Recently, I’ve had the (unfortunate) incidence of having to deal with the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) in relation to References inside a .NET solution.
So far as I can tell, the GAC is essentially a repository for XML ties (assemblies) to DLL versions which are “established” within the system.
So much as I could tell, Microsoft says that this is so that different version of libraries can be kept within the .NET environment and used universally.
However, didn’t this capability already exist by using registry entries previous to the .NET “revolution”?
Can anyone elaborate on the benefits of .NET development in relation to the GAC?
Personally, I found it encumbering. It does a poor job at letting you keep seperate valid versions accessible to a .NET solution and will (by design, as MS would say) will override your choice of a Reference within a solution if .NET finds a different library within the GAC already registered.
