CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#.netassemblieslazy-loadingmef
Adi Lester
Adi Lester

Reputation: 25201

MEF CachedAssemblyCatalog - Lazy Loading of Assemblies

I'm very interested in the CachedAssemblyCatalog class introduced in the samples provided in older versions of MEF - which allows loading a small assembly containing just the export data instead of the entire assembly, and only loading the full assembly when a part from that assembly is required.

I'd like to use this feature in my application, but I'm not really sure about the stability/reliability of this code, and whether there are any future plans regarding this feature. Is it scheduled to become an integral part of MEF anytime soon, or at all?

Has anyone used this this code in his application and can share his impressions? Is it stable? Is it working as expected? I'm a bit discouraged by the fact that there is practically no data available for this type of catalog on Google and by the fact that the caching sample no longer appears in the currently available samples.

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Upvotes: 4

Views: 827

Answers (2)

Adi Lester
Adi Lester

Reputation: 25201

Got a short answer for this @ MEF's forums.

We haven't been actively maintaining this sample, and don't consider it stable. Hopefully it is of some use to you, but we don't have any plan to update or further develop it.

Not really what I was hoping for. I think this could be a really useful feature.

EDIT: I've ended up implementing this myself and making it available on GitHub

Upvotes: 1

cpoDesign
cpoDesign

Reputation: 9153

not sure about the cashed assembly, but as MEF goes I would search Bryans blog: http://www.bryanavery.co.uk/post/2010/05/27/Using-MEF-to-provide-PlugIns.aspx

In generic Using Export and Import using MEF is much faster than any other IoC I have worked with.

Stability of the code is great, as long you have correct location for the dlls.

Also you can find simple code example here: http://daysincode.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/implementing-mef-with-list-of.html

Otherwise, I thing that most difficult about MEF is understand how does this fits together and how the collection of references is constructed. It allows very plug n play options to your application, and easy way of upgrading each implementation.

if you have any more questions, please ask

Upvotes: 0

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