Introduction¶

Learning Signals

Level: Beginner / Intermediate
Time: 5–10 minutes
Prerequisites: Basic C# Async Knowledge

Nalix is a modular networking framework for .NET 10 providing the high-performance transport, dispatch, and middleware infrastructure needed for real-time TCP and UDP services. It decouples the network stack into focused packages, ensuring that server code, client SDKs, and shared contracts depend only on the layers they need.

💎 Design Philosophy¶

Nalix is engineered around five core engineering principles.

Unified Model --- Define packets once. Share binary contracts perfectly between server and client assemblies. Zero version drift.
Zero-Alloc Hot Path --- Pooled buffers and FrozenDictionary registry lookups eliminate GC pressure during heavy traffic spikes.
Layered Decoupling --- Strict separation between Transport (Socket Acceptance) and Runtime (Middleware & Logic).
Declarative Logic --- Express policies (timeouts, permissions, limits) as C# Attributes. Cached at startup; zero reflection at runtime.
Service Efficiency --- Uses the optimized InstanceManager for allocation-free service resolution without standard DI container overhead.

🧠 The Mental Model¶

The journey of a Nalix packet is deterministic and clean.

Client Transport Protocol Bridge Dispatch Channel Middleware Logic Response

Structure Check¶

For any project beyond a prototype, ensure your assembly structure follows the Contracts Pattern:

graph LR
    C[MyApp.Contracts] --- S[MyApp.Server]
    C --- Cl[MyApp.Client]

🚫 What Nalix Is Not¶

::: danger "Wrong Tool for the Job" Nalix is a specialized binary protocol engine. It is not suitable for: :::

Web Applications Nalix does not support HTTP/REST, WebSockets, or browser-based networking.
Game Logic Engine We provide the data pipeline. Physics, ECS, and rendering stay in your engine of choice (Unity, Godot, Unreal).
Message Broker Nalix is for real-time bidirectional communication, not store-and-forward persistence like Kafka or RabbitMQ.

🏗️ Reliability & Scale¶

Senior Developers Only

If you are building for mission-critical production environments, explore our advanced reliability models.

Failure Handling — How we handle the unexpected.
Design Tradeoffs — Why performance leads.
Reliability Model — High-level production confidence.

🚀 Recommended Path¶

Architecture — The big picture.
Quickstart — Build in 15 minutes.
Production Example — Secure implementation.