Question

I’m creating a library for use with an application that I am building. I am building a name space structure similar to below.

MyNamespace.Validation
MyNamespace.Reports
MyNamespace.Transactions
MyNamespace.DataImport
etc...

Would it be best practice to create a solution with multiple projects for each sub namespace or one project with multiple class files for each sub namespace? Thanks.

Answer 1

There are pros and cons to both approaches, which you need to personally decide between for your own circumstance.

Pro to multiple projects:

• Separate assemblies allow the compiler to provide more strict guidance, potentially preventing coupling from creeping through. This allows you to maintain the dependencies better.
• Separate assemblies can be loaded as needed in other projects, potentially easing reuse.
• Separate assemblies can prevent unnecessary code from being loaded into a process, since they’re loaded on demand.

Cons to multiple projects:

• More complex deployment, as more files need deployment (minor)
• Slower build/compile, and even potentially load times from loading multiple assemblies (minor)

Personally, I think the pros far outweigh the cons in most cases. I typically will split my namespaces into separate assemblies, provided they are not related. In your case, you’re working on 4 very different concepts, so my gut feeling is that splitting makes the most sense.