Assembly

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In the .NET framework, an assembly is a compiled code li
brary for use in deployment, versioning and security. There are two types: proce
ss assemblies (EXE) and library assemblies (DLL). An assembly contains code that
the CLR executes, MSIL code in a Protable Executable (PE) File will not be exec
uted if it does not have an associated assembly manifest. Assembly can have only
one entry point(DllMain ,WinMain, Main).
2. Assebly Securities can specify a set of Permissions that tha assembly require
s sto run.

assembly manifest - An integral part of every assembly that renders the assembly
self-describing. The assembly manifest contains the assembly's metadata. The ma
nifest establishes the assembly identity, specifies the files that make up the a
ssembly implementation, specifies the types and resources that make up the assem
bly, itemizes the compile-time dependencies on other assemblies, and specifies t
he set of permissions required for the assembly to run properly. This informatio
n is used at run time to resolve references, enforce version binding policy, and
validate the integrity of loaded assemblies. The self-describing nature of asse
mblies also helps makes zero-impact install and XCOPY deployment feasible.
metadata - Information that describes every element managed by the common langua
ge runtime: an assembly, loadable file, type, method, and so on. This can includ
e information required for debugging and garbage collection, as well as security
attributes, marshaling data, extended class and member definitions, version bin
ding, and other information required by the runtime.