An executable program that runs under an operating system without intermediate software such as an interpreter. Assembled and compiled programs are unmanaged code. The source code is converted into machine language that executes directly in the computer under the OS. See
assembler and
compiler.
In contrast, Java and Common Language Runtime (CLR) applications are examples of managed code. They require software running in the computer that converts their intermediate languages into machine language at the time of execution. Contrast with
managed code. See
Java and
CLR.