C#: Method to return object whose concrete type is determined at runtime?

Question

I\'m thinking about designing a method that would return an object that implements an interface but whose concrete type won\'t be know until run-time. For example suppose:

Answer 1

This is a classic double dispatch problem and it has an acceptable pattern for solving it (Visitor pattern).

//This is the car operations interface. It knows about all the different kinds of cars it supports
//and is statically typed to accept only certain ICar subclasses as parameters
public interface ICarVisitor {
   void StickAccelerator(Toyota car); //credit Mark Rushakoff
   void ChargeCreditCardEveryTimeCigaretteLighterIsUsed(Bmw car);
}

//Car interface, a car specific operation is invoked by calling PerformOperation  
public interface ICar {
   public string Make {get;set;}
   public void PerformOperation(ICarVisitor visitor);
}

public class Toyota : ICar {
   public string Make {get;set;}
   public void PerformOperation(ICarVisitor visitor) {
     visitor.StickAccelerator(this);
   }
}

public class Bmw : ICar{
   public string Make {get;set;}
   public void PerformOperation(ICarVisitor visitor) {
     visitor.ChargeCreditCardEveryTimeCigaretteLighterIsUsed(this);
   }
}

public static class Program {
  public static void Main() {
    ICar car = carDealer.GetCarByPlateNumber("4SHIZL");
    ICarVisitor visitor = new CarVisitor();
    car.PerformOperation(visitor);
  }
}