Plugin Lifecycle Design: Safe Updates, Unloading and Restarts

Loading a plugin is only the first step in building a reliable plugin system. The harder questions begin when a plugin must be disabled, updated or removed while the application is still running. A typical lifecycle covers discovery, validation, initialization, activation, deactivation, clean-up and unloading. Each stage must account for active requests, background jobs, database connections, cached data and event subscriptions. In.NET, unloading a plugin involves more than removing it from a list. A collectible AssemblyLoadContext may be required, and every active reference that keeps the plugin loaded must be released. Otherwise, the application can face memory leaks, failed requests, resource conflicts or crashes. Hot replacement can update plugins without restarting the application, but it adds significant complexity. In many production systems, a controlled restart may be the safer and easier option. Where should a plugin system prioritise flexibility over operational simplicity?

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