Metadata and Assemblies

A metadata is binary information that describes our program, stored in a CLR portable executable (PE) file or the memory. When compilation of the code takes place in a PE file, the metadata is inserted into one part of the file, while the code is converted into MSIL and inserted into the part of the file.The metadata describes every type and member.When the code is in the run mode, the CLR loads the metadata into the memory and finds information about the code's classes and members.
a metadata describes information about the code in a language -neutral manner.the metadata contains the following:

• Assembly information, which includes the metadata identify that can be name, version, culture, public key, other referenced assemblies, and security permissions
• Information about types, such as name, visibility, base class, interfaces used, and members
• Attribute information that modifies the types and members of a class

ASSEMBLIES can be of two types, static and dynamic. Static assemblies include interfaces, classes, and resources, MSIL code that implements the types(static or dynamic), and a set of resources, such as bitmaps and joint photographic experts group(JPEG) files.