| CryptoHives .NET Foundation

Getting Started with CryptoHives.Foundation libraries

Welcome to the CryptoHives .NET Foundation libraries! This guide will help you get started with the Memory, Threading, and Security.Cryptography packages.

Installation

CryptoHives.Foundation.Memory

Install via NuGet Package Manager:

dotnet add package CryptoHives.Foundation.Memory

Or via Package Manager Console:

Install-Package CryptoHives.Foundation.Memory

CryptoHives.Foundation.Threading

Install via NuGet Package Manager:

dotnet add package CryptoHives.Foundation.Threading

Or via Package Manager Console:

Install-Package CryptoHives.Foundation.Threading

CryptoHives.Foundation.Threading.Analyzers

The analyzers standalone package provides Roslyn analyzers to help detect common ValueTask misuse patterns at compile time. The package is only needed for use cases where the consuming project does not already reference the Threading package.

Install via NuGet Package Manager:

dotnet add package CryptoHives.Foundation.Threading.Analyzers

Or via Package Manager Console:

Install-Package CryptoHives.Foundation.Threading.Analyzers

CryptoHives.Foundation.Security.Cryptography

The Cryptography package provides specification-based implementations of cryptographic hash algorithms and MACs.

Install via NuGet Package Manager (when available):

dotnet add package CryptoHives.Foundation.Security.Cryptography

Or via Package Manager Console:

Install-Package CryptoHives.Foundation.Security.Cryptography

Quick Start

Memory Package

The Memory package provides high-performance, pool based buffer management utilities:

using CryptoHives.Foundation.Memory.Buffers;

// Create a memory stream backed by array pool
using var stream = new ArrayPoolMemoryStream();
stream.Write(data);

// Get a zero-copy ReadOnlySequence
ReadOnlySequence<byte> sequence = stream.GetReadOnlySequence();

Learn more about the Memory package

Threading Package

The Threading package provides pooled async synchronization primitives:

using CryptoHives.Foundation.Threading.Async.Pooled;

// Use pooled async lock
using var lockInstance = new AsyncLock();
using (await lockInstance.LockAsync())
{
    // Critical section
}

Learn more about the Threading package

Security.Cryptography Package

The Cryptography package provides specification-based hash algorithm and MAC implementations. All CryptoHives algorithms inherit from System.Security.Cryptography.HashAlgorithm and support two ways of computing a hash:

Zero-allocation approach (recommended)

Use TryComputeHash with a stack-allocated or reusable buffer to avoid heap allocations entirely. This is the preferred approach for performance-critical code such as tight loops, network packet processing, or blockchain validation. CryptoHives provides a polyfill so this API works on every target framework, including .NET Framework 4.x.

using CryptoHives.Foundation.Security.Cryptography.Hash;
using CryptoHives.Foundation.Security.Cryptography.Mac;

// SHA-256 — zero allocations
using var sha256 = SHA256.Create();
Span<byte> hash = stackalloc byte[32];
sha256.TryComputeHash(data, hash, out _);

// SHA3-256 — zero allocations
using var sha3 = SHA3_256.Create();
Span<byte> sha3Hash = stackalloc byte[32];
sha3.TryComputeHash(data, sha3Hash, out _);

// BLAKE3 with variable output — zero allocations
using var blake3 = Blake3.Create(outputBytes: 64);
Span<byte> longHash = stackalloc byte[64];
blake3.TryComputeHash(data, longHash, out _);

// KMAC256 authentication — zero allocations
byte[] key = new byte[32];
using var kmac = KMac256.Create(key, outputBytes: 64, customization: "MyApp");
Span<byte> mac = stackalloc byte[64];
kmac.TryComputeHash(message, mac, out _);

Simple approach

Use ComputeHash when convenience matters more than performance. This allocates a new byte[] for every call, which adds GC pressure in hot paths.

using var sha256 = SHA256.Create();
byte[] hash = sha256.ComputeHash(data);

Learn more about the Security.Cryptography package

Next Steps

Support

For issues and questions: