Load Phase

The Load phase uses .NET reflection to extract type information from assemblies.

Entry Point

File: Load/AssemblyLoader.cs

public static SymbolGraph Load(
    BuildContext ctx,
    IEnumerable<string> assemblyPaths,
    string runtimeDirectory)

MetadataLoadContext

Uses System.Reflection.MetadataLoadContext for isolated assembly inspection:

var resolver = new PathAssemblyResolver(runtimeAssemblies);
using var mlc = new MetadataLoadContext(resolver);

foreach (var path in assemblyPaths)
{
    var assembly = mlc.LoadFromAssemblyPath(path);
    // Reflect types...
}

Why MetadataLoadContext?

• Can inspect assemblies without loading them into the runtime
• Works with assemblies targeting different .NET versions
• No conflict with already-loaded assemblies

Type Reflection

For each public type, extracts:

Property	Source
Name	Type.Name
Namespace	Type.Namespace
Assembly	Type.Assembly.GetName().Name
Base class	Type.BaseType
Interfaces	Type.GetInterfaces()
Generic parameters	Type.GetGenericArguments()
Attributes	Type.GetCustomAttributesData()

Member Reflection

For each type, reflects:

• Methods - Type.GetMethods(BindingFlags.Public | ...)
• Properties - Type.GetProperties(...)
• Fields - Type.GetFields(...)
• Events - Type.GetEvents(...)
• Constructors - Type.GetConstructors(...)

Critical: Name-Based Comparisons

MetadataLoadContext types cannot be compared with typeof():

// WRONG - Always false for MetadataLoadContext types
if (type == typeof(int)) return "number";

// CORRECT - Use name-based comparison
if (type.FullName == "System.Int32") return "int";

This is because MetadataLoadContext creates isolated Type objects that are different instances from the runtime's typeof() results.

Output: SymbolGraph

The Load phase produces a SymbolGraph containing:

• Namespaces - All namespaces found
• Types - All public types with members
• No indices yet (built in Model phase)