERY>

How does dynamic discovery work?

ASP.NET maps the file name extension VSDISCO to an HTTP handler that scans the host
directory and subdirectories for ASMX and DISCO files and returns a dynamically
generated DISCO document. A client who requests a VSDISCO file gets back what
appears to be a static DISCO document.

Note that VSDISCO files are disabled in the release version of ASP.NET. You can
reenable them by uncommenting the line in the <HTTPHANDLERS>section of
Machine.config that maps *.vsdisco to
System.Web.Services.Discovery.DiscoveryRequestHandler and granting the ASPNET
user account permission to read the IIS metabase. However, Microsoft is actively
discouraging the use of VSDISCO files because they could represent a threat to Web
server security.

Is it possible to prevent a browser from caching an ASPX page?

Just call SetNoStore on the HttpCachePolicy object exposed through the Response
object's Cache property, as demonstrated here:

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>

<%
Response.Cache.SetNoStore ();
Response.Write (DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString ());
%>

SetNoStore works by returning a Cache-Control: private, no-store header in the HTTP

response. In this example, it prevents caching of a Web page that shows the current
time.

67
What does AspCompat="true" mean and when should I use it?
AspCompat is an aid in migrating ASP pages to ASPX pages. It defaults to false but
should be set to true in any ASPX file that creates apartment-threaded COM objects--
that is, COM objects registered ThreadingModel=Apartment. That includes all COM
objects written with Visual Basic 6.0. AspCompat should also be set to true (regardless
of threading model) if the page creates COM objects that access intrinsic ASP objects
such as Request and Response. The following directive sets AspCompat to true:
<%@ Page AspCompat="true" %>
Setting AspCompat to true does two things. First, it makes intrinsic ASP objects
available to the COM components by placing unmanaged wrappers around the
equivalent ASP.NET objects. Second, it improves the performance of calls that the
page places to apartment- threaded COM objects by ensuring that the page (actually,
the thread that processes the request for the page) and the COM objects it creates
share an apartment. AspCompat="true" forces ASP.NET request threads into single-
threaded apartments (STAs). If those threads create COM objects marked
ThreadingModel=Apartment, then the objects are created in the same STAs as the
threads that created them. Without AspCompat="true," request threads run in a
multithreaded apartment (MTA) and each call to an STA-based COM object incurs a
performance hit when it's marshaled across apartment boundaries.
Do not set AspCompat to true if your page uses no COM objects or if it uses COM
objects that don't access ASP intrinsic objects and that are registered
ThreadingModel=Free or ThreadingModel=Both.

Can two different programming languages be mixed in a single ASMX file?

No.

What namespaces are imported by default in ASMX files?

The following namespaces are imported by default. Other namespaces must be
imported manually.· System,
System.Collections,System.ComponentModel,System.Data,
System.Diagnostics,System.Web,System.Web.Services
How do I provide information to the Web Service when the information is required as a
SOAP Header?
The key here is the Web Service proxy you created using wsdl.exe or through Visual
Studio .NET's Add Web Reference menu option. If you happen to download a WSDL file
for a Web Service that requires a SOAP header, .NET will create a SoapHeader class in
the proxy source file. Using the previous example:
public class Service1 : System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol
{
public AuthToken AuthTokenValue;

[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlRootAttribute(Namespace="http://tempuri.org/",
IsNullable=false)]
public class AuthToken : SoapHeader { public string Token; }}

In this case, when you create an instance of the proxy in your main application file,
you'll also create an instance of the AuthToken class and assign the string:
Service1 objSvc = new Service1();
processingobjSvc.AuthTokenValue = new AuthToken();

68
 objSvc.AuthTokenValue.Token = <ACTUAL token value>;
Web Servicestring strResult = objSvc.MyBillableWebMethod();

What is WSDL?
WSDL is the Web Service Description Language, and it is implemented as a specific XML
vocabulary. While it's very much more complex than what can be described here, there
are two important aspects to WSDL with which you should be aware. First, WSDL
provides instructions to consumers of Web Services to describe the layout and contents
of the SOAP packets the Web Service intends to issue. It's an interface description
document, of sorts. And second, it isn't intended that you read and interpret the
WSDL. Rather, WSDL should be processed by machine, typically to generate proxy
source code (.NET) or create dynamic proxies on the fly (the SOAP Toolkit or Web
Service Behavior).

What is a Windows Service and how does its lifecycle differ from a "standard" EXE?
Windows service is a application that runs in the background. It is equivalent to a NT
service.
The executable created is not a Windows application, and hence you can't just click
and run it . it needs to be installed as a service, VB.Net has a facility where we can
add an installer to our program and then use a utility to install the service. Where as
this is not the case with standard exe

How can a win service developed in .NET be installed or used in Win98?

Windows service cannot be installed on Win9x machines even though the .NET
framework runs on machine.

Can you debug a Windows Service? How ?

Yes we can debug a Windows Service.
Attach the WinDbg debugger to a service after the service starts
This method is similar to the method that you can use to attach a debugger to a
process and then debug a process.
Use the process ID of the process that hosts the service that you want to debug
1 To determine the process ID (PID) of the process that hosts the service that you want
to debug, use one of the following methods.
• Method 1: Use the Task Manager
a. Right-click the taskbar, and then click Task Manager. The Windows Task Manager
dialog box appears.
b. Click the Processes tab of the Windows Task Manager dialog box.
c. Under Image Name, click the image name of the process that hosts the service
that you want to debug. Note the process ID of this process as specified by the value
of the corresponding PID field.
• Method 2: Use the Task List Utility (tlist.exe)
a. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box appears.
b. In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
c. At the command prompt, change the directory path to reflect the location of the
tlist.exe file on your computer.

Note The tlist.exe file is typically located in the following directory: C:\Program
Files\Debugging Tools for Windows
d. At the command prompt, type tlist to list the image names and the process IDs of

69
all processes that are currently running on your computer.

Note Make a note of the process ID of the process that hosts the service that you
want to debug.
2 At a command prompt, change the directory path to reflect the location of the
windbg.exe file on your computer.

Note If a command prompt is not open, follow steps a and b of Method 1. The
windbg.exe file is typically located in the following directory: C:\Program
Files\Debugging Tools for Windows.
3 At the command prompt, type windbg –p ProcessID to attach the WinDbg debugger to
the process that hosts the service that you want to debug.

Note ProcessID is a placeholder for the process ID of the process that hosts the service
that you want to debug.

Use the image name of the process that hosts the service that you want to debug

You can use this method only if there is exactly one running instance of the process
that hosts the service that you want to run. To do this, follow these steps:
1 Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box appears.
2 In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK to open a command prompt.
3 At the command prompt, change the directory path to reflect the location of the
windbg.exe file on your computer.

Note The windbg.exe file is typically located in the following directory: C:\Program
Files\Debugging Tools for Windows.
4 At the command prompt, type windbg –pn ImageName to attach the WinDbg
debugger to the process that hosts the service that you want to debug.

NoteImageName is a placeholder for the image name of the process that hosts the
service that you want to debug. The "-pn" command-line option specifies that the
ImageName command-line argument is the image name of a process.
back to the top
Start the WinDbg debugger and attach to the process that hosts the service that you
want to debug

1 Start Windows Explorer.

2 Locate the windbg.exe file on your computer.

Note The windbg.exe file is typically located in the following directory: C:\Program
Files\Debugging Tools for Windows
3 Run the windbg.exe file to start the WinDbg debugger.
4 On the File menu, click Attach to a Process to display the Attach to Process dialog
box.
5 Click to select the node that corresponds to the process that hosts the service that
you want to debug, and then click OK.
6 In the dialog box that appears, click Yes to save base workspace information. Notice
that you can now debug the disassembled code of your service.

70
Configure a service to start with the WinDbg debugger attached
You can use this method to debug services if you want to troubleshoot service-startup-
related problems.
1 Configure the "Image File Execution" options. To do this, use one of the following
methods:
• Method 1: Use the Global Flags Editor (gflags.exe)
a. Start Windows Explorer.
b. Locate the gflags.exe file on your computer.

