What is the difference between private and shared assembly?

[beingchinmay]

Shared assembly is used by multiple application and should have a strong name. Private assembly is used inside an application   and they don't require strong name.

[Lishmalinyjames]

A private assembly is normally used by a single application and is stored in the application's directory, or a sub-directory beneath. A shared assembly is intended to be used by multiple applications and is normally stored in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC), which is a central repository for assemblies.

[saravanan28]

A private assembly is normally used by a single application, and is stored in the application's directory, or a sub-directory beneath. A shared assembly is intended to be used by multiple applications, and is normally stored in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC), which is a central repository for assemblies.

[Lishmalinyjames]

A private assembly is normally used by a single application, and is stored in the application's directory, or a sub-directory beneath. A shared assembly is intended to be used by multiple applications, and is normally stored in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC), which is a central repository for assemblies.

[reinventrmc]

Private Assembly

A private assembly is used by a single application and is stored within that application's directory.

Key features:
📁 Located in the application's own folder
👤 Used by only one application
🔧 Easy deployment (just copy files—no special installation)
🔄 Versioning is simple (each app can have its own version)
👍 Advantages:
No conflicts with other applications
Safer updates (changes don't affect other apps)
Simple "xcopy deployment" (copy-paste install)
👎 Disadvantages:
Duplication of the same assembly across multiple apps
Wastes disk space if many apps use the same library