Metadata
Closely tied to MSIL is metadata. Metadata isn't a set of instructions like MSIL. Rather, it is information that describes the compiled code. It is stored in an assembly with MSIL to make one logical unit.
Here is a sampling of the information that metadata contains:
Full assembly name (simple name, version, public key, and culture)
Referenced assemblies
Visibility, inherited class, and implemented interfaces of each defined class
Information about class members such as methods, fields, and properties
Metadata allows .NET assemblies to be self-describing. This means that an assembly contains enough information to be closely inspected by other assemblies. There are unmanaged and managed APIs to view an assembly's metadata.
One other interesting ...
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