Note The gflags.exe file is typically located in the following directory: C:\Program
Files\Debugging Tools for Windows.
c. Run the gflags.exe file to start the Global Flags Editor.
d. In the Image File Name text box, type the image name of the process that hosts
the service that you want to debug. For example, if you want to debug a service that
is hosted by a process that has MyService.exe as the image name, type MyService.exe.
e. Under Destination, click to select the Image File Options option.
f. Under Image Debugger Options, click to select the Debugger check box.
g. In the Debugger text box, type the full path of the debugger that you want to use.
For example, if you want to use the WinDbg debugger to debug a service, you can type
a full path that is similar to the following: C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for
Windows\windbg.exe
h. Click Apply, and then click OK to quit the Global Flags Editor.
• Method 2: Use Registry Editor
a. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box appears.
b. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK to start Registry Editor.
c. Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that
may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that
you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry
Editor at your own risk.

In Registry Editor, locate, and then right-click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File
Execution Options
d. Point to New, and then click Key. In the left pane of Registry Editor, notice that
New Key #1 (the name of a new registry subkey) is selected for editing.
e. Type ImageName to replace New Key #1, and then press ENTER.

Note ImageName is a placeholder for the image name of the process that hosts the
service that you want to debug. For example, if you want to debug a service that is
hosted by a process that has MyService.exe as the image name, type MyService.exe.
f. Right-click the registry subkey that you created in step e.
g. Point to New, and then click String Value. In the right pane of Registry Editor,
notice that New Value #1, the name of a new registry entry, is selected for editing.
h. Replace New Value #1 with Debugger, and then press ENTER.
i. Right-click the Debugger registry entry that you created in step h, and then click
Modify. The Edit String dialog box appears.
j. In the Value data text box, type DebuggerPath, and then click OK.

Note DebuggerPath is a placeholder for the full path of the debugger that you want
to use. For example, if you want to use the WinDbg debugger to debug a service, you

71
can type a full path that is similar to the following: C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools
for Windows\windbg.exe
2 For the debugger window to appear on your desktop, and to interact with the
debugger, make your service interactive. If you do not make your service interactive,
the debugger will start but you cannot see it and you cannot issue commands. To make
your service interactive, use one of the following methods:
• Method 1: Use the Services console
a. Click Start, and then point to Programs.
b. On the Programs menu, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services. The
Services console appears.
c. In the right pane of the Services console, right-click ServiceName, and then click
Properties.

Note ServiceName is a placeholder for the name of the service that you want to
debug.
d. On the Log On tab, click to select the Allow service to interact with desktop check
box under Local System account, and then click OK.
• Method 2: Use Registry Editor
a. In Registry Editor, locate, and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ServiceName
Note Replace ServiceName with the name of the service that you want to debug. For
example, if you want to debug a service named MyService, locate and then click the
following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MyService
b. Under the Name field in the right pane of Registry Editor, right-click Type, and
then click Modify. The Edit DWORD Value dialog box appears.
c. Change the text in the Value data text box to the result of the binary OR operation
with the binary value of the current text and the binary value, 0x00000100, as the two
operands. The binary value, 0x00000100, corresponds to the
SERVICE_INTERACTIVE_PROCESS constant that is defined in the WinNT.h header file on
your computer. This constant specifies that a service is interactive in nature.
3 When a service starts, the service communicates to the Service Control Manager how
long the service must have to start (the time-out period for the service). If the Service
Control Manager does not receive a "service started" notice from the service within
this time-out period, the Service Control Manager terminates the process that hosts
the service. This time-out period is typically less than 30 seconds. If you do not adjust
this time-out period, the Service Control Manager ends the process and the attached
debugger while you are trying to debug. To adjust this time-out period, follow these
steps:
a. In Registry Editor, locate, and then right-click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
b. Point to New, and then click DWORD Value. In the right pane of Registry Editor,
notice that New Value #1 (the name of a new registry entry) is selected for editing.
c. Type ServicesPipeTimeout to replace New Value #1, and then press ENTER.
d. Right-click the ServicesPipeTimeout registry entry that you created in step c, and
then click Modify. The Edit DWORD Value dialog box appears.
e. In the Value data text box, type TimeoutPeriod, and then click OK

Note TimeoutPeriod is a placeholder for the value of the time-out period (in
milliseconds) that you want to set for the service. For example, if you want to set the

72
time-out period to 24 hours (86400000 milliseconds), type 86400000.
f. Restart the computer. You must restart the computer for Service Control Manager to
apply this change.
4 Start your Windows service. To do this, follow these steps:
a. Click Start, and then point to Programs.
b. On the Programs menu, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services. The
Services console appears.
c. In the right pane of the Services console, right-click ServiceName, and then click
Start.

Note ServiceName is a placeholder for the name of the service that you want to
debug.

5. Remoting
What distributed process frameworks outside .NET do you know?
Distributed Computing Environment/Remote Procedure Calls (DEC/RPC), Microsoft
Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM), Common Object Request Broker
Architecture (CORBA), and Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI).

What are possible implementations of distributed applications in .NET?

.NET Remoting and ASP.NET Web Services. If we talk about the Framework Class
Library, noteworthy classes are in System.Runtime.Remoting and
System.Web.Services.

When would you use .NET Remoting and when Web services?
Use remoting for more efficient exchange of information when you control both ends
of the application. Use Web services for open-protocol-based information exchange
when you are just a client or a server with the other end belonging to someone else.

What's a proxy of the server object in .NET Remoting?

It's a fake copy of the server object that resides on the client side and behaves as if it
was the server. It handles the communication between real server object and the
client object. This process is also known as marshaling.

What are remotable objects in .NET Remoting?

Remotable objects are the objects that can be marshaled across the application
domains. You can marshal by value, where a deep copy of the object is created and
then passed to the receiver. You can also marshal by reference, where just a
reference to an existing object is passed.

What are channels in .NET Remoting?

Channels represent the objects that transfer the other serialized objects from one
application domain to another and from one computer to another, as well as one
process to another on the same box. A channel must exist before an object can be
transferred.
What security measures exist for .NET Remoting in System.Runtime.Remoting?
None. Security should be taken care of at the application level. Cryptography and
other security techniques can be applied at application or server level.

What is a formatter?

73
 A formatter is an object that is responsible for encoding and serializing data into
messages on one end, and deserializing and decoding messages into data on the other
end.

Choosing between HTTP and TCP for protocols and Binary and SOAP for formatters,
what are the trade-offs?
Binary over TCP is the most effiecient, SOAP over HTTP is the most interoperable.

What's SingleCall activation mode used for?

If the server object is instantiated for responding to just one single request, the
request should be made in SingleCall mode.

What's Singleton activation mode?

A single object is instantiated regardless of the number of clients accessing it.
Lifetime of this object is determined by lifetime lease.

How do you define the lease of the object?

By implementing ILease interface when writing the class code.

Can you configure a .NET Remoting object via XML file?

Yes, via machine.config and application level .config file (or web.config in ASP.NET).
Application-level XML settings take precedence over machine.config.

How can you automatically generate interface for the remotable object in .NET
with Microsoft tools?
Use the Soapsuds tool.

What are CAO's i.e. Client Activated Objects ?

Client-activated objects are objects whose lifetimes are controlled by the calling
application domain, just as they would be if the object were local to the client. With
client activation, a round trip to the server occurs when the client tries to create an
instance of the server object, and the client proxy is created using an object
reference (ObjRef) obtained on return from the creation of the remote object on the
server. Each time a client creates an instance of a client-activated type, that instance
will service only that particular reference in that particular client until its lease
expires and its memory is recycled. If a calling application domain creates two new
instances of the remote type, each of the client references will invoke only the
particular instance in the server application domain from which the reference was
returned.
In COM, clients hold an object in memory by holding a reference to it. When the last
client releases its last reference, the object can delete itself. Client activation
provides the same client control over the server object's lifetime, but without the
complexity of maintaining references or the constant pinging to confirm the continued
existence of the server or client. Instead, client-activated objects use lifetime leases
to determine how long they should continue to exist. When a client creates a remote
object, it can specify a default length of time that the object should exist. If the
remote object reaches its default lifetime limit, it contacts the client to ask whether
it should continue to exist, and if so, for how much longer. If the client is not currently
available, a default time is also specified for how long the server object should wait
while trying to contact the client before marking itself for garbage collection. The

74
client might even request an indefinite default lifetime, effectively preventing the
remote object from ever being recycled until the server application domain is torn
down. The difference between this and a server-activated indefinite lifetime is that an
indefinite server-activated object will serve all client requests for that type, whereas
the client-activated instances serve only the client and the reference that was
responsible for their creation. For more information, see Lifetime Leases.
To create an instance of a client-activated type, clients either configure their
application programmatically (or using a configuration file) and call new (New in Visual
Basic), or they pass the remote object's configuration in a call to
Activator.CreateInstance. The following code example shows such a call, assuming a
TcpChannel has been registered to listen on port 8080.

