The Microsoft ­.NET Framework is a development and execution environment that allows different programming languages & libr­aries to work together seamlessly to create Windows-based applications that are easier to build, manage, deploy, and integrate with other networked systems.

Table of .NET Framework versions

Native Linux Alternative:­

• Mono is a cross platform, open source .NET development framework.

The Microsoft .NET Framework Software Development Kit (SDK) includes everything developers need to write, build, test, and deploy .NET Framework applications, documentation, samples, and command-line tools and compilers.