What does it really mean to target a framework, and how do I maximize compatibility?

Question

Greetings all,

This has confused me ever since I first started coding in C#. My goal is to create an assembly that will run on the most recent .NET framework the us

Answer 1

I believe this is supposed to be whatever version you select and upwards. So if you target 2.0 framework, it should work if client has 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, or 4.0 frameworks installed.

You are also selecting language features when you pick this, so I know of no way that you would be able to use 4.0 framework features using an application targeting 2.0 framework. Even dynamically loading assemblies doesn't work, try loading a dll compiled to 4.0 from a 2.0 application, it won't let you.