http://www.microsoft.com/net/ecma

Microsoft have gone to ECMA for standardisation of the C# language and the Common Language Infrastructure (which includes some of the base classes in the standard library aka .NET framework).

ECMA Standardization


On October 31, 2000, Hewlett-Packard, Intel Corporation, and Microsoft jointly submitted proposed draft standards to ECMA, an international standards organization, for use in defining the C# Programming Language (ECMA TC39/TG2) and the Common Language Infrastructure (ECMA TC39/TG3). The official submissions are available from the ECMA web site at http://www.ecma.ch

Hewlett-Packard, Intel Corporation, and Microsoft are providing mirror sites for these specifications. In addition, these sites provide a class library browser which will be hosted at ECMA later this year. The URLs for the mirror sites are: 

	* Hewlett-Packard: http://devresource.hp.com 
	* Intel Corporation: http://developer.intel.com/software/idap/ecma/ 
	* Microsoft: http://msdn.microsoft.com/net/ECMA 

Specifications 

The following documents are available: 

	* CLI Part 1: Architecture (word, pdf) [1.2 MB, 580 KB] 
	* CLI Part 2: General (word, pdf) [1.85 MB, 1.1 MB] 
	* CLI Part 3: Instruction Set (word, pdf) [866 KB, 476 KB] 
	* CLI Part 4: Base Class Library (word, pdf) [468 KB, 123 KB] 
	* CLI Part 5: Annexes (word, pdf) [978 KB, 219 KB] 
	* C# Language Specification (word, pdf) [1.71 MB, 1.5 MB] 

In addition, the following document provides a link to the current approved ECMAScript Edition 3 Language specification. Work is currently being undertaken within TC39 TG1 to standardize enhancements to the ECMAScript language.

	* ECMAScript Edition 3 Language Specification (pdf) [656 KB] 


Class Library Reference Page 

The following class library resources are available: 

	* CLI Class library browser 
	* CLI Class library XML [12.4 MB] 

------------
From msdn.microsoft.com:

On December 13, 2001, the ECMA General Assembly ratified the C# and common language infrastructure (CLI) specifications into international standards. The ECMA standards will be known as ECMA-334 (C#) and ECMA-335 (the CLI). There is also a technical report on the CLI which will be known as ECMA TR84. In addition, ECMA approved the fast-track motion of these specifications to ISO. This is a huge step toward the Microsoft .NET Framework being widely accepted by the industry.