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There is a set of basic class libraries in Microsoft .NET Framework. The class library has been arranged in a system of namespaces. Mostly, the in-built Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are division of either system namespaces or Microsoft namespaces. It encloses many common executions such as database interaction, file reading, file writing, graphic rendering, and manipulation of XML documents, among others. The class libraries of the .NET are available to all the .NET languages. The class library of the .NET Framework has been bifurcated into two parts, which are the Base Class Library (BCL) and the Framework Class Library (FCL).

The BCL comprises a simple subset of the total class library and it is the core group of classes, which serve as the fundamental API of the CLR (Common Language Runtime). The whole classes in mscorlib.dll and many classes in System.core.dll and System.dll are regarded as a component of the BCL. The classes of BCL are available in .NET Framework and also in its alternative implementations such as Microsoft Silverlight, .NET Compact Framework, and Mono.

The FCL is a superset (most advanced set) of the classes of the BCL and it denotes the complete class library, which is available with .NET Framework. FCL consists of an increased set of libraries, which includes ADO.NET, WinForms, ASP.NET, Windows Presentation Foundation, Language-Integrated Query, and Windows Communication Foundation amongst others. The FCL is more advanced in scope than the common libraries for languages such as C++, and similar to the scope of the common libraries of Java.