The .NET Framework comes to mind when talking about .NET. However, since the release of .NET Core 1.0 in 2016, we need to be more specific and distinguish between the .NET framework (also referred to as the full .NET framework) and the new .NET Core.

To understand the differences between the two, we first need to inspect the two main parts of the .NET framework: Common Language Runtime (CLR) and the Framework Class Library (FCL).

The Common Language Runtime is the virtual machine part of the .NET framework, responsible for running applications. It provides multiple services which make the following possible: