COM Interop Design
One way the .NET Framework solves cross-language interoperability is through the use of common data types. A String object in Visual C++ .NET is the same as a String object in C# or VB .NET. With this feature, the developer doesn't have to worry about type conversions using C++ casts or implementing some sort of data-conversion routines. However, the data types used within COM are not the same as the data types in the .NET Framework.
To achieve communication between COM objects and .NET assemblies, parameters and return values have to use a process known as marshaling. Marshaling is the packaging and sending of parameters and return types to an intermediate object, sometimes called a proxy, where it is then converted and unpackaged ...
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