Question

Possible Duplicate:
A .net disassembler/decompiler
Is there a “free” alternative to .NET Reflector?

A good while ago we wrote C# .NET 1.1 application for a customer and during the process of office moves and redundancies, the source code was not checked into Source Safe.

The customer has now reported an issue and we don’t want to rewrite the app from scratch.

I believe we should be able to get the source code by decompiling the executable. Can anyone recommend a good tool to use (preferably a free one).

As we wrote the application in the first place, I don’t expect there to be any legal issues with decompiling but please correct me if I’m wrong.

Answer 1

Usually I use dnSpy or ILSpy.

You can try one of the following .Net decompiler (listed in no particular order)

• dnSpy — C# / VB / IL — https://github.com/dnSpy/dnSpy
• JustDecompile — C# / VB / IL — http://www.telerik.com/products/decompiler.aspx
• ILSpy — C# / IL — https://github.com/icsharpcode/ILSpy
• dotPeek — C# / IL — http://www.jetbrains.com/decompiler
• .NET CodeReflect — C# / VB / IL — http://www.devextras.com/decompiler
• DisSharp Decompiler — C# / VB / IL — http://netdecompiler.com/
• Assembly Analyzer — http://asmanalyzer.codeplex.com/

Here are also some IL decompiler for the real hardcore developer 🙂

• Dotnet IL Editor — http://sourceforge.net/projects/dile/
• MSIL Disassembler — http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/f7dy01k1%28v=vs.80%29.aspx

You may also find some useful information on these answers:

• Something better than .NET Reflector?
• Open Source Alternatives to Reflector?