Where do you put your 3rd party libraries?

Question

I\'ve got a bunch of .dll assemblies, such as HtmlAgilityPack and MoreLinq. Where am I supposed to put these files? I usually toss them so

Answer 1

There's no standard place to put them, but make sure you:

• Put them in one place
• Include them in source control.

I put all my required dll's in a top level directory in my solution called "Dependencies", parallel to the project folders. I have them in source control such that when new developers check out the solution, it all compiles and works right off. It's the only way to go.

I include only the .dll files absolutely needed. This keeps it light, which is good, but then when I find some other part of MVC Contrib or whatever that I need, I have to go find the unzipped directory, which might not even be on my computer! Others put entire library directories (readme.txt and all) as part of their source control linked to the solution. This ensures you and future developers will have everything they need, but adds a little dead weight. Either is a good strategy.