Is ADO.NET and ASP.NET a part of Base Class Library? The information given in wikipedia looks ambiguous to me. In the figure, it is shown as a separate block. What is the difference between Base Class Library(BCL) and Framework Class Library(FCL)? Is FCL as a part of .NET Framework? If so why is FCL not shown in the figure as part of .NET framework?
Got confused!!
In kind of the order you asked,
@Scott - From the text you posted
"The Base Class Libraries (BCL) serve as the standard runtime for any .NET language and provide types that represent the intrinsic CLR rtpes, collections, streams, string manipulation, basic file access, etc.
The remaining classes in the FCL are focused on specific functional areas, such as provding database access."
To me this means that the FCL is the whole, and the BCL is part of it, but maybe you read that differently.
The Framework Class Library is everything included in the entire .NET framework installation. This includes ADO.NET, ASP.NET, WPF, Windows Forms, etc.
The Base Class Library is the main core part of the framework, which allows the Common Language Runtime to operate properly. This would include the System namespace, core types, etc.
The Base Class Library aka BCL is a set of classes that is used to get the framework itself and the virtual machine, that is the runtime that executes the code, running. It is the infrastructure for the .NET Framework. The BCL is part of the ECMA-335 standard.
The Framework class libraries are additional libraries that use the BCL to do their specific job.
The Framework Class Library (FCL) is just one component of the .NET Framework and is similar to Java's class libraries, the C++ Standard Template Library (STL), Microsoft's Active Template Library (ATL), the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), Borland's Object Windows Library (OWL) and many others.
It is a rich set of reusable types allowing you to achieve a high level of developer productivity by simplyfying many common programming tasks.
The Base Class Libraries (BCL) serve as the standard runtime for any .NET language and provide types that represent the intrinsic CLR rtpes, collections, streams, string manipulation, basic file access, etc.
The remaining classes in the FCL are focused on specific functional areas, such as provding database access.
So, in short, all of the "higher-level" classes you use that are installed when you install the .NET Framework are part of the Framework Class Library but not necessarily part of the Base Class Library. Specifically, the ADO.NET classes are not part of the BCL but they are part of the FCL.
As to why the FCL isn't shown in the referenced figure on Wikipedia is most likely due to the fact that it isn't always easy to visually convey the fact that the FCL isn't a single physical "thing" but rather it is made up of multiple components.
The Base Class Library is the part of the Framework Class Library (the .NET Framework Stack in the illustration) that you can use in any type of application.
The parts above that is depending on the type of application that you are making. If you make an application without database connectivity, you don't have any use for the ADO.NET libraries. If you make a web application, you have no use for the winforms libraries.
Class Library is a collection of class's. It includes classes for: Data Access like ADO.NET,XML Support, Directory Services, Regular Experssions, Querying Support.
The Base Class library in the .NET Framework is huge. It covers areas such as Collection like, System.Collection, System.Threading, System.CodeDom, System.IO, System.Reflection, System.Security.
