Editing Common Intermediate Language (section)

==General information==
During compilation of [[List of CLI languages|CLI programming languages]], the [[source code]] is translated into CIL code rather than into platform- or processor-specific [[object file|object code]]. CIL is a [[CPU]]- and platform-independent instruction set that can be executed in any environment supporting the Common Language Infrastructure, such as the [[Common Language Runtime|.NET runtime]] on [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], or the [[cross-platform]] [[Mono (software)|Mono]] runtime. In theory, this eliminates the need to distribute different executable files for different platforms and CPU types. CIL code is verified for safety during runtime, providing better security and reliability than natively compiled executable files.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VGT1_UJzjM0C&q=CIL+is+platform-independent&pg=PA15| title = Benefits of CIL| access-date = 2011-02-17| last1 = Troelsen| first1 = Andrew| date = 2009-05-02| publisher = Apress| isbn = 9781590598849}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.visualcplusdotnet.com/visualcplusdotnet1.html|title=Unmanaged, Managed Extensions for C++, Managed and .Net Framework|website=www.visualcplusdotnet.com|access-date=2020-07-07}}</ref>

The execution process looks like this:

#Source code is converted to CIL [[bytecode]] and a [[Assembly (CLI)|CLI assembly]] is created.
#Upon execution of a CIL assembly, its code is passed through the runtime's [[Just-in-time compilation|JIT compiler]] to generate native code. Ahead-of-time compilation may also be used, which eliminates this step, but at the cost of executable-file portability.
#The computer's processor executes the native code.