CLR Common Language Runtime Execution model.

Compilation and Execution of a .NET Application When you compile a .NET application, it is not compiled to binary machine code; rather, it is converted to IL. This is the form that your deployed application takes—one or more assemblies consisting of executable files and DLL files in IL form. At least one of these assemblies will contain an executable file that has been designated as the entry point for the application.

When execution of your program begins, the first assembly is loaded into memory. At this point, the common language runtime examines the assembly manifest and determines the requirements to run the program. 

It examines security permissions requested by the assembly and compares them with the system’s security policy. If the system’s security policy does not allow the requested permissions, the application will not run. If the application passes the system’s security policy, the common ­language runtime executes the code. It creates a process for the application to run in and begins application execution. When execution starts, the first bit of code that needs to be executed is loaded into memory and compiled into native binary code from IL by the common language runtime’s Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler. Once compiled, the code is executed and stored in memory as native code. Thus, each portion of code is compiled only once when an application executes. Whenever program execution branches to code that has not yet run, the JIT compiler compiles it ahead of execution and stores it in memory as binary code. This way, application performance is maximized because only the parts of a program that are executed are compiled.