Overview

Microsoft is excited to extend the developer community source code reference and debug capabilities against core Microsoft platform technologies. By gaining a better understanding of the platform code running beneath your application, developers will be able to code more innovative and secure applications on the Microsoft platform.

For more information about the Reference Source Code Service and set up instructions, please go the Reference Source Code Center home page.

Source code is released under the Microsoft Reference Source License (MS-RSL).

Seamless Integration with Visual Studio 2008

With Visual Studio 2008, you can configure the debugger to dynamically download the selected platform component symbols and source from the Reference Source Code Center (RSCC).

Available Platform Components

The first component to be included in the Reference Source Service is the .NET framework. The available .NET framework source includes:

  • NET Base Class Libraries (System, System.IO, System.Collections, System.Configuration, System.Threading, System.Net, System.Security, System.Runtime, System.Text, etc)

  • ASP.NET (System.Web)

  • Windows Forms (System.Windows.Forms)

  • ADO.NET (System.Data)

  • XML (System.Xml)

  • WPF (System.Windows)

Developer Benefits

Access to Microsoft source code through the Reference Source Program benefits developers by:

  • Providing insight into the structure and operation of selected Microsoft platform components

  • Allowing developers to step through Microsoft code using source code debuggers

  • Improving internal support and troubleshooting capabilities for deployed technologies

  • Allowing developers to offer source-code-level feedback so that Microsoft can better meet their needs in the future

Licensing

Access to the symbols and source code of the various Microsoft platform components requires acceptance of the Microsoft Reference Source License (MS-RSL). You will be prompted to accept this license upon the first download of the symbols and source for each package to which you subscribe.

Customer Commitment

In exchange for obtaining access to Microsoft’s source code, Microsoft asks that developers honor our intellectual property and only use the source code in accordance with the terms of the license.

Questions

If you have additional questions regarding this service, please e-mail the Shared Source Initiative.