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This page is specific to
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:
.NET Framework Developer's Guide
Design Guidelines for Developing Class Libraries

The design guidelines for developing class libraries are for library development that extends and interacts with the .NET Framework. The goal of the .NET Framework design guidelines is to help library designers ensure that their users reap the benefits of API consistency and ease of use by providing a unified programming model that is independent of the programming language used for development. It is strongly recommended that you follow these design guidelines when developing classes and components that extend the .NET Framework. Inconsistent library design adversely affects developer productivity and discourages adoption.

These guidelines are intended to help class library designers understand the trade-offs between different solutions. There might be situations where good library design requires that you violate these design guidelines. Such cases should be rare, and it is important that you have a clear and compelling reason for your decision.

Portions Copyright 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Portions Copyright Addison-Wesley Corporation. All rights reserved.

For more information on design guidelines, see the "Framework Design Guidelines: Conventions, Idioms, and Patterns for Reusable .NET Libraries" book by Krzysztof Cwalina and Brad Abrams, published by Addison-Wesley, 2005.

Guidelines for Names

Describes guidelines for naming types and members in class libraries.

Type Design Guidelines

Describes guidelines for using static and abstract classes, interfaces, enumerations, and structures.

Member Design Guidelines

Describes guidelines for designing and using properties, methods, constructors, fields, events, and operators. This section also describes best practices for designing parameters.

Designing for Extensibility

Describes guidelines for designing libraries that can be extended.

Design Guidelines for Exceptions

Describes design guidelines for designing, throwing, and catching exceptions.

Usage Guidelines

Describes guidelines for using arrays and attributes, and guidelines for implementing equality operators.

.NET Framework Class Library Reference

Documents each of the public classes that constitute the .NET Framework.

Asynchronous Programming Design Patterns

Describes the IAsyncResult interface and event-driven patterns for designing and calling asynchronous methods.

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This is so fundamental to abstraction (i.e. progress in software)      DamonWilderCarr   |   Edit   |  
Although some may find this dry content, it is perhaps more important by many orders of magnitude over raw 'API' type references.

This is a 'guide' to what is essential a 'guide' (a framework is essentially making software development easier, faster, less prone to error, less prone to have people perform 'copy/paste' reuse, etc. etc.

Anyway glad to see this up.

Damon Wilder Carr
This is the fundemental to enterprise style development      OOBoyWonder   |   Edit   |  
I agree with the other poster's comment - this is dry content :) However, if you're new to .NET and you have ambitions of becoming an "enterprise quality developer", pay attention to this. This is a good starting point. It really doesn't take that much effort to develop code according to these guidelines. Over time, you'll find the more organized and consistent you are - the easier it is to build on and maintain the applications you develop. The end result is you can spend more time writing and solving interesting problems rather than trying to "re-discover" the intent of what you or someone else did. This is especially important in an enterprise shop with dozens or hundreds of developers. You'll also gain the admiration and gratitude of your peers :).
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