CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#.netdynamic
anchandra
anchandra

Reputation: 1099

How to manage creating/compiling dynamic objects in .net 4.0

I am writing an application that allows the user to create custom algorithms for computing values over a collection of objects. Simply put, i will be having a string with the source code of class with one method.

The solution I have implemented is to compile the string source code in a separate dll for each such custom algorithm and then load them using Assembly.Load and instantiate the class saved in the dll. From a maintainability point of views, this means that i have to store the source code in the db (for example) and also manage the existence of the compiled dlls (recreate by compiling again the source code if it is missing)

Is there a better way to do this, considering the new features of .Net 4.0?

EDIT: The input source code is C# and i am using CSharpCodeProvider to compile the code. The custom classes are all derived from a base class and they override the method that actually holds the computation logic. What i would really like to do is to get rid of the dll management and not lose (too much) performance in compiling all the classes every time my application starts up

Upvotes: 1

Views: 379

Answers (2)

Justin Young
Justin Young

Reputation: 103

The CSharpCodeProvider has been around for a while and should fit the ticket. It can be used to generate the separate libraries like you have been doing (perhaps you are using the CSharpCodeProvider), but it can also be used to generate dynamic class objects. If they all implement an interface you can cast the objects as an interface or you can use reflection to invoke your logic. Here is a codeproject article to achieve something similar:

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dotnet/dynacodgen.aspx

Upvotes: 1

Marc Gravell
Marc Gravell

Reputation: 1063944

I would look at scripting languages; IronPython is easy to embed, or there are JavaScript engines for .NET. Simple, and usually fast enough.

If (comments) you need to use c#, I would:

  • build all the current methods at the same time into one assembly; solves a lot of problems
  • if the data changes during execution, make use of AppDomains so that I can unload them

I've done something similar where the model/rules were XML, running it through a transform to get c#, and compiling with CSharpCodeProvider (or whatever); and simply polling every minute or so to see if a new build is required

Upvotes: 2

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