Shared Source CLI Essentials (CD-ROM)

~ (Author), Ted Neward (Author), Geoff Shilling (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Microsoft's Shared Source CLI (code-named "Rotor") is the publicly available implementation of the ECMA Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) and the ECMA C# language specification. Loaded with three million lines of source code, it presents a wealth of programming language technology that targets developers interested in the internal workings of the Microsoft .NET Framework, academics working with advanced compiler technology, and people developing their own CLI implementations. The CLI, at its heart, is an approach to building software that enables code from many independent sources to co-exist and interoperate safely. Shared Source CLI Essentials is a companion guide to Rotor's code. This concise and insightful volume provides a road map for anyone wishing to navigate, understand, or alter the Shared Source CLI code. This book illustrates the design principles used in the CLI standard and discusses the complexities involved when building virtual machines. Included with the book is a CD-ROM that contains all the source code and files.

About the Author

Stutz is working on the team that is implementing the Microsoft Shared Source CLI.

Ted Neward is a software architect, consultant, author, and presenter who has consulted for such companies as Intuit and Pacific Bell, and UC Davis. He is the author of "Server-Based Java Programming" (Manning, 2000), and coauthor of "C# in a Nutshell" (O'Reilly, 2002) and "SSCLI Essentials" (O'Reilly, 2003). Ted was a member of the JSR 175 Expert Group. He now frequently speaks on the conference circuit and to user groups all over the world. He continues to develop and teach courses on Java and .NET.

Shilling is a product unit manager at Microsoft Corporation.

Product Details

• CD-ROM: 378 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 059600351X
• ISBN-13: 978-0596003517
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #883,603 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent!, April 26, 2003

By	Jason Whittington "a reader" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As someone who has spent a fair amount of time toying with and writing about managed code I have to say that I am in awe of the wisdom and clarity contained in this book. "SSCLI Essentials" transcends its subject matter (a research platform unlikely to be used much outside of academia) to be one of the best books I've ever read on Virtual Execution concepts. Java, the CLR, Smalltalk, and all other such environments ultimately have to solve the same problem (How to turn source code into executing machine instructions?). This book uses the SSCLI as a backdrop for exploring decades of VM research and explaining the historical forces influencing how and why this particular implementation (and by implication, Microsoft's commercial CLR) works.

The resulting volume is concise, fascinating, and thorough. Given the increasing importance of virtual environments in the computing world today I think most all working developers (including Java developers!) owe it to themselves to read this book. Even if you never plan to install or use the SSCLI codebase you'll benefit from Dave and friends' lucid explanation of the issues facing modern VM environments and how one particularly popular platform chooses to solve them.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best source for .NET implementation details, October 28, 2003

By	Richard Byers (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is the best and most concentrated source of information I've found for understanding how the .NET CLR is implemented (comparable only to Chris Brumme's blog). Even if you never actually build the SSCLI, this book combined with the SSCLI source code can provide a solid understanding of what's going on behind the scenes in the commercial CLR. I have found this level of understanding to be absolutely necessary in understanding and diagnosing some types of unusual behaviour or performance characteristics of .NET.

If you're not using the SSCLI on a UNIX machine and have a solid understanding of the Win32 API, you can probably safely skip the last chapter on the PAL as it is somewhat anti-climatic. However, coming from a UNIX programming background myself, I found it to be of value in solidifying my understanding of Win32 specific functionality (eg. structured exception handling) and how its used by the SSCLI.

Obviously this book is a must-read for anyone that is actually experimenting with the SSCLI, but I also consider it essential for anyone that wants to fully understand how the commercial version of .NET works.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Book title and amazon.com description are not accurate, March 23, 2005

By	Alok Govil (CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The editorial description makes more claims that what the book deals with. Following are the excerpts from the book description at Amazon.com:

>> Microsoft's Shared Source CLI (code-named "Rotor") is the implementation of the ECMA Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) and the ECMA C# language specification.

Above implies: (Shared Source CLI) = (Rotor) = (ECMA CLI + C#)

>> [The book] is a companion guide to Rotor's code. [It] provides a road map for anyone wishing to navigate, understand, or alter the [Rotor] code.

The book declares in the introduction that it does not cover several components of Rotor. The run-time engine is covered, but the compiler (C#) part is not. That is less that half of what was claimed. I correspondingly give 3/5 to the book.

I was interested more in the C# compiler part.