How should you get the “current” directory of the executing binary in C#? There are a couple of options expose the directory and name of executing application, but with subtle differences:

1. AppDomain.BaseDirectory - Gets the base directory that the assembly resolver uses to probe for assemblies.
2. Application.ExecutablePath - Includes the assembly name.
3. Application.StartupPath - This is inside the Windows.System.Forms namespace.
4. Directory.GetCurrentDirectory()- Executes a Windows API call to GetCurrentDirectory() in kernel32.dll.
5. Environment.CurrentDirectory - This is an alias to Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() in System.IO.
6. this.GetType().Assembly.Location - Includes the assembly name, or the base directory if you are calling a separate class library.
7. Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location - From the System.Reflection namespace.
8. Assembly.GetAssembly(typeof(MyAssemblyType)).Location - Derive from a given type.
9. System.Reflection.Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location - Gets the full path or UNC location of the loaded file that contains the manifest.

My prefered method is AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, it works with ASP.Net, Forms, WPF, Console applications and Services. It will also return the correct base directory for class libraries too.

var path = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;

The string returned includes a trailing backslash; For example: C:\Project1\bin\Debug\