4

What tools do you know to compile .NET projects to native binaries that run without .NET Framework, so far I've found :

Xenocode Postbuild for .NET, which costs $1599.

Salamander .NET Linker, which costs $1249.

Mono Ahead-of-Time compilation (AOT), free. Thanks to JaredPar and Reed Copsey

Native Image Generator (Ngen.exe), free, doesn't do what I'm talking about, it does pre-JIT compiling, the resulting executable-file DOES need .NET framework to work.

Do you know any other products to add to the list?

John Saunders
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Moayad Mardini
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  • Only Windows binaries, or binaries for other languages as well? – JAB Aug 06 '09 at 17:42
  • I have Windows in mind, but other platforms are welcome! – Moayad Mardini Aug 06 '09 at 19:20
  • possible duplicate of [Is there some way to compile a .NET application to native code?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/45702/is-there-some-way-to-compile-a-net-application-to-native-code) – gbjbaanb Aug 16 '11 at 09:44

4 Answers4

3

It's limited, but Mono AOT ($0) does this, as well.

Reed Copsey
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Add the Mono project to your list. They support compilation to native binaries.

JaredPar
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Remember that whatever you do:

  • Will not run to the full potential of the .NET Framework's ability (some optimizations are never available when precompiled)
  • You will not get fixes if security patches are released
  • Your distributable will be larger (possibly, but not guaranteed to be smaller than shipping the .NET runtime client profile)
  • You will not have access to certain .NET features
Sam Harwell
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  • this doesn't answer the question. please stay on topic. – Geo Aug 06 '09 at 17:47
  • I tried Xenocode Postbuild just now (been meaning to anyway), on a 200kB application that uses a fraction of the .NET framework. 35MB executable! :( – Thorarin Aug 06 '09 at 18:05
  • @Geo: Of course it stays on topic. I said whatever answer is given, he needs to evaluate its limitations before going "yes, that's what I'm after." *No* solution given in this thread would be capable of offering exactly what he requests. Someone needs to point that out, and since you wouldn't, I did. – Sam Harwell Aug 06 '09 at 18:16
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While this is an question, it's an ongoing concern of a lot of people. In fact, MS seems to be doing something about it. It looks like we'll soon be able to generate native, statically linked apps using .NET languages and libraries.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dotnet/archive/2014/04/02/announcing-net-native-preview.aspx

Shannon Cook
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