title: Is .NET code obfuscation really worth it?
body: <p>From what I've read, code obfuscation isn't really that hard to "crack", and it will only delay the inevitable.  In that case, what is it's purpose?  </p>
  
  <p>If someone really wants to steal your source they can.</p>
  
  <p>If someone needs to view your source code for harmless/helpful purposes they can't.</p>
  
  <p>You probably shouldn't be storing anything sensitive in the code, so that shouldn't be an issue.</p>
  
  <p>If you don't obfuscate, you're still not providing the full source code, so you could sell a "source code license".</p>
  
  <p>The funny thing is, the only code that I have ever seen obfuscated is terrible code that has bugs in it.  The only reason I need to look at the code is to figure out what the problem is and what I can do to fix it.</p>
  
  <p>For example, I need to replace some of the images in ASPDotNetStoreFront.  When looking for the location of the  tags, I found that they were contained within compiled code.  CRAP.  So I figured I would decompile the code, to find out which img tags to replace via Regex.  I tried to view the source code to see what images could possibly come from the given compiled method, and reflector can't handle it, I presume because of obfuscation.  I don't really have time to go looking around for de-comilers/de-obfuscators.</p>