使用Process.Start运行C ++ exe与使用CLR包装C ++代码

Question

I have a C++ executable which I need to integrate into my .NET app. The C++ exe is a specialized calculator which will be invoked very frequently during lengthy processing of some large data. For this, I need the integration to be as efficient as possible.

In term of efficiency, is there any advantage of wrapping the C++ code into a CLR .dll which I can then use directly from my .NET app over just using Process.Stat and parsing the output stream?

Answer 1

When you use Process.Start() it is creating a new application, allcation of memory and task scheduling is an overehead. given the fact that you are calling it many times, you should make it into a DLL and use the function. as the loaded DLL will always be in memory and run faster.

lets say that there is change in the parameter to the exe, you might not catch it soon enough, if it is packaged in a DLL then its more controlled. contracts are stronger.

Answer 2

Launching a separate process involves creating a lot of overhead for that process and it's threads. It also will be loaded/unloaded in memory every time. A dll could be loaded into memory once, and executed many times all on the main thread. So there is definitely efficiency to be gained by going the dll route. Whether or not it's REALLY worth it is a trade-off between how much work it is to wrap it in the dll, and how much efficiency you will truly gain.

You said that it will be called frequently. If this means thousands of times, it will probably be worth putting into a dll. But really, measurement is the only way to know for sure how much difference it will make.