[Gluber]

If we're talking modern .NET ( 6 for example ) you have 4 options, let's assume a simple hello world without third party dependencies:

1. Build it runtime dependent: ( which requires the NET 6 runtime to be pre installed ) on your computer in order to be able to run: You get a single exe file.

2. Build it self contained: You get a directory with a bunch of dlls and one exe But no runtime needs to be installed on the target computer

3. Build it self contained + single exe: You a get a single exe that embeds all those dlls and unpacks them in memory ( since net 6, in net 5 it would copy them to a temp directory )

4. Build it using AOT Mode: You get a single, statically linked exe. This is probably the closest to a standard Rust (statically linked) build. However AOT mode is not yet official and requires some fiddling still, but should become stable for NET 7 next year. And you loose out on some features obviously like runtime code generation