How many processes can listen on a single TCP/IP port?

One.

What technology enables out-of-proc communication in .NET?

Most usually Remoting;.NET remoting enables client applications to use objects in
other processes on the same computer or on any other computer available on its
network.While you could implement an out-of-proc component in any number of other
ways, someone using the term almost always means Remoting.

How can objects in two diff. App Doimains communicate with each other?
.Net framework provides various ways to communicate with objects in different app
domains.
First is XML Web Service on internet, its good method because it is built using HTTP
protocol and SOAP formatting.
If the performance is the main concern then go for second option which is .Net
remoting because it gives you the option of using binary encoding and the default
TcpChannel, which offers the best interprocess communication performance
What is the difference between .Net Remoting and Web Services?
Although we can develop an application using both technologies, each of them has its
distinct advantages. Yes you can look at them in terms of performance but you need to
consider your need first. There are many other factors such authentications,
authorizing in process that need to be considered.
Point Remoting Webservices
If your application needs Yes, Choose Web Services
interoperability with other because it is more flexible
No
platforms or operating in that they are support
systems SOAP.
If performance is the
You should use the TCP channel
main requirement with No
and the binary formatter
security
Complex Programming Yes No
Supports a range of state Its stateless service
management, depending on management (does not
State Management what object lifetime scheme inherently correlate
you choose (single call or multiple calls from the
singleton call). same user)

75
 It can access through TCP or It can be access only
Transport Protocol
HTTP channel. through HTTP channel.

6. COM And COM+

What are different transaction options available for services components ?

There are 5 transactions types that can be used with COM+. Whenever an object is
registered with COM+ it has to abide either to these 5 transaction types.

Disabled: - There is no transaction. COM+ does not provide transaction support for this
component.

Not Supported: - Component does not support transactions. Hence even if the calling
component in the hierarchy is transaction enabled this component will not participate
in the transaction.

Supported: - Components with transaction type supported will be a part of the

transaction if the calling component has an active transaction.
If the calling component is not transaction enabled this component will not start a new
transaction.

Required: - Components with this attribute require a transaction i.e. either the calling
should have a transaction in place else this component will start a new transaction.

Required New: - Components enabled with this transaction type always require a new
transaction. Components with required new transaction type instantiate a new
transaction for themselves every time.

Can we use com Components in .net?.How ?.can we use .net components in

vb?.Explain how ?
COM components have different internal architecture from .NET components hence
they are not innately compatible. However .NET framework supports invocation of
unmanaged code from managed code (and vice-versa) through COM/.NET
interoperability. .NET application communicates with a COM component through a
managed wrapper of the component called Runtime Callable Wrapper (RCW); it acts as
managed proxy to the unmanaged COM component. When a method call is made to
COM object, it goes onto RCW and not the object itself. RCW manages the lifetime
management of the COM component. Implementation Steps -

Create Runtime Callable Wrapper out of COM component. Reference the metadata
assembly Dll in the project and use its methods & properties RCW can be created using
Type Library Importer utility or through VS.NET. Using VS.NET, add reference through
COM tab to select the desired DLL. VS.NET automatically generates metadata assembly
putting the classes provided by that component into a namespace with the same name
as COM dll (XYZRCW.dll)

76
.NET components can be invoked by unmanaged code through COM Callable Wrapper
(CCW) in COM/.NET interop. The unmanaged code will talk to this proxy, which
translates call to managed environment. We can use COM components in .NET through
COM/.NET interoperability. When managed code calls an unmanaged component,
behind the scene, .NET creates proxy called COM Callable wrapper (CCW), which
accepts commands from a COM client, and forwards it to .NET component. There are
two prerequisites to creating .NET component, to be used in unmanaged code:
1. .NET class should be implement its functionality through interface. First define
interface in code, then have the class to imlpement it. This way, it prevents breaking
of COM client, if/when .NET component changes.

2.Secondly, .NET class, which is to be visible to COM clients must be declared public.
The tools that create the CCW only define types based
on public classes. The same rule applies to methods, properties, and events that will
be used by COM clients.

Implementation Steps -
1. Generate type library of .NET component, using TLBExporter utility. A type library is
the COM equivalent of the metadata contained within
a .NET assembly. Type libraries are generally contained in files with the extension .tlb.
A type library contains the necessary information to allow a COM client to determine
which classes are located in a particular server, as well as the methods, properties,
and events supported by those classes.
2. Secondly, use Assembly Registration tool (regasm) to create the type library and
register it.
3. Lastly install .NET assembly in GAC, so it is available as shared assembly.

What is Runtime Callable wrapper?.when it will created?.

The common language runtime exposes COM objects through a proxy called the
runtime callable wrapper (RCW). Although the RCW appears to be an ordinary object
to .NET clients, its primary function is to marshal calls between a .NET client and a
COM object. This wrapper turns the COM interfaces exposed by the COM component
into .NET-compatible interfaces. For oleautomation (attribute indicates that an
interface is compatible with Automation) interfaces, the RCW can be generated
automatically from a type library. For non-oleautomation interfaces, it may be
necessary to develop a custom RCW which manually maps the types exposed by the
COM interface to .NET-compatible types.

What is Com Callable wrapper?when it will created?

.NET components are accessed from COM via a COM Callable Wrapper (CCW). This is
similar to a RCW, but works in the opposite direction. Again, if the wrapper cannot be
automatically generated by the .NET development tools, or if the automatic behaviour
is not desirable, a custom CCW can be developed. Also, for COM to 'see' the .NET
component, the .NET component must be registered in the registry.CCWs also manage
the object identity and object lifetime of the managed objects they wrap.

What is a primary interop ?

A primary interop assembly is a collection of types that are deployed, versioned, and
configured as a single unit. However, unlike other managed assemblies, an interop
assembly contains type definitions (not implementation) of types that have already

77
been defined in COM. These type definitions allow managed applications to bind to the
COM types at compile time and provide information to the common language runtime
about how the types should be marshaled at run time.

What are tlbimp and tlbexp tools used for ?

The Type Library Exporter generates a type library that describes the types defined in
a common language runtime assembly.
The Type Library Importer converts the type definitions found within a COM type
library into equivalent definitions in a common language runtime assembly. The output
of Tlbimp.exe is a binary file (an assembly) that contains runtime metadata for the
types defined within the original type library.

What benefit do you get from using a Primary Interop Assembly (PIA)?
PIAs are important because they provide unique type identity. The PIA distinguishes
the official type definitions from counterfeit definitions provided by other interop
assemblies. Having a single type identity ensures type compatibility between
applications that share the types defined in the PIA. Because the PIA is signed by its
publisher and labeled with the PrimaryInteropAssembly attribute, it can be
differentiated from other interop assemblies that define the same types.

7. ADO.NET

Explain what a diffgram is and its usage ?

A DiffGram is an XML format that is used to identify current and original versions of
data elements. The DataSet uses the DiffGram format to load and persist its contents,
and to serialize its contents for transport across a network connection. When a
DataSet is written as a DiffGram, it populates the DiffGram with all the necessary
information to accurately recreate the contents, though not the schema, of the
DataSet, including column values from both the Original and Current row versions, row
error information, and row order.

When sending and retrieving a DataSet from an XML Web service, the DiffGram format
is implicitly used. Additionally, when loading the contents of a DataSet from XML using
the ReadXml method, or when writing the contents of a DataSet in XML using the
WriteXml method, you can select that the contents be read or written as a DiffGram.

The DiffGram format is divided into three sections: the current data, the original (or
"before") data, and an errors section, as shown in the following example.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<diffgr:diffgram
xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata"
xmlns:diffgr="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-diffgram-v1"
xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">

<DataInstance>
</DataInstance>

78
 <diffgr:before>
</diffgr:before>

<diffgr:errors>
</diffgr:errors>
</diffgr:diffgram>

The DiffGram format consists of the following blocks of data:

<DataInstance>
The name of this element, DataInstance, is used for explanation purposes in this
documentation. A DataInstance element represents a DataSet or a row of a DataTable.
Instead of DataInstance, the element would contain the name of the DataSet or
DataTable. This block of the DiffGram format contains the current data, whether it has
been modified or not. An element, or row, that has been modified is identified with
the diffgr:hasChanges annotation.
<diffgr:before>
This block of the DiffGram format contains the original version of a row. Elements in
this block are matched to elements in the DataInstance block using the diffgr:id
annotation.
<diffgr:errors>
This block of the DiffGram format contains error information for a particular row in
the DataInstance block. Elements in this block are matched to elements in the
DataInstance block using the diffgr:id annotation.

