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Want to Read the .NET Framework Source Code?

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 If you think it would be helpful as a developer to be able to debug into the source code of the .NET Framework, then we have exciting news for you. With Visual Studio 2008, you will be able to do exactly that.

As part of the Shared Source Initiative, Microsoft will release the source code to the .NET Framework including the Base Class Libraries (BCL), Windows Forms, ASP.NET, System.Data, and WPF. The BCL includes many of the basic classes in the framework including collections, string and text handling, IO, serialization, remoting, and others. We plan to include additional libraries into the set as time goes on.

As a long time Borland Delphi 5.0/6.0 developer before joining Microsoft (I guess you could say I was following Anders Hejlsberg's tracks), it was extremely helpful to be able to read and debug into the Delphi Visual Component Library. I can't wait to see what results from making such a valuable resource as the .NET Framework source code available to the large .NET community. 

There will be two ways folks can access the source code:

1)     There will be a download package with the source that you will be able to install and browse locally.

2)     VS 2008 integration will enable developers to debug from their own source code into the .NET Framework source code. Microsoft will provide symbols for the source on an internet-accessible source-server; to enable this experience, the developer needs to set up the URI for the server.

There is an interview with Shawn Burke on the .NET Source Code release available here.

Read Scott Guthrie's blog post for a walkthrough of the new Visual Studio 2008 capabilities.

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