> If I have another assembly that references this helper libary
assembly, could .NET's JIT compiler inline compile the usage of these
small helper functions?
Although I can't give a definitive answer, I would guess that yes it will
inline across assemblies. I say this as the MSIL is compiled to native
assembly by the JIT so there is really no reason for it not to.
Another reason is patly down to the article:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...us/dndotnet/ht
ml/highperfmanagedapps.asp which lists some of rules used by the JIT when it
is deciding whether to inline a method or not. Whilst the article explicitly
states that not all rules are presented, I would have thought
'cross-assembly' would be a significant rule (though once again, my
viewpoint may differ from the actual authors :).
You're not guaranteed a method is inlined however and the rules may change
in future revisions, so I wouldn't spend whole amounts of time worrying
about whether a method is lined or not until you start running into
performance problems with it :)
For a more insightful look into the JIT, the
microsoft.public.dotnet.framework.performance newsgroup may get you a more
in-depth and definitive answer.
n!