Which method do you invoke on the DataAdapter control to load your generated
dataset with data?
You have to use the Fill method of the DataAdapter control and pass the dataset
object as an argument to load the generated data.

Can you edit data in the Repeater control?

NO.

Which are the different IsolationLevels ?

Following are the various IsolationLevels:

• Serialized Data read by a current transaction cannot be changed by another

transaction until the current transaction finishes. No new data can be inserted
that would affect the current transaction. This is the safest isolation level and
is the default.
• Repeatable Read Data read by a current transaction cannot be changed by
another transaction until the current transaction finishes. Any type of new data
can be inserted during a transaction.
• Read Committed A transaction cannot read data that is being modified by
another transaction that has not committed. This is the default isolation level
in Microsoft® SQL Server.
• Read Uncommitted A transaction can read any data, even if it is being
modified by another transaction. This is the least safe isolation level but allows
the highest concurrency.

79
 • Any Any isolation level is supported. This setting is most commonly used by
downstream components to avoid conflicts. This setting is useful because any
downstream component must be configured with an isolation level that is equal
to or less than the isolation level of its immediate upstream component.
Therefore, a downstream component that has its isolation level configured as
Any always uses the same isolation level that its immediate upstream
component uses. If the root object in a transaction has its isolation level
configured to Any, its isolation level becomes Serialized.

How xml files and be read and write using dataset?.

DataSet exposes method like ReadXml and WriteXml to read and write xml

What are the different rowversions available?

There are four types of Rowversions.
Current:
The current values for the row. This row version does not exist for rows with a
RowState of Deleted.

Default :
The row the default version for the current DataRowState. For a DataRowState value
of Added, Modified or Current, the default version is Current. For a DataRowState of
Deleted, the version is Original. For a DataRowState value of Detached, the version is
Proposed.

Original:
The row contains its original values.

Proposed:
The proposed values for the row. This row version exists during an edit operation on a
row, or for a row that is not part of a DataRowCollection

Explain acid properties?.

The term ACID conveys the role transactions play in mission-critical applications.
Coined by transaction processing pioneers, ACID stands for atomicity, consistency,
isolation, and durability.

These properties ensure predictable behavior, reinforcing the role of transactions as

all-or-none propositions designed to reduce the management load when there are
many variables.

Atomicity
A transaction is a unit of work in which a series of operations occur between the BEGIN
TRANSACTION and END TRANSACTION statements of an application. A transaction
executes exactly once and is atomic — all the work is done or none of it is.

Operations associated with a transaction usually share a common intent and are
interdependent. By performing only a subset of these operations, the system could
compromise the overall intent of the transaction. Atomicity eliminates the chance of
processing a subset of operations.

80
Consistency
A transaction is a unit of integrity because it preserves the consistency of data,
transforming one consistent state of data into another consistent state of data.

Consistency requires that data bound by a transaction be semantically preserved.

Some of the responsibility for maintaining consistency falls to the application
developer who must make sure that all known integrity constraints are enforced by
the application. For example, in developing an application that transfers money, you
should avoid arbitrarily moving decimal points during the transfer.

Isolation
A transaction is a unit of isolation — allowing concurrent transactions to behave as
though each were the only transaction running in the system.

Isolation requires that each transaction appear to be the only transaction manipulating
the data store, even though other transactions may be running at the same time. A
transaction should never see the intermediate stages of another transaction.

Transactions attain the highest level of isolation when they are serializable. At this
level, the results obtained from a set of concurrent transactions are identical to the
results obtained by running each transaction serially. Because a high degree of
isolation can limit the number of concurrent transactions, some applications reduce
the isolation level in exchange for better throughput.

Durability
A transaction is also a unit of recovery. If a transaction succeeds, the system
guarantees that its updates will persist, even if the computer crashes immediately
after the commit. Specialized logging allows the system's restart procedure to
complete unfinished operations, making the transaction durable.

Whate are different types of Commands available with DataAdapter ?

The SqlDataAdapter has SelectCommand, InsertCommand, DeleteCommand and
UpdateCommand

What is a Dataset?
Datasets are the result of bringing together ADO and XML. A dataset contains one or
more data of tabular XML, known as DataTables, these data can be treated separately,
or can have relationships defined between them. Indeed these relationships give you
ADO data SHAPING without needing to master the SHAPE language, which many people
are not comfortable with.

The dataset is a disconnected in-memory cache database. The dataset object model
looks like this:

Dataset
DataTableCollection
DataTable
DataView

81
 DataRowCollection
DataRow
DataColumnCollection
DataColumn
ChildRelations
ParentRelations
Constraints
PrimaryKey
DataRelationCollection

Let’s take a look at each of these:

DataTableCollection: As we say that a DataSet is an in-memory database. So it has this

collection, which holds data from multiple tables in a single DataSet object.

DataTable: In the DataTableCollection, we have DataTable objects, which represents

the individual tables of the dataset.

DataView: The way we have views in database, same way we can have DataViews. We
can use these DataViews to do Sort, filter data.

DataRowCollection: Similar to DataTableCollection, to represent each row in each

Table we have DataRowCollection.

DataRow: To represent each and every row of the DataRowCollection, we have

DataRows.

DataColumnCollection: Similar to DataTableCollection, to represent each column in

each Table we have DataColumnCollection.

DataColumn: To represent each and every Column of the DataColumnCollection, we

have DataColumn.

PrimaryKey: Dataset defines Primary key for the table and the primary key validation
will take place without going to the database.

Constraints: We can define various constraints on the Tables, and can use
Dataset.Tables(0).enforceConstraints. This will execute all the constraints, whenever
we enter data in DataTable.

DataRelationCollection: as we know that we can have more than 1 table in the

dataset, we can also define relationship between these tables using this collection and
maintain a parent-child relationship.

Explain the ADO . Net Architecture ( .Net Data Provider)

ADO.Net is the data access model for .Net –based applications. It can be used to
access relational database systems such as SQL SERVER 2000, Oracle, and many other
data sources for which there is an OLD DB or ODBC provider. To a certain extent,
ADO.NET represents the latest evolution of ADO technology. However, ADO.NET

82
introduces some major changes and innovations that are aimed at the loosely coupled
and inherently disconnected – nature of web applications.

A .Net Framework data provider is used to connecting to a database, executing

commands, and retrieving results. Those results are either processed directly, or
placed in an ADO.NET DataSet in order to be exposed to the user in an ad-hoc manner,
combined with data from multiple sources, or remoted between tiers. The .NET
Framework data provider is designed to be lightweight, creating a minimal layer
between the data source and your code, increasing performance without sacrificing
functionality.

Following are the 4 core objects of .Net Framework Data provider:

• Connection: Establishes a connection to a specific data source

• Command: Executes a command against a data source. Exposes Parameters and
can execute within the scope of a Transaction from a Connection.
• DataReader: Reads a forward-only, read-only stream of data from a data
source.
• DataAdapter: Populates a DataSet and resolves updates with the data source.

The .NET Framework includes the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server (for
Microsoft SQL Server version 7.0 or later), the .NET Framework Data Provider for OLE
DB, and the .NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC.

The .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server: The .NET Framework Data Provider
for SQL Server uses its own protocol to communicate with SQL Server. It is lightweight
and performs well because it is optimized to access a SQL Server directly without
adding an OLE DB or Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) layer. The following
illustration contrasts the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server with the .NET
Framework Data Provider for OLE DB. The .NET Framework Data Provider for OLE DB
communicates to an OLE DB data source through both the OLE DB Service component,
which provides connection pooling and transaction services, and the OLE DB Provider
for the data source

The .NET Framework Data Provider for OLE DB: The .NET Framework Data Provider for
OLE DB uses native OLE DB through COM interoperability to enable data access. The
.NET Framework Data Provider for OLE DB supports both local and distributed
transactions. For distributed transactions, the .NET Framework Data Provider for OLE
DB, by default, automatically enlists in a transaction and obtains transaction details
from Windows 2000 Component Services.

The .NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC: The .NET Framework Data Provider for
ODBC uses native ODBC Driver Manager (DM) through COM interoperability to enable
data access. The ODBC data provider supports both local and distributed transactions.
For distributed transactions, the ODBC data provider, by default, automatically enlists
in a transaction and obtains transaction details from Windows 2000 Component
Services.

