Microsoft's Managed Add-in Framework (MAF), sometimes called System.Addin, contains types to identify, register, activate, and control add-ins, and to allow add-ins to communicate with a host application. It is a part of the Microsoft .NET Framework since .NET 3.5.
Managed Add-in Framework
The Managed Add-in Framework, often abbreviated as MAF was introduced in .NET 3.5 to provide a programming model which developers may use to develop and utilize add-ins in their own applications.
Through the use of an add-in (aka communication) pipeline, add-in hosts and add-ins are abstracted from each-other, providing the necessary isolation and independent versioning of the add-ins and the host.
All of the types required for an application or library to utilize MAF are located within the System.Addin namespace.
