how to serialize/deserialize an assembly object to and from a byte array

Question

Let\'s say a create an (executable) assembly in memory by compiling a code string. Then I want to serialize this assembly object into a byte array and then store it in a da

Answer 1

A dirty trick to get the assembly bytes using reflection:

  MethodInfo methodGetRawBytes = assembly.GetType().GetMethod("GetRawBytes", BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
  object o = methodGetRawBytes.Invoke(assembly, null);
  
  byte[] assemblyBytes = (byte[])o;

Explanation: at least in my sample (assembly was loaded from byte array) the assembly instance was of type "System.Reflection.RuntimeAssembly". This is an internal class, so it can be accessed only using reflection. "RuntimeAssembly" has a method "GetRawBytes", which return the assembly bytes.