.NET Runtime is a cross-platform runtime that executes C# and other .NET languages across cloud, mobile, desktop, and IoT applications.
The runtime provides the execution environment, just-in-time compilation, garbage collection, and standard libraries needed to run .NET applications on Windows, Linux, macOS, and other platforms. It handles the translation of compiled .NET code into machine instructions and manages memory and resource allocation during program execution. The repository contains the source code for building the runtime itself, the core class libraries, and the shared host installer that users download to run .NET applications.
Developers should adopt this runtime if they are building applications in C# or other .NET languages and need cross-platform support. It suits cloud-native applications, web services built with ASP.NET Core, desktop applications, mobile apps, and IoT solutions. The runtime is production-ready with official releases, long-term support versions, and comprehensive documentation covering installation, deployment, and API reference. For those wanting to test unreleased features, nightly builds are available for dogfooding in development projects.
The project receives issue reports from both the core team and external users, indicating adoption beyond the maintainers while maintaining a manageable support load.
