Note: Metadata is the information about data that describes your code. An assembly is the functional unit for sharing and reuse that contains metadata information of a .NET component.

The Working of .NET

With .NET, Microsoft is sending us a version of an Internet made up of an infinite number of interoperable Web applications, which together form a global service exchange network. These Web Services are based on the Simple Object Protocol (SOAP) and XML. Not only are these Web Services likely to develop on the Internet, but may also change the way we plan information systems in enterprises, by making SOAP systematically used as application integration middleware, playing the role of a simple but efficient standard. An enterprise information system could then also become a network of front and back-office applications, which interoperate through SOAP, and reciprocally, use the Web Services that they implement.

The .NET is a three-layered architecture. On the server side, it has operating systems such as Windows DataCenter. In the middle, it has XML, combined with the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) to expose information in sources such as databases and spreadsheets so that developers can call them with XML. On the client side, it has operating systems that support XML parsing to display the information based on the tags assigned to it. Figure below shows the representation of how the .NET works and how SOAP and XML act as glue between different applications.