.net interview “what is ASSEMBLIES”

INTRODUCING ASSEMBLIES
A .NET application is packaged into an assembly, which is a set of one or more files
containing types, metadata, and executable code. The .NET documentation describes
the assembly as the smallest versionable, installable unit in .NET. It is the functional
unit for code sharing and reuse. It is also at the center of .NET’s code security and
permissions model. All executable code must be part of an assembly.
When we compile a simple program, the compiler creates an assembly consisting
of a single executable file. However, assemblies can contain multiple files including
code module files and files containing resources such as GIF images. Therefore, an
assembly can be viewed as a “logical” DLL.
The assembly contains a manifest that stores metadata describing the types contained
in the assembly, and how they relate to one another. The runtime reads this
manifest to retrieve the identity of the assembly, its component files and exported
types, and information relating to other assemblies on which the assembly depends.
When an assembly consists of multiple files, one file will contain the manifest.