In recent years, we've seen a great deal of interest in the Java programming language and platform. Java became a great boon for Internet developers by providing a useful means of distributing client user interfaces (through Java applets) and by providing enterprise solutions through Java Enterprise Edition. Now, .NET has become the best Internet development platform available today. Unlike the Java platform, which requires that you write all your code using the Java syntax, .NET often lets you use multiple syntaxes to arrive at the same machine instruction set. You can use C++ (the main focus of this book) and its managed extensions, Visual Basic .NET, C#, and even a host of third-party .NET languages to write your programs. Once you develop your source code, it is compiled to intermediate language and then eventually machine code before it runs. Because .NET code is managed by a runtime, you get benefits such as garbage collection and better code security.