Understanding Assemblies’ Metadata

As you know, when you build an executable with Visual Basic, you build a .NET assembly. An assembly is a container of metadata and code. Metadata is information that the Common Language Runtime (CLR) uses in correctly loading and running the assembly. Figure 44.1 represents how an assembly is structured.

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FIGURE 44.1 How an assembly is structured.

The Assembly Metadata, also known as assembly manifest, provides assembly information such as the name, version, culture, copyright information, and signature. The Type Metadata contains information on types defined within the assembly, such as class names and names ...

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