Example of using AssemblyLoadContext as a plugin model where plugins are dynamically loaded and unloaded. The key to this scenario is making sure that the application and plugin assemblies agree on the same IPlugin type. There are a few strategies used in this project:

#define SIMPLEALC

In this example the AssemblyLoadContext type is created directly and the plugin is loaded via LoadFromAssemblyPath. This works because there is no special loading logic in this AssemblyLoadContext. That means when the plugin DLL accesses the IPlugin type it will not be present in the plugin AssemblyLoadContext, the runtime will then look in the default AssemblyLoadContext and find the type there.

#define CUSTOMALC

This particular example uses a custom AssemblyLoadContext that hooks the Load method. In the case the Plugin.Types assembly is loaded it will just return the Assembly loaded in the default context. This accomplishes the same thing as the simple example. The difference is that in a more complex plugin environment, particularly one where they can load their own dependencies, an application will likely need custom resolution logic and that needs to make sure it handles cases like this.

• AssemblyLoadContext overview
• Managed loading algorithm