What is an Assembly in .NET?

Answer:

When you compile an application, the MSIL code created is stored in an assembly.Assemblies include both executable application files(.exe files)& libraries(.dll extension)for use by other application.

In addition to containing MSIL,assemblies also include met information(i.e. information about the information contained in assembly,also called as meta-data)and optional resources(sound and picture file, etc).The meta information enables assemblies to be fully self-descriptive.You need no other information to use an assembly,meaning you avoid situations such as failing to odd required data to the system registry and so on,which was often a problem when developing with other platforms.