When are C# “using” statements most useful?

Question

So a using statement automatically calls the dispose method on the object that is being \"used\", when the using block is exited, right?

But when is this necessary/benef

Answer 1

It seems very simple to me.

If a class implements IDisposable, then it is almost asking you to please call Dispose on any instance that you create, as soon as you're done with it. This is the pattern I suggest should be used, whenever such an instance is created:

using (var instanceName = new DisposableClass())
{
    // Your code here
}

It's simple, it's clean, and it works for everything except for WCF proxy classes, which are broken. For those, see http://www.iserviceoriented.com/blog/post/Indisposable+-+WCF+Gotcha+1.aspx.