Overview
PostSharp is an open platform for the analysis and transformation of .NET assemblies. It comes with PostSharp Laos, a powerful yet simple plug-in that let you develop custom attributes that actually adds behavior of your code. PostSharp Laos is the leading aspect-oriented programming (AOP) solution for the .NET Framework.
But PostSharp is not limited to AOP. One size does not fit all. If you find Laos not flexible or fast enough for your requirements, you can develop your own plug-in. With PostSharp Core, developers are allowed to make anything they want with .NET assemblies.
PostSharp Core is much more than a simple IL reading/writing assemblies. Comparing it to other frameworks, you will figure out that PostSharp Core offers high-value features like seamless integration in the build process, task-based project management, and a low-level instruction weaver.
How does PostSharp work?
PostSharp is a post-compiler: it inserts itself in the build process and transforms or analyzes programs just after they have been compiled. PostSharp is integrated in the MSBuild process and consequently in Visual Studio 2005 or 2008, or in any IDE using MSBuild as a backend, like SharpDevelop. We provide also a command-line utility for manual integration in other build environments.
PostSharp is (also) a runtime weaver
The complete PostSharp platform can be used at runtime instead of compile time. So PostSharp can be hosted by application servers that need to weave assemblies at deployment time or at runtime.
Organization of this documentation
This User Guide is composed of the following chapters:
- The Core Library Documentation is a conceptual reference to PostSharp. It is targeted to developers that will program directly with the PostSharp libraries. It is neither a tutorial neither a class reference. If you just want to use existing plug-ins, like Laos, you will find this chapter boring.
- The Laos Documentation shows how to define custom attributes that change the behavior of your code.
- The Samples section is a very short introduction to the samples that ship with PostSharp.
Comments about this documentation
In the bottom of any page of this documentation, a small link allows you to send feedback to postsharp.org. Use it anytime something is badly explained.