 Demystifying the .NET Global Assembly Cache
As a general rule, the Windows Registry is considered legacy within .NET and XCOPY deployment is highly encouraged, which in turn implies building assemblies that are private to a program’s main executable. Yet, there is a definite need for a central repository for .NET System assemblies as well as other user created Shared assemblies and it is this very need which is addressed by the GAC.
Introducing Global Assembly Cache (GAC)
A computer installed with the common language runtime has a machine-wide code cache known as Global Assembly Cache. In the .NET Framework, the Global Assembly Cache acts as the central place for registering assemblies.
Working with Assemblies and the Global Assembly Cache
If you intend to share an assembly among several applications, you can install it into the global assembly cache. Each computer where the common language runtime is installed has this machine-wide code cache.
Working With the .NET Global Assembly Cache
In this article, Dennis Salguero & Barry Dwyer take a look at the new Global Assembly Cache within .NET. It allows us to manage our DLL assemblies in an easy manner and it provides a level of security that was not previously available when working with COM objects.
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