Why we need .NET Decompilers and Assembly Browsers?
In software development usage of third party components are inevitable.There can be possibilities of unexpected issues in that 3rd party components.
For proper functioning of the software this referenced third party component issues to be identified properly, rather than doing a guess work.
It is really difficult to discover the root cause of an external component error without looking the source code. A proper decompiler to analyze the source of the 3rd party component is of great help.
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Free .NET Decompilers | Best Free C# decompilers – Decompile .exe files
There are many Free .NET Decompilers and Assembly Browsers available which will make your life easy to pinpoint issues in such 3rd party .net components whose actual source code is not available with you.
Earlier, .Net Reflector developed by Lutz Roeder was a widely used free .NET decompiler/C# decompiler. Since Red Gate made it a paid license for .NET reflector, developers are in search of best free .NET Reflector alternatives.
In this article, I am explaining some of the best free .NET decompilers and C# decompilers(.exe decompilers/.dll decompilers) available to download. Most of them promise to remain as free for ever.
Features of individual tools listed below are from the respective tool’s websites.
List of Free .NET Disassemblers | Best Free C# Decompilers
Read below our list of some best free .NET disassemblers. You can find much more by search.
dotPeek
dotPeek is a free .NET decompiler tool from JetBrains. It support decompiling of .NET framework application from early version 1.0 to version 4.5. This is one of the few decompilers to decompile exe and dll , having support to .NET 4.5 version.
- Decompiling . NET framework 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.5,4.0 & 4.5 assemblies to C#
- Code C# Decompiler
- Code VB.NET Decompiler
- Support for .dll, .exe, .zip, .vsix, .nupkg, and .winmd files
- Quick jump to a type, assembly, symbol, or type member
- Effortless navigation to symbol declarations, implementations, derived and base symbols, and more
- Accurate search for symbol usages with advanced presentation of search results
- Overview of inheritance chains
- Support for downloading code from source servers
- Syntax highlighting
- Complete keyboard support
You can find more details of this free .NET decompiler tool and download of Jetbrains dotPeek here.
.NET CodeReflect
.Net CodeReflect is an advanced decompiler tool developed by DevExtras for disassembling .NET assemblies in C# and VB.NET. It is very easy to use and available for download free of cost.
There’s no Visual Studio integration, no support for third party add-ons and no tabbed browsing..NET CodeReflect can decompile exe and dll.
- Decompile any .NET assembly that supports reflection
- Support for .NET framework 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.5 & 4.0
- Assembly class browsing
- MSIL disassembly view
- Code C# Decompiler
- Code VB.NET Decompiler
- Extract embedded resources
- Hyperlink based navigation
- Assembly dependency list
For more details and download of this best C# decompiler tool, check at .NET CodeReflect form DevExtra.
JustDecompile
One more .Net decompiler, JustDecompile is a tool from Telerik to enable .NET assembly browsing and to decompile .exe and .dll easy and quick.As like any other Telerik tool JustDecompile is famous with its highly intuitive UI and simplicity in usage.
Major features of this .NET decompiler ,JustDecompile are
- Support for .NET framework 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.5 & 4.0
- Assembly class browsing
- MSIL disassembly view
- Code C# Decompiler
- Code VB.NET Decompiler
- Support for covariance and contra variance in generics
- Support for optional and named parameters
- Support for decompiling dynamic keywords
- Display variance on generic interface definition
You can get more details about the tool and free download at Telerik JustDecompile
ILSpy
ILspy is a free opensource .Net decompiler which even support the latest C# 5.0 async.It supports lambdas and ‘yield return’ and Shows XML documentation in disassembled code.
This is an excellent .NET decompiler tool with great features and really worth using.
Major features of ILSpy,
- Assembly browsing
- IL Disassembly
- Support C# 5.0 “async”
- Code C# Decompiler – Decompilation to C#
- Code VB.NET Decompiler – Decompilation to VB
- Saving of resources
- Save decompiled assembly as .csproj
- Search for types/methods/properties (substring)
- Hyperlink-based type/method/property navigation
- Base/Derived types navigation
- Navigation history
- BAML to XAML decompiler
- Save Assembly as C# Project
- Find usage of field/method
- Extensible via plugins (MEF)
- Assembly Lists
You can get more details about the tool at ILSPY From SharpDevelop
Summary of Best .NET Decompilers
Hope you find this article useful to find best free .NET .exe decompilers and assembly browsers. If you know other best .NET disassemblers apart from our collection, list them in the comment section below. Also, leave your valuable feedback in the comments section.
You may also like to read Free Obfuscators to protect .NET Code
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