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I thought I knew how .NET runtime loads the assembly references at runtime, but this situation has raised doubts for myself.

I have an assembly Client.exe that refers to an assembly Thirdparty.dll (version 5.1.0.0).

Client.exe refers to assembly Analytics.dll (2.1.0.0)

Thirdparty.dll also refers to assembly Analytics.dll (2.0.0.0) (Note this is a different version).

Now when I run Client.exe, it loads Thirdparty.dll (5.1.0.0), Analytics.dll (2.1.0.0) just fine.

I wonder, why does the call to Thirdparty.dll not fail since the manifest of Thirdparty.dll has an entry for Analytics.dll (2.0.0.0) and this version is not loaded in AppDomain at all. We have Analytics.dll (2.1.0.0). I know there are no breaking changes across 2.0.0.0 and 2.1.0.0, but should this be a case for exception at all?

theraneman
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    Run Fuslogvw.exe and configure it to log all bindings. Some odds you'll see the program using a .config file that redirects the binding, a publisher policy file or just plain loading version 2.0.0.0 from the GAC. – Hans Passant May 14 '13 at 10:07
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    Are the assemblies signed? Version number is not part of the identity for non-signed assemblies. – adrianm May 14 '13 at 11:05
  • None of the assemblies are signed. – theraneman May 15 '13 at 01:49

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