How to remove Antlr3.Runtime & WebGrease from your ASP.Net MVC web application

What is Antlr3.Runtime & WebGrease

As of a new programmer those are the dll which increase the size of their project. Before we remove these dlls we should know what are those dlls and their duties? Those are the dlls used for Bundling and Minification. By default the Visual Studio adds those nuget packages in the newly created MVC web application.

http://westdiscgolf.blogspot.in/2012/06/aspnet-mvc-4-webapi-rc-what-on-earth-is.html
http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/mvc-4/bundling-and-minification

When should we remove Antlr3.Runtime & WebGrease

Next thing we need to understand when we should remove those and why we need to remove? If you are creating a production application, never remove as those libraries will increase the performance of our application. We may not require if we are doing any of the following.

• Creating a PoC and mailing the same which don't deal with minification and bundling.
• Creating a sample for blogging.

Removing Antlr3.Runtime.dll & WebGrease.dll packages

Method 1 - nuget uninstallation

Below are the steps proper steps if we have the solutions in proper condiction

• Open nuget package manager console or UI.
• Execute the command Uninstall-package 'package name'.The order of removal is as follows
• Microsoft.AspNet.Web.Optimization
• WebGrease
• Antlr
• Follow the common steps for method 1 & 2

Method 2 - Manual removal

Use these steps if you are not able to make it via nuget.

• Manually remove the reference to the Antlr3.Runtime.dll, WebGrease.dll & Microsoft.AspNet.Web.Optimization from solution explorer
• Follow the common steps for method 1 & 2

Common steps for Method 1& 2

• Remove or exclude the App_Start\BundleConfig.cs file.
• Remove the method call BundleConfig.RegisterBundles(BundleTable.Bundles); from Global.asax.cs
• Remove the import using System.Web.Optimization; from all code files.
• Remove the @Scripts.Render() and @Styles.Render method calls from your view files
• It will make the application fail, if we are using scripts and styles. You need to explicitly add the styles and scripts to the application For example to render styles add the below line.

• <link rel="stylesheet" href="@Url.Content("~/Content/site.css")">

• Remove the "System.Web.Optimization" entry from views\web.config file->

  <system.web.webPages.razor> -> <namespaces>
  

• Clean the solution and delete everything in \bin folder

Method 3 - Remove the packages folder and bin folder and ask the user to sync nuget packages

As you see the problem its about sending the sample code to other user and his easiness to run the same. If the target developer knows about nuget, let him install the nuget packages before running the sample. This is the actual solution provided the target developer have enough internet connectivity to sync nuget packages.

I have tried this in MVC 4 & 5 from VS2010 & VS 2013 without any issues.

Happy coding.