Strong Named Assemblies (DOT NET) Research Paper

Strong Named Assemblies (DOT NET) - Research Paper Example This report will look at this new feature and how it works in OT NET. Introduction Strong Name (often referred to as SN) is a new technology that was introduced with .NET platform and it has many features and possibilities with it. It is a feature that comes with a lot of controversy; many believe it is a security feature, which, according to the technocrats behind this technology, is wrong, while others believe it is a new technology that is used to identify assemblies. Strong Assembly is a new technology that is built on cryptography and primary digital signatures. In encryption, one user will get the public/private key that will be used to encrypt/decrypt. After this, the data will be taken and run through some algorithm for hashing and a hash of data is generated after this process. After this, the hash is encrypted by the private key of a user and attached in the system as plain data. The data is then sent to another user who undertakes an encryption process to ensure that the d ata has not been tempered with. The bottom line here is that the process seeks to check whether data has been tempered with. In case of Strong Name, the data will represent assemblies. It undergoes the same process. The main reason why this whole process is being undertaken is so that we have unique assemblies being created. It is used so that we have unique assemblies (Fowler, 2003). Features of Strong Name Assemblies There are two features of strong name assemblies in .NET. The first feature is that if versioning. There is a problem in .NET that is called DLL hell. This is namespace collision. This is something that is solved by SN assemblies in .NET. With this technology, it is possible for developers to distribute the same names of files. Assemblies which are signed using SN, have a protection and stored in different spaces. In addition to this collision prevention, SN also helps developers to undertake correct versioning of their programs. This is the reason why it is advisable to have namespaces which are separated and signed differently before publishers want to use Global Assembly Cache (GAC) (Deborah, 2006). Another important feature of Strong Name is that of authentication. This is the process where the developers and users of .NET want to be sure of the origin of a given code. This feature gets its use in different places. This can be used in assigning some publishers higher permissions. Another way is that we can make sure that the code is provided by a given supplier (Christian, & Gavin, 2005). How to assign a strong name in .NET The procedure for assigning a strong name in .NET will involve some steps. The assigning of a strong name will be undertaken by the use of a Strong Name tool (sn.exe) that normally comes bundled with .NET framework software development kit SDK). This tool generates a cryptographic key pair. After this, the proper customer attribute is added to the source so that the compiler will be in a position to emit the assembly that will be used. The assembly will be emitted with a strong name. The attribute one uses will depend on the key pair that has been used to undertake the signing process (Burgess, Sellitto, &Karanassios, 2009). Where to find the key The key can be contained in a file or it can be contained in a key container that is found within a cryptographic service provider (CSP). This process will generate assemblies that are