Microsoft has announced that ECMA, an international standards body, has ratified specifications for the C# language and the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI).
C# and CLI standards are key parts of Microsoft’s .NET Platform, created by Microsoft to enable software developers to quickly build and deploy interoperable XML Web services. C#, which is derived from C and C++, is the first component-oriented language for C and C++ developers. The CLI, a subset of the Microsoft .NET Framework, includes base-class libraries and components needed to enable other software vendors to build, deploy and run XML Web services.
Microsoft submitted the specifications for C# and CLI to ECMA in October 2000, and has collaborated with a dozen industry leaders, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, and Netscape Communications, in C# and CLI technical working groups to complete final specifications.
The specifications are available on ECMA’s Web site.