dotnet-native-interop

To call C/C++ libraries from C# using P/Invoke, you define static external methods with the [LibraryImport] or [DllImport] attribute, specifying the native library and function signatures. This enables your .NET application to invoke unmanaged code directly.

[LibraryImport] is the modern .NET 7+ attribute that uses source generation for AOT-compatible marshalling at compile time, whereas [DllImport] is the legacy approach relying on runtime marshalling. [LibraryImport] improves performance and supports ahead-of-time compilation scenarios.

You resolve native library paths across Windows, macOS, and Linux in .NET by using NativeLibrary.SetDllImportResolver. This allows custom runtime logic to find and load the correct platform-specific binary, handling different naming conventions and directory structures.

You safely manage native memory and prevent leaks in native interop by wrapping unmanaged resources with SafeHandle. This ensures deterministic cleanup of native memory allocations when the .NET garbage collector collects the wrapper object.

Yes, .NET native interop supports AOT compilation for iOS and Android by using the [LibraryImport] attribute. This source-generated approach ensures marshalling code is created at compile time, avoiding reflection dependencies incompatible with AOT environments.