The Microsoft .NET Framework is a software component that can be added to or is included with Microsoft Windows operating system. It provides a large body of pre-coded solutions to common program requirements, and manages the execution of programs written specifically for the framework. The pre-coded solutions that form the framework's class library cover a large range of programming needs in areas including: user interface, data access, database connectivity, cryptography, web application development, numeric algorithms, and network communications. The functions of the class library are used by programmers who combine them with their own code to produce applications. Typically, developers use Visual Studio as their IDE in order to utilize the .NET framework to construct applications.