83
The .NET Framework Data Provider for Oracle: The .NET Framework Data Provider for
Oracle enables data access to Oracle data sources through Oracle client connectivity
software. The data provider supports Oracle client software version 8.1.7 and later.
The data provider supports both local and distributed transactions (the data provider
automatically enlists in existing distributed transactions, but does not currently
support the EnlistDistributedTransaction method).

The .NET Framework Data Provider for Oracle requires that Oracle client software
(version 8.1.7 or later) be installed on the system before you can use it to connect to
an Oracle data source.
.NET Framework Data Provider for Oracle classes are located in the
System.Data.OracleClient namespace and are contained in the
System.Data.OracleClient.dll assembly. You will need to reference both the
System.Data.dll and the System.Data.OracleClient.dll when compiling an application
that uses the data provider.
Choosing a .NET Framework Data Provider

.NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server: Recommended for middle-tier
applications using Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 or later. Recommended for single-tier
applications using Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) or Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 or later.
Recommended over use of the OLE DB Provider for SQL Server (SQLOLEDB) with the
.NET Framework Data Provider for OLE DB. For Microsoft SQL Server version 6.5 and
earlier, you must use the OLE DB Provider for SQL Server with the .NET Framework
Data Provider for OLE DB.

.NET Framework Data Provider for OLE DB: Recommended for middle-tier applications
using Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 or earlier, or any OLE DB provider. For Microsoft SQL
Server 7.0 or later, the .NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server is recommended.
Recommended for single-tier applications using Microsoft Access databases. Use of a
Microsoft Access database for a middle-tier application is not recommended.

.NET Framework Data Provider for ODBC: Recommended for middle-tier applications
using ODBC data sources. Recommended for single-tier applications using ODBC data
sources.

.NET Framework Data Provider for Oracle: Recommended for middle-tier applications
using Oracle data sources. Recommended for single-tier applications using Oracle data
sources. Supports Oracle client software version 8.1.7 and later. The .NET Framework
Data Provider for Oracle classes are located in the System.Data.OracleClient
namespace and are contained in the System.Data.OracleClient.dll assembly. You need
to reference both the System.Data.dll and the System.Data.OracleClient.dll when
compiling an application that uses the data provider.

Can you explain the difference between an ADO.NET Dataset and an ADO Recordset?
Let’s take a look at the differences between ADO Recordset and ADO.Net DataSet:

1. Table Collection: ADO Recordset provides the ability to navigate through a single
table of information. That table would have been formed with a join of multiple tables
and returning columns from multiple tables. ADO.NET DataSet is capable of holding
instances of multiple tables. It has got a Table Collection, which holds multiple tables

84
in it. If the tables are having a relation, then it can be manipulated on a Parent-Child
relationship. It has the ability to support multiple tables with keys, constraints and
interconnected relationships. With this ability the DataSet can be considered as a
small, in-memory relational database cache.

2. Navigation: Navigation in ADO Recordset is based on the cursor mode. Even though
it is specified to be a client-side Recordset, still the navigation pointer will move from
one location to another on cursor model only. ADO.NET DataSet is an entirely offline,
in-memory, and cache of data. All of its data is available all the time. At any time, we
can retrieve any row or column, constraints or relation simply by accessing it either
ordinarily or by retrieving it from a name-based collection.

3. Connectivity Model: The ADO Recordset was originally designed without the ability
to operate in a disconnected environment. ADO.NET DataSet is specifically designed to
be a disconnected in-memory database. ADO.NET DataSet follows a pure disconnected
connectivity model and this gives it much more scalability and versatility in the
amount of things it can do and how easily it can do that.

4. Marshalling and Serialization: In COM, through Marshalling, we can pass data from 1
COM component to another component at any time. Marshalling involves copying and
processing data so that a complex type can appear to the receiving component the
same as it appeared to the sending component. Marshalling is an expensive operation.
ADO.NET Dataset and DataTable components support Remoting in the form of XML
serialization. Rather than doing expensive Marshalling, it uses XML and sent data
across boundaries.

5. Firewalls and DCOM and Remoting: Those who have worked with DCOM know that
how difficult it is to marshal a DCOM component across a router. People generally
came up with workarounds to solve this issue. ADO.NET DataSet uses Remoting,
through which a DataSet / DataTable component can be serialized into XML, sent
across the wire to a new AppDomain, and then Desterilized back to a fully functional
DataSet. As the DataSet is completely disconnected, and it has no dependency, we lose
absolutely nothing by serializing and transferring it through Remoting.

How do you handle data concurrency in .NET ?

One of the key features of the ADO.NET DataSet is that it can be a self-contained and
disconnected data store. It can contain the schema and data from several rowsets in
DataTable objects as well as information about how to relate the DataTable objects-all
in memory. The DataSet neither knows nor cares where the data came from, nor does
it need a link to an underlying data source. Because it is data source agnostic you can
pass the DataSet around networks or even serialize it to XML and pass it across the
Internet without losing any of its features. However, in a disconnected model,
concurrency obviously becomes a much bigger problem than it is in a connected
model.

In this column, I'll explore how ADO.NET is equipped to detect and handle concurrency
violations. I'll begin by discussing scenarios in which concurrency violations can occur
using the ADO.NET disconnected model. Then I will walk through an ASP.NET

85
application that handles concurrency violations by giving the user the choice to
overwrite the changes or to refresh the out-of-sync data and begin editing again.
Because part of managing an optimistic concurrency model can involve keeping a
timestamp (rowversion) or another type of flag that indicates when a row was last
updated, I will show how to implement this type of flag and how to maintain its value
after each database update.

Is Your Glass Half Full?

There are three common techniques for managing what happens when users try to
modify the same data at the same time: pessimistic, optimistic, and last-in wins. They
each handle concurrency issues differently.

The pessimistic approach says: "Nobody can cause a concurrency violation with my
data if I do not let them get at the data while I have it." This tactic prevents
concurrency in the first place but it limits scalability because it prevents all
concurrent access. Pessimistic concurrency generally locks a row from the time it is
retrieved until the time updates are flushed to the database. Since this requires a
connection to remain open during the entire process, pessimistic concurrency cannot
successfully be implemented in a disconnected model like the ADO.NET DataSet, which
opens a connection only long enough to populate the DataSet then releases and closes,
so a database lock cannot be held.

Another technique for dealing with concurrency is the last-in wins approach. This
model is pretty straightforward and easy to implement-whatever data modification
was made last is what gets written to the database. To implement this technique you
only need to put the primary key fields of the row in the UPDATE statement's WHERE
clause. No matter what is changed, the UPDATE statement will overwrite the changes
with its own changes since all it is looking for is the row that matches the primary key
values. Unlike the pessimistic model, the last-in wins approach allows users to read
the data while it is being edited on screen. However, problems can occur when users
try to modify the same data at the same time because users can overwrite each other's
changes without being notified of the collision. The last-in wins approach does not
detect or notify the user of violations because it does not care. However the
optimistic technique does detect violations. Contd....

In optimistic concurrency models, a row is only locked during the update to the
database. Therefore the data can be retrieved and updated by other users at any time
other than during the actual row update operation. Optimistic concurrency allows the
data to be read simultaneously by multiple users and blocks other users less often than
its pessimistic counterpart, making it a good choice for ADO.NET. In optimistic models,
it is important to implement some type of concurrency violation detection that will
catch any additional attempt to modify records that have already been modified but
not committed. You can write your code to handle the violation by always rejecting
and canceling the change request or by overwriting the request based on some
business rules. Another way to handle the concurrency violation is to let the user
decide what to do. The sample application that is shown in Figure 1 illustrates some of
the options that can be presented to the user in the event of a concurrency violation.

86
Where Did My Changes Go?

When users are likely to overwrite each other's changes, control mechanisms should be
put in place. Otherwise, changes could be lost. If the technique you're using is the
last-in wins approach, then these types of overwrites are entirely possible.For
example, imagine Julie wants to edit an employee's last name to correct the spelling.
She navigates to a screen which loads the employee's information into a DataSet and
has it presented to her in a Web page. Meanwhile, Scott is notified that the same
employee's phone extension has changed. While Julie is correcting the employee's last
name, Scott begins to correct his extension. Julie saves her changes first and then
Scott saves his.Assuming that the application uses the last-in wins approach and
updates the row using a SQL WHERE clause containing only the primary key's value,
and assuming a change to one column requires the entire row to be updated, neither
Julie nor Scott may immediatelyrealize the concurrency issue that just occurred. In
this particular situation, Julie's changes were overwritten by Scott's changes because
he saved last, and the last name reverted to the misspelled version.

