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Processes, AppDomains, and

Object Contexts

I

n the previous two chapters, you examined the steps taken by the CLR to resolve the location of

an externally referenced assembly as well as the role of .NET metadata. In this chapter, you’ll drill

deeper into the details of how an assembly is hosted by the CLR and come to understand the rela-

tionship between processes, application domains, and object contexts.

In a nutshell, 

application domains (or simply AppDomains) are logical subdivisions within a

given process that host a set of related .NET assemblies. As you will see, an AppDomain is further

subdivided into contextual boundaries, which are used to group together like-minded .NET objects.

Using the notion of context, the CLR is able to ensure that objects with special runtime require-

ments are handled appropriately.