Dotfuscator Technology
Code Instrumentation transforms your compiled .NET executable by injecting additional functionality without the cost and complexity of additional programming. This functionality might include obfuscating the code, watermarking the code, compressing the code, linking assemblies, adding tampering detection and reporting, injecting analytics to the application, adding licensing and activation, and more. Let's go through each one of these:

An obfuscated .NET application resists decompilation efforts and it does this in a way that does not affect what the program does. In other words, the forward (executable) logic is preserved, but the reverse semantics have been rendered non-deterministic. As with native code, it is possible for a talented and determined hacker to understand the internal operation of an obfuscated application, but this process is much more difficult and very time consuming.

Software watermarking is used to hide customer identification or copyright information within software applications, similar to how it is hidden within other digital content such as songs, movies, and images. A watermark is used to identify owners of the software or to track the origin of a pirated copy.

A compacted .NET application has the unused classes, methods, instance variables, and design time metadata removed to produce a much smaller application. In addition, correctly applied obfuscation techniques such as PreEmptive's patented overload induction can have a significant compacting effect.

Assembly linking takes preexisting assemblies and merges them to produce a single assembly. This process has many beneficial effects, and can be combined with other features to secure and optimize your code.

Tampering detection and reporting services enhance an application, giving it the ability to self-diagnose and report on tampering whenever and wherever it may occur.

Application and feature level analytics provide near real-time access to adoption, usage and behavior patterns, as well as activation reports with the reliability and audit ability to drive your back office billing and support systems.

Dotfuscator makes it possible to instrument 3rd party applications. For example, Dotfuscator can inject Software Licensing and Protection Services (SLP Services) from Microsoft. This collection of technologies and services enables application providers to flexibly define, manage, and monetize how software is distributed, activated, and used.

Code instrumentation is a powerful, yet underused, phase in the development lifecycle that bridges the development with business and operational processes. Just like makefiles, source control, and regression testing, code instrumentation should be a regular step in your build processes.