[2005] Best way of protecting your code?

[Neverbirth]

Since it's so easy to decompile .NET code I was wondering which is the best way of protecting/obfuscating the code out there (for free if possible). I know VS Professional already comes with an obfuscator, but I don't know how reliable it is.

[jmcilhinney]

If you want more complete obfuscation then you need to spend more money. Also, there are some other options beyond obfuscation. Some tools will actually recompile your .NET assemblies into native code. In that case they cease to be .NET applications. The there are tools like CodeVeil, which actually encrypts your .NET assemblies and decrypts on the fly. In that case they are still .NET apps. Personally, I like that last option but CodeVeil is not cheap. I guess the question is whether your code is so desirable that it is worth paying for more than the free Dotfuscator edition that comes with VS.