So as you can see, even though the users changed different fields, their changes
collided and caused Julie's changes to be lost. Without some sort of concurrency
detection and handling, these types of overwrites can occur and even go
unnoticed.When you run the sample application included in this column's download,
you should open two separate instances of Microsoft® Internet Explorer. When I
generated the conflict, I opened two instances to simulate two users with two
separate sessions so that a concurrency violation would occur in the sample
application. When you do this, be careful not to use Ctrl+N because if you open one
instance and then use the Ctrl+N technique to open another instance, both windows
will share the same session.

Detecting Violations

The concurrency violation reported to the user in Figure 1 demonstrates what can
happen when multiple users edit the same data at the same time. In Figure 1, the user
attempted to modify the first name to "Joe" but since someone else had already
modified the last name to "Fuller III," a concurrency violation was detected and
reported. ADO.NET detects a concurrency violation when a DataSet containing changed
values is passed to a SqlDataAdapter's Update method and no rows are actually
modified. Simply using the primary key (in this case the EmployeeID) in the UPDATE
statement's WHERE clause will not cause a violation to be detected because it still
updates the row (in fact, this technique has the same outcome as the last-in wins
technique). Instead, more conditions must be specified in the WHERE clause in order
for ADO.NET to detect the violation.

The key here is to make the WHERE clause explicit enough so that it not only checks
the primary key but that it also checks for another appropriate condition. One way to
accomplish this is to pass in all modifiable fields to the WHERE clause in addition to
the primary key. For example, the application shown in Figure 1 could have its UPDATE
statement look like the stored procedure that's shown in Figure 2.

Notice that in the code in Figure 2 nullable columns are also checked to see if the
value passed in is NULL. This technique is not only messy but it can be difficult to

87
maintain by hand and it requires you to test for a significant number of WHERE
conditions just to update a row. This yields the desired result of only updating rows
where none of the values have changed since the last time the user got the data, but
there are other techniques that do not require such a huge WHERE clause.

Another way to make sure that the row is only updated if it has not been modified by
another user since you got the data is to add a timestamp column to the table. The
SQL Server(tm) TIMESTAMP datatype automatically updates itself with a new value
every time a value in its row is modified. This makes it a very simple and convenient
tool to help detect concurrency violations.

A third technique is to use a DATETIME column in which to track changes to its row. In
my sample application I added a column called LastUpdateDateTime to the Employees
table.

ALTER TABLE Employees ADD LastUpdateDateTime DATETIME

There I update the value of the LastUpdateDateTime field automatically in the UPDATE
stored procedure using the built-in SQL Server GETDATE function.

The binary TIMESTAMP column is simple to create and use since it automatically
regenerates its value each time its row is modified, but since the DATETIME column
technique is easier to display on screen and demonstrate when the change was made, I
chose it for my sample application. Both of these are solid choices, but I prefer the
TIMESTAMP technique since it does not involve any additional code to update its value.

Retrieving Row Flags

One of the keys to implementing concurrency controls is to update the timestamp or

datetime field's value back into the DataSet. If the same user wants to make more
modifications, this updated value is reflected in the DataSet so it can be used again.
There are a few different ways to do this. The fastest is using output parameters
within the stored procedure. (This should only return if @@ROWCOUNT equals 1.) The
next fastest involves selecting the row again after the UPDATE within the stored
procedure. The slowest involves selecting the row from another SQL statement or
stored procedure from the SqlDataAdapter's RowUpdated event.

I prefer to use the output parameter technique since it is the fastest and incurs the
least overhead. Using the RowUpdated event works well, but it requires me to make a
second call from the application to the database. The following code snippet adds an
output parameter to the SqlCommand object that is used to update the Employee
information:

oUpdCmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@NewLastUpdateDateTime",

SqlDbType.DateTime, 8, ParameterDirection.Output,

false, 0, 0, "LastUpdateDateTime", DataRowVersion.Current, null));

88
oUpdCmd.UpdatedRowSource = UpdateRowSource.OutputParameters;

The output parameter has its sourcecolumn and sourceversion arguments set to point
the output parameter's return value back to the current value of the
LastUpdateDateTime column of the DataSet. This way the updated DATETIME value is
retrieved and can be returned to the user's .aspx page. Contd....

Saving Changes

Now that the Employees table has the tracking field (LastUpdateDateTime) and the
stored procedure has been created to use both the primary key and the tracking field
in the WHERE clause of the UPDATE statement, let's take a look at the role of
ADO.NET. In order to trap the event when the user changes the values in the
textboxes, I created an event handler for the TextChanged event for each TextBox
control:

private void txtLastName_TextChanged(object sender, System.EventArgs e)

// Get the employee DataRow (there is only 1 row, otherwise I could

// do a Find)

dsEmployee.EmployeeRow oEmpRow =

(dsEmployee.EmployeeRow)oDsEmployee.Employee.Rows[0];

oEmpRow.LastName = txtLastName.Text;

// Save changes back to Session

Session["oDsEmployee"] = oDsEmployee;

This event retrieves the row and sets the appropriate field's value from the TextBox.
(Another way of getting the changed values is to grab them when the user clicks the
Save button.) Each TextChanged event executes after the Page_Load event fires on a
postback, so assuming the user changed the first and last names, when the user clicks
the Save button, the events could fire in this order: Page_Load,
txtFirstName_TextChanged, txtLastName_TextChanged, and btnSave_Click.

The Page_Load event grabs the row from the DataSet in the Session object; the
TextChanged events update the DataRow with the new values; and the btnSave_Click
event attempts to save the record to the database. The btnSave_Click event calls the
SaveEmployee method (shown in Figure 3) and passes it a bLastInWins value of false
since we want to attempt a standard save first. If the SaveEmployee method detects
that changes were made to the row (using the HasChanges method on the DataSet, or

89
alternatively using the RowState property on the row), it creates an instance of the
Employee class and passes the DataSet to its SaveEmployee method. The Employee
class could live in a logical or physical middle tier. (I wanted to make this a separate
class so it would be easy to pull the code out and separate it from the presentation
logic.)

Notice that I did not use the GetChanges method to pull out only the modified rows
and pass them to the Employee object's Save method. I skipped this step here since
there is only one row. However, if there were multiple rows in the DataSet's DataTable,
it would be better to use the GetChanges method to create a DataSet that contains
only the modified rows.

If the save succeeds, the Employee.SaveEmployee method returns a DataSet

containing the modified row and its newly updated row version flag (in this case, the
LastUpdateDateTime field's value). This DataSet is then merged into the original
DataSet so that the LastUpdateDateTime field's value can be updated in the original
DataSet. This must be done because if the user wants to make more changes she will
need the current values from the database merged back into the local DataSet and
shown on screen. This includes the LastUpdateDateTime value which is used in the
WHERE clause. Without this field's current value, a false concurrency violation would
occur.

Reporting Violations

If a concurrency violation occurs, it will bubble up and be caught by the exception

handler shown in Figure 3 in the catch block for DBConcurrencyException. This block
calls the FillConcurrencyValues method, which displays both the original values in the
DataSet that were attempted to be saved to the database and the values currently in
the database. This method is used merely to show the user why the violation occurred.
Notice that the exDBC variable is passed to the FillConcurrencyValues method. This
instance of the special database concurrency exception class
(DBConcurrencyException) contains the row where the violation occurred. When a
concurrency violation occurs, the screen is updated to look like Figure 1.

The DataSet not only stores the schema and the current data, it also tracks changes
that have been made to its data. It knows which rows and columns have been modified
and it keeps track of the before and after versions of these values. When accessing a
column's value via the DataRow's indexer, in addition to the column index you can also
specify a value using the DataRowVersion enumerator. For example, after a user
changes the value of the last name of an employee, the following lines of C# code will
retrieve the original and current values stored in the LastName column:

string sLastName_Before = oEmpRow["LastName", DataRowVersion.Original];

string sLastName_After = oEmpRow["LastName", DataRowVersion.Current];

The FillConcurrencyValues method uses the row from the DBConcurrencyException and
gets a fresh copy of the same row from the database. It then displays the values using
the DataRowVersion enumerators to show the original value of the row before the
update and the value in the database alongside the current values in the textboxes.

