Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Small is a relative term. mscorlib.dll is roughly 2MB; System.Web
.RegularExpressions.dll is merely 56KB. But both satisfy the core design
goal of a small, reusable assembly: They contain a related set of classes and
interfaces. The difference in absolute size has to do with the difference in
functionality: mscorlib.dll contains all the low-level classes you need in
every application. System.Web.RegularExpressions.dll is very specific; it
contains only those classes needed to support regular expressions in Web
controls. You will create both kinds of components: small, focused assem-
blies for one specific feature and larger, broad-based assemblies that con-
tain common functionality. In either case, make them as small as is
reasonable but no smaller.
