Inside Microsoft .NET IL Assembler

Drill down into the details of the .NET runtime and IL assembly language with help from one of the languages designers!

Most books about .NET programming are devoted to high-level languages in RAD environments. But what about the plumbing? This book drills down into the internal structures and operations of the .NET common language runtime and teaches you how to master the IL assembly language (ILAsm), which fully describes these structures and operations. The rule of thumb is that if the runtime can do it, ILAsm must be able to express it. Youll learn everything you need to know about this low-level language from the developer who designed and implemented the IL Assembler, IL Disassembler, and metadata validation tools. The book is ideal for compiler developers, developers working on multilanguage projects, and anyone else who wants to develop tighter, faster code for the .NET Framework platform. Topics covered include:

Overview of ILAsm and the common language runtime, plus a sample program
Enhancing your code
Managed executable file structure
Metadata tables organization
Modules and assemblies
Namespaces and classes
Primitive types and signatures
Fields and data constants
Methods
IL instructions
Structured exception handling
Events and properties
Custom and security attributes
Managed and unmanaged code interoperation
Multilanguage projects
Appendixes: ILAsm grammar, metadata organization, the IL instruction set, IL Assembler and Disassembler compiler options, and the off-line metadata validation tool

CD-ROM FEATURES:
A fully searchable electronic copy of the book
Sample code in IL assembly language