.NET Reflector

.NET Reflector

.NET Reflector is a popular .NET decompiler and static analysis tool that allows developers to examine and understand the structure and code of .NET assemblies. It can decompile code back into a high-level programming language for analysis.
.NET Reflector image
net decompiler disassembler reflection

.NET Reflector: .NET decompiler and static analysis tool

A popular tool for examining and understanding .NET assemblies, allowing developers to decompile code back into a high-level programming language for analysis.

What is .NET Reflector?

.NET Reflector is a .NET decompilation tool originally created by Lutz Roeder. It enables developers to inspect, navigate, query, and analyze .NET managed code in Visual Studio, without the need for symbols or source code. Some key features of .NET Reflector include:

  • Decompiling .NET assemblies into C# or Visual Basic code to understand structure and behavior
  • Analyzing dependencies between types and assemblies
  • Browsing metadata and IL code with syntax highlighting
  • Searching for usages of APIs across assemblies
  • Plugin architecture to enhance functionality
  • Integrations with Visual Studio to bring Reflector capabilities right into the IDE
  • Analyzing assemblies for potential security issues
  • Comparing differences between two .NET assemblies

.NET Reflector is useful for developers to debug assemblies without symbols, reverse engineer third party libraries to understand internal structure, ensure security of their code, and learn from others' implementation techniques by examining open source .NET code. It has an intuitive graphical interface making complex managed code easy to interpret.

.NET Reflector Features

Features

  1. Decompiles .NET assemblies into C# or IL code
  2. Analyzes dependencies between assemblies
  3. Supports add-ins for enhanced functionality
  4. Integrates with Visual Studio
  5. Supports debugging compiled assemblies
  6. Provides class, method, property browsing

Pricing

  • Free
  • One-time Purchase

Pros

Easy to use graphical interface

Generates clean, readable code

Free for non-commercial use

Helpful for understanding 3rd party libraries

Useful for optimizing and troubleshooting code

Cons

Limited decompilation of obfuscated assemblies

Does not perfectly reproduce original source code

Commercial use requires purchase

Add-ins can increase cost for full functionality


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