What is “runtime”?

Question

I have heard about things like \"C Runtime\", \"Visual C++ 2008 Runtime\", \".NET Common Language Runtime\", etc.

• What is \"runtime\" exactly?

Answer 1

Runtime is a general term that refers to any library, framework, or platform that your code runs on.

The C and C++ runtimes are collections of functions.

The .NET runtime contains an intermediate language interpreter, a garbage collector, and more.

Answer 2

If my understanding from reading the above answers is correct, Runtime is basically 'background processes' such as garbage collection, memory-allocation, basically any processes that are invoked indirectly, by the libraries / frameworks that your code is written in, and specifically those processes that occur after compilation, while the application is running.

Answer 3

Runtime basically means when program interacts with the hardware and operating system of a machine. C does not have it's own runtime but instead, it requests runtime from an operating system (which is basically a part of ram) to execute itself.

Answer 4

Run time exactly where your code comes into life and you can see lot of important thing your code do.

Runtime has a responsibility of allocating memory , freeing memory , using operating system's sub system like (File Services, IO Services.. Network Services etc.)

Your code will be called "WORKING IN THEORY" until you practically run your code. and Runtime is a friend which helps in achiving this.

Answer 5

I found that the following folder structure makes a very insightful context for understanding what runtime is:

You can see that there is the 'source', there is the 'SDK' or 'Software Development Kit' and then there is the Runtime, eg. the stuff that gets run - at runtime. It's contents are like:

The win32 zip contains .exe -s and .dll -s.

So eg. the C runtime would be the files like this -- C runtime libraries, .so-s or .dll -s -- you run at runtime, made special by their (or their contents' or purposes') inclusion in the definition of the C language (on 'paper'), then implemented by your C implementation of choice. And then you get the runtime of that implementation, to use it and to build upon it.

That is, with a little polarisation, the runnable files that the users of your new C-based program will need. As a developer of a C-based program, so do you, but you need the C compiler and the C library headers, too; the users don't need those.

Answer 6

These sections of the MSDN documentation deal with most of your questions: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8bs2ecf4(VS.71).aspx

I hope this helps.

Thanks, Damian