14.1. Assemblies 101
All the new .NET functionality is surrounded by this new (to SQL Server anyway) term assembly. So, a reasonable question might be: "What exactly is an assembly?" An assembly is a DLL that has been created using managed code (what .NET language does not matter). The assembly may have been built using Visual Studio .NET or some other development environment, but the .NET Framework SDK also provides a command-line compiler for those of you who do not have Visual Studio available.
NOTE
Not all custom attributes or .NET Framework APIs are legal for assemblies used in SQL Server. You can consult Books Online for a full list, but, in general, anything that supports windowing is not allowed, nor is anything marked UNSAFE, unless your assembly is to be granted access at an UNSAFE level.
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