Platform Invoke

Definitions

1. A .NET feature (P/Invoke) that allows managed C# or VB.NET code to call unmanaged C/C++ functions exported from native DLLs by declaring the external function signature with the [DllImport] attribute, handling marshaling of data types across the managed/unmanaged boundary.

   In plain English: A way for .NET programs to call functions from older, lower-level system libraries that weren't written in .NET.

   Example: "We used Platform Invoke to call the Win32 GetSystemMetrics function because there's no managed equivalent in .NET for that specific API."

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