CS-Script - The C# Script Engine

C# Script execution engine version 2.7.0 Copyright (C) 2004-2010 Oleg Shilo.

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What is CS-Script?

CS-Script is a CLR (Common Language Runtime) based scripting system which uses ECMA-compliant C# as a programming language. CS-Script currently targets Microsoft implementation of CLR (.NET 2.0/3.0/3.5) with limited support on Mono. 

CS-Script is an open-source initiative that is distributed under the license agreement, which can be found here. However commercial support is also available.

CS-Script combines the power and richness of C# and FCL with the flexibility of a scripting system. CS-Script can be useful for system and network administrators, developers and testers. For any one who needs an automation for solving variety of programming tasks. 

CS-Script has started as an article at CodeProject but quickly it has grown past the scale of a single publication. Currently it is used world wide for extending the applications functionality with scripting and as a general purpose scripting environment. It is used by both enthusiasts and by professional programmers. It found its way to non-profit organizations (e.g. educational institutes) as well as to commercial organizations. These are just a few examples: MediaPortal, FlashDevelop, K2 API, SF.net ("WinTin"), BonSAI, AyaNova (service management software).

The main idea of CS-Script is to allow "plain vanilla" C# code execution from both command-prompt and form any CLR application hosting the script engine.  

Command-prompt execution:

hello.cs:

using System;

using System.Windows.Forms; 

class Script

{ 

    static void Main()

    {

        MessageBox.Show( "Hello World!"); 

    }

}

A. Execution of the script containing class definition:
 

dynamic script = CSScript.LoadCode(@"using System;
                                     public class Script
                                     {
                                         public void SayHello(string greeting)
                                         {
                                             Console.WriteLine(greeting);
                                         }
                                     }")

                                    .CreateObject("*");
script.SayHello("Hello World!");

B. Execution of the script containing method definition only:

var PrintSum = CSScript.LoadMethod(
        @"public static void PrintSum(int a, int b)
          {
              Console.WriteLine((a+b));
          }")
          .GetStaticMethod();
PrintSum(1, 2);

or

Assembly assembly = CSScript.LoadMethod(
        @"public static void PrintSum(int a, int b)
          {
              Console.WriteLine((a+b));
          }");

AsmHelper script = new AsmHelper(assembly);
script.Invoke("*.PrintSum", 1, 2);

using CSScriptLibrary;

public interface IScript
{
    void Hello(string greeting);
}

class Host
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var script = CSScript.Load("HelloScript.cs")
                             .CreateInstance("Script")
                             .AlignToInterface<IScript>();

        script.Hello("Hi there...");
    }    
}

Why CS-Script? - read about the difference between CS-Script and other CLR based scripting solutions. This is what you need to know before making a decision on using the CS-Script.

Benefits of C# Scripting System:

• Simple deployment approach: just bring both script and engine file (about 70 K size) on the system that has .NET runtime installed and script can be run.

• Portability: Scripts can be run on any system, which has CLR installed (including Mono).

• Base language is a truly OO language: CS-Script uses full featured C# and also supports VB.NET, C++/CLI and J#. 

• All .NET functionality is available (FCL, COM Interop, Remoting, WPF, WCF etc.).

• Easily available Debugger and rich IDE (MS .NET Visual Studio or third-party IDEs).

• Execution model within the script is the same as for any .NET application: static void Main().

• Any script can be easily converted into application and vice versa.

• Optimised interpretation: interpretation of any statement in the script is done only once even if the statement is frequently used throughout the code.

• Script language is type safe (strongly typed): strong typing is a luxury not available for the most of the scripting languages.

• All SW development tasks can be done in the same language.

• GUI development for script application becomes easy.

• Extensibility: scripting system can be extended by using new assemblies written in any .NET languages or COM components.

• Script hosting: functionality of any CLR application can be extended with scripting.

  See Features for more details.