Global Assembly Cache Compare

Spotting possible errors in the code of the developed applications and preventing performance bottlenecks or potential crashes of the program require a lot of attention, patience and, most importantly, a set of befitting tools.

Developers who create .NET programs are certainly familiar with the necessity to keep all the assemblies in sync, as they are deployed concurrently on several machines. In case these resources have to be checked and ordered, a utility like Global Assembly Cache Compare could prove quite useful.

One of the most important advantages of this software is the fact that it doesn't have to be installed onto the system it is deployed on, as it is ready to run out of the box. The main window offers a clear layout, with the few commands that are built-in this app easily accessible.

Most of the space is reserved to the list of assemblies, so the comparison can be carried out neatly and without any interference from other interface elements. The information is hosted inside well delimited columns, which correspond to the assembly and each computer included in the comparison.

The first step in the comparison is to pick the target computers and Global Assembly Cache Compare allows for several workstations to be put under scrutiny, depending on the number of machines the user needs to check the assemblies on.

After the systems are selected, it is possible to use a name filter, which can be particularly useful when looking for specific items. Also, users have the possibility to activate the file size comparison with a single click.

The right-click menu in Global Assembly Cache Compare hosts all the main commands, and allows users to highlight the differences, the similarities, only the selected items or highlight by search. Viewing the results as HTML output or exporting the data in XML format are also among the features of this tool.

To sum things us, this application is well suited for checking the resemblances and finding the differences among numerous assemblies which it can detect on any system accessed with administrative rights.