GAC

The Global Assembly Cache (GAC) is a machine-wide cache of assemblies that are shared by multiple .NET applications. It is a central repository where strongly-named assemblies can be stored and easily accessed by any application on the machine.

The GAC provides a way for multiple applications to share the same version of an assembly, which can help reduce the amount of disk space required by applications and improve performance by reducing the number of copies of the assembly that need to be loaded into memory.

Assemblies that are added to the GAC must be strongly named and signed with a digital signature. Strong naming involves assigning a unique name and version to an assembly to ensure that it is uniquely identified and to prevent version conflicts.

To add an assembly to the GAC, you can use the Global Assembly Cache tool (gacutil.exe), which is provided as part of the .NET Framework. You can use gacutil.exe to install and uninstall assemblies in the GAC, as well as to view the contents of the GAC.

To install an assembly in the GAC using gacutil.exe, you can use the following command:

gacutil /i assemblyname.dll

To uninstall an assembly from the GAC, you can use the following command:

gacutil /u assemblyname.dll

In summary, the GAC is a central repository where strongly-named assemblies can be stored and easily accessed by multiple .NET applications. Assemblies added to the GAC must be strongly named and signed with a digital signature. The Global Assembly Cache tool (gacutil.exe) can be used to install and uninstall assemblies in the GAC.