90
User's Choice

Once the user has been notified of the concurrency issue, you could leave it up to her
to decide how to handle it. Another alternative is to code a specific way to deal with
concurrency, such as always handling the exception to let the user know (but
refreshing the data from the database). In this sample application I let the user decide
what to do next. She can either cancel changes, cancel and reload from the database,
save changes, or save anyway.

The option to cancel changes simply calls the RejectChanges method of the DataSet
and rebinds the DataSet to the controls in the ASP.NET page. The RejectChanges
method reverts the changes that the user made back to its original state by setting all
of the current field values to the original field values. The option to cancel changes
and reload the data from the database also rejects the changes but additionally goes
back to the database via the Employee class in order to get a fresh copy of the data
before rebinding to the control on the ASP.NET page.

The option to save changes attempts to save the changes but will fail if a concurrency
violation is encountered. Finally, I included a "save anyway" option. This option takes
the values the user attempted to save and uses the last-in wins technique, overwriting
whatever is in the database. It does this by calling a different command object
associated with a stored procedure that only uses the primary key field (EmployeeID)
in the WHERE clause of the UPDATE statement. This technique should be used with
caution as it will overwrite the record.

If you want a more automatic way of dealing with the changes, you could get a fresh
copy from the database. Then overwrite just the fields that the current user modified,
such as the Extension field. That way, in the example I used the proper LastName
would not be overwritten. Use this with caution as well, however, because if the same
field was modified by both users, you may want to just back out or ask the user what
to do next. What is obvious here is that there are several ways to deal with
concurrency violations, each of which must be carefully weighed before you decide on
the one you will use in your application.

Wrapping It Up

Setting the SqlDataAdapter's ContinueUpdateOnError property tells the SqlDataAdapter

to either throw an exception when a concurrency violation occurs or to skip the row
that caused the violation and to continue with the remaining updates. By setting this
property to false (its default value), it will throw an exception when it encounters a
concurrency violation. This technique is ideal when only saving a single row or when
you are attempting to save multiple rows and want them all to commit or all to fail.

I have split the topic of concurrency violation management into two parts. Next time I
will focus on what to do when multiple rows could cause concurrency violations. I will
also discuss how the DataViewRowState enumerators can be used to show what
changes have been made to a DataSet.

How you will set the datarelation between two columns?

ADO.NET provides DataRelation object to set relation between two columns.It helps to

91
enforce the following constraints,a unique constraint, which guarantees that a column
in the table contains no duplicates and a foreign-key constraint,which can be used to
maintain referential integrity.A unique constraint is implemented either by simply
setting the Unique property of a data column to true, or by adding an instance of the
UniqueConstraint class to the DataRelation object's ParentKeyConstraint. As part of the
foreign-key constraint, you can specify referential integrity rules that are applied at
three points,when a parent record is updated,when a parent record is deleted and
when a change is accepted or rejected.

8. C# and VB.NET

Explain the differences between Server-side and Client-side code?

Server side code executes on the server.For this to occur page has to be submitted or
posted back.Events fired by the controls are executed on the server.Client side code
executes in the browser of the client without submitting the page.
e.g. In ASP.NET for webcontrols like asp:button the click event of the button is
executed on the server hence the event handler for the same in a part of the code-
behind (server-side code). Along the server-side code events one can also attach client
side events which are executed in the clients browser i.e. javascript events.

How does VB.NET/C# achieve polymorphism?

Polymorphism is also achieved through interfaces. Like abstract classes, interfaces also
describe the methods that a class needs to implement. The difference between
abstract classes and interfaces is that abstract classes always act as a base class of the
related classes in the class hierarchy. For example, consider a hierarchy-car and truck
classes derived from four-wheeler class; the classes two-wheeler and four-wheeler
derived from an abstract class vehicle. So, the class 'vehicle' is the base class in the
class hierarchy. On the other hand dissimilar classes can implement one interface. For
example, there is an interface that compares two objects. This interface can be
implemented by the classes like box, person and string, which are unrelated to each
other.

C# allows multiple interface inheritance. It means that a class can implement more
than one interface. The methods declared in an interface are implicitly abstract. If a
class implements an interface, it becomes mandatory for the class to override all the
methods declared in the interface, otherwise the derived class would become
abstract.

Can you explain what inheritance is and an example of when you might use it?
The savingaccount class has two data members-accno that stores account number, and
trans that keeps track of the number of transactions. We can create an object of
savingaccount class as shown below.

savingaccount s = new savingaccount ( "Amar", 5600.00f ) ;

From the constructor of savingaccount class we have called the two-argument
constructor of the account class using the base keyword and passed the name and
balance to this constructor using which the data member's name and balance are
initialised.

92
We can write our own definition of a method that already exists in a base class. This is
called method overriding. We have overridden the deposit( ) and withdraw( ) methods
in the savingaccount class so that we can make sure that each account maintains a
minimum balance of Rs. 500 and the total number of transactions do not exceed 10.
From these methods we have called the base class's methods to update the balance
using the base keyword. We have also overridden the display( ) method to display
additional information, i.e. account number.

Working of currentaccount class is more or less similar to that of savingaccount class.

Using the derived class's object, if we call a method that is not overridden in the
derived class, the base class method gets executed. Using derived class's object we
can call base class's methods, but the reverse is not allowed.

Unlike C++, C# does not support multiple inheritance. So, in C# every class has exactly
one base class.
Now, suppose we declare reference to the base class and store in it the address of
instance of derived class as shown below.

account a1 = new savingaccount ( "Amar", 5600.00f ) ;

account a2 = new currentaccount ( "MyCompany Pvt. Ltd.", 126000.00f) ;
Such a situation arises when we have to decide at run-time a method of which class in
a class hierarchy should get called. Using a1 and a2, suppose we call the method
display( ), ideally the method of derived class should get called. But it is the method
of base class that gets called. This is because the compiler considers the type of
reference (account in this case) and resolves the method call. So, to call the proper
method we must make a small change in our program. We must use the virtual
keyword while defining the methods in base class as shown below.

public virtual void display( ) { }

We must declare the methods as virtual if they are going to be overridden in derived
class. To override a virtual method in derived classes we must use the override
keyword as given below.

public override void display( ) { }

Now it is ensured that when we call the methods using upcasted reference, it is the
derived class's method that would get called. Actually, when we declare a virtual
method, while calling it, the compiler considers the contents of the reference rather
than its type.

If we don't want to override base class's virtual method, we can declare it with new
modifier in derived class. The new modifier indicates that the method is new to this
class and is not an override of a base class method.

How would you implement inheritance using VB.NET/C#?

When we set out to implement a class using inheritance, we must first start with an
existing class from which we will derive our new subclass. This existing class, or base
class, may be part of the .NET system class library framework, it may be part of some
other application or .NET assembly, or we may create it as part of our existing
application. Once we have a base class, we can then implement one or more
subclasses based on that base class. Each of our subclasses will automatically have all

93
of the methods, properties, and events of that base class ? including the
implementation behind each method, property, and event. Our subclass can add new
methods, properties, and events of its own - extending the original interface with new
functionality. Additionally, a subclass can replace the methods and properties of the
base class with its own new
implementation - effectively overriding the original behavior and replacing it with new
behaviors. Essentially inheritance is a way of merging functionality from an existing
class into our new subclass. Inheritance also defines rules for how these methods,
properties, and events can be merged. In VB.NET we can use implements keyword for
inheritance, while in C# we can use the sign ( :: ) between subclass and baseclass.

How is a property designated as read-only?

In VB.NET:

Private mPropertyName as DataType

Public ReadOnly Property PropertyName() As DataType
Get Return mPropertyName
End Get
End Property

In C#

Private DataType mPropertyName;

public returntype PropertyName
{
get{
//property implementation goes here
return mPropertyName;
}
// Do not write the set implementation
}

What is hiding in CSharp ?

Hiding is also called as Shadowing. This is the concept of Overriding the methods. It is
a concept used in the Object Oriented Programming.

E.g.
public class ClassA {
public virtual void MethodA() {
Trace.WriteLine("ClassA Method");
}
}

public class ClassB : ClassA {

public new void MethodA() {
Trace.WriteLine("SubClass ClassB Method");
}
}

94
public class TopLevel {
static void Main(string[] args) {
TextWriter tw = Console.Out;
Trace.Listeners.Add(new TextWriterTraceListener(tw));

ClassA obj = new ClassB();

obj.MethodA(); // Outputs “Class A Method"

ClassB obj1 = new ClassB();

obj.MethodA(); // Outputs “SubClass ClassB Method”
}
}

What is the difference between an XML "Fragment" and an XML "Document."

