What does one need to build or execute .NET applications?

To execute a standalone .NET application (Windows or Console application), one needs to first compile all its constituent assemblies and modules including the executable assembly. Once, the constituent assemblies are compiled, one needs to make sure that the target system contains the .NET framework. The application can now be executed by running its executable assembly (the .exe file). The executable assembly (.exe) is a Win32 executable that hosts the .Net CLR (Common Language Runtime), which exists as a COM component, in its process space and initializes it. Once the CLR is hosted and initialized, the starting point of the .NET executable assembly is passed to the hosted CLR which starts the execution of the program by translating and executing the parts of the program code.