What is the difference between an Interop and a RCW (Runtime Callable Wrapper)?

Question

Is it just terminology?

RCW stands for Runtime (as in CLR) Callable Wrapper – Two Bit Gangster Feb 10 '09 at 07:36 — Two Bit Gangster, Feb 10 '09 at 07:36

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 10 '09 at 07:31

Interop is for calling raw DLL exports.

RCW (Runtime Callable Wrapper) is used to expose COM objects to .NET classes - ie., to make COM objects callable by .NET code. The RCW is a .NET proxy that uses interop to interface to the COM object.

You could use Interop directly to COM, but that's just doing it the hard way.

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 10 '09 at 07:19

2

They are connected with each other. Interop is the overall term for using native dll's within .NET. A RCW is a wrapper which is needed to use one specific component/class/object in .NET.

answered Feb 10 '09 at 07:19

Martin Moser

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What is the difference between an Interop and a RCW (Runtime Callable Wrapper)?

2 Answers2