An XML fragment is an XML document with no single top-level root element. To put it
simple it is a part (fragment) of a well-formed xml document. (node) Where as a well-
formed xml document must have only one root element.

What does it meant to say “the canonical” form of XML?

"The purpose of Canonical XML is to define a standard format for an XML document.
Canonical XML is a very strict XML syntax, which lets documents in canonical XML be
compared directly.
Using this strict syntax makes it easier to see whether two XML documents are the
same. For example, a section of text in one document might read Black & White,
whereas the same section of text might read Black & White in another document, and
even in another. If you compare those three documents byte by byte, they'll be
different. But if you write them all in canonical XML, which specifies every aspect of
the syntax you can use, these three documents would all have the same version of this
text (which would be Black & White) and could be compared without problem.
This Comparison is especially critical when xml documents are digitally signed. The
digital signal may be interpreted in different way and the document may be rejected.

Why is the XML InfoSet specification different from the Xml DOM? What does the
InfoSet attempt to solve?
"The XML Information Set (Infoset) defines a data model for XML. The Infoset describes
the abstract representation of an XML Document. Infoset is the generalized
representation of the XML Document, which is primarily meant to act as a set of
definitions used by XML technologies to formally describe what parts of an XML
document they operate upon.
The Document Object Model (DOM) is one technology for representing an XML
Document in memory and to programmatically read, modify and manipulate a xml
document.
Infoset helps defining generalized standards on how to use XML that is not dependent
or tied to a particular XML specification or API. The Infoset tells us what part of XML
Document should be considered as significant information.

Contrast DTDs versus XSDs. What are their similarities and differences? Which is
preferred and why?
Document Type Definition (DTD) describes a model or set of rules for an XML

95
document. XML Schema Definition (XSD) also describes the structure of an XML
document but XSDs are much more powerful.
The disadvantage with the Document Type Definition is it doesn’t support data types
beyond the basic 10 primitive types. It cannot properly define the type of data
contained by the tag.
An Xml Schema provides an Object Oriented approach to defining the format of an xml
document. The Xml schema support most basic programming types like integer, byte,
string, float etc., We can also define complex types of our own which can be used to
define a xml document.
Xml Schemas are always preferred over DTDs as a document can be more precisely
defined using the XML Schemas because of its rich support for data representation.

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++.

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

Int32.Parse(string)

Can you declare a C++ type destructor in C# like ~MyClass()?

Yes, but what's the point, since it will call Finalize(), and Finalize() has no guarantees
when the memory will be cleaned up, plus, it introduces additional load on the
garbage collector.

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

declaration in Java?
No semicolon.

What's the difference between const and readonly?

The readonly keyword is different from the const keyword. A const field can only be
initialized at the declaration of the field. A readonly field can be initialized either at
the declaration or in a constructor. Therefore, readonly fields can have different
values depending on the constructor used. Also, while a const field is a compile-time
constant, the readonly field can be used for runtime constants as in the following
example:
public static readonly uint l1 = (uint) DateTime.Now.Ticks;

What does \a character do?

On most systems, produces a rather annoying beep.

Can you create enumerated data types in C#?

Yes.

What's different about switch statements in C#?

No fall-throughs allowed.

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.

96
How can you sort the elements of the array in descending order?
By calling Sort() and then Reverse() methods.

Will finally block get executed if the exception had not occurred?
Yes.

What's the C# equivalent of C++ catch (…), which was a catch-all statement for any
possible exception?
A catch block that catches the exception of type System.Exception. You can also omit
the parameter data type in this case and just write catch {}.

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 the difference between // comments, /* */ comments and /// comments?

Single-line, multi-line and XML documentation comments.

How do you generate documentation from the C# file commented properly with a
command-line compiler?
Compile it with a /doc switch.

Can you change the value of a variable while debugging a C# application?

Yes, if you are debugging via Visual Studio.NET, just go to Immediate window.

What's the implicit name of the parameter that gets passed into the class' set
method?
Value, and it's datatype depends on whatever variable we're changing.

How do you inherit from a class in C#?

Place a colon and then the name of the base class. Notice that it's double colon in
C++.

Does C# support multiple inheritance?

No, use interfaces instead.

So how do you retrieve the customized properties of a .NET application from XML
.config file? Can you automate this process?
Initialize an instance of AppSettingsReader class. Call the GetValue method of
AppSettingsReader class, passing in the name of the property and the type expected.
Assign the result to the appropriate variable. In Visual Studio yes, use Dynamic
Properties for automatic .config creation, storage and retrieval.

97
Why is it not a good idea to insert code into InitializeComponent method when
working with Visual Studio?
The designer will likely through it away, most of the code inside InitializeComponent is
auto-generated.

Where do you add an event handler?

It's the Attributesproperty, the Add function inside that property.
e.g. btnSubmit.Attributes.Add(""onMouseOver"",""someClientCode();"")

What are jagged array?

First lets us answer the question that what an array is?

The dictionary meaning of array is an orderly arrangement or sequential arrangement
of elements.
In computer science term:
An array is a data structure that contains a number of variables, which are accessed
through computed indices. The variables contained in an array, also called the
elements of the array, are all of the same type, and this type is called the element
type of the array.

An array has a rank that determines the number of indices associated with each array
element. The rank of an array is also referred to as the dimensions of the array. An
array with a rank of one is called a single-dimensional array. An array with a rank
greater than one is called a multi-dimensional array. Specific sized multidimensional
arrays are often referred to as two-dimensional arrays, three-dimensional arrays, and
so on.

Now let us answer What are jagged arrays?

A jagged array is an array whose elements are arrays. The elements of jagged array
can be of different dimensions and sizes. A jagged array is sometimes called as “array-
of-arrays”. It is called jagged because each of its rows is of different size so the final
or graphical representation is not a square.

When you create a jagged array you declare the number of rows in your array. Each
row will hold an array that will be on any length. Before filling the values in the inner
arrays you must declare them.

Jagged array declaration in C#:

For e.g. : int [] [] myJaggedArray = new int [3][];

Declaration of inner arrays:

myJaggedArray[0] = new int[5] ; // First inner array will be of length 5.

myJaggedArray[1] = new int[4] ; // Second inner array will be of length 4.
myJaggedArray[2] = new int[3] ; // Third inner array will be of length 3.

Now to access third element of second row we write:

int value = myJaggedArray[1][2];

98
Note that while declaring the array the second dimension is not supplied because this
you will declare later on in the code.

Jagged array are created out of single dimensional arrays so be careful while using
them. Don’t confuse it with multi-dimensional arrays because unlike them jagged
arrays are not rectangular arrays.

For more information on arrays:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-
us/csref/html/vclrfarrayspg.asp

What is a delegate, why should you use it and how do you call it ?
A delegate is a reference type that refers to a Shared method of a type or to an
instance method of an object. Delegate is like a function pointer in C and C++.
Pointers are used to store the address of a thing. Delegate lets some other code call
your function without needing to know where your function is actually located. All
events in .NET actually use delegates in the background to wire up events. Events are
really just a modified form of a delegate.
It should give you an idea of some different areas in which delegates may be
appropriate:

• They enable callback functionality in multi-tier applications as demonstrated in

the examples above. <o:p></o:p>
• The CacheItemRemoveCallback delegate can be used in ASP.NET to keep cached
information up to date. When the cached information is removed for any
reason, the associated callback is exercised and could contain a reload of the
cached information. <o:p></o:p>
• Use delegates to facilitate asynchronous processing for methods that do not
offer asynchronous behavior.
• Events use delegates so clients can give the application events to call when the
event is fired. Exposing custom events within your applications requires the use
of delegates.

How does the XmlSerializer work?

XmlSerializer in the .NET Framework is a great tool to convert Xml into runtime
objects and vice versa

If you define integer variable and a object variable and a structure then how those
will be plotted in memory.

Integer , structure – System.ValueType -- Allocated memory on stack , infact integer is

primitive type recognized and allocated memory by compiler itself .

Infact , System.Int32 definition is as follows :

[C#]
[Serializable]
public struct Int32 : IComparable, IFormattable, IConvertible

99
So , it’s a struct by definition , which is the same case with various other value types .

Object – Base class , that is by default reference type , so at runtime JIT compiler
allocates memory on the “Heap” Data structure .

Reference types are defined as class , derived directly or indirectly by

System.ReferenceType

100