What are 'closures' in .NET?

Question

What is a closure? Do we have them in .NET?

If they do exist in .NET, could you please provide a code snippet (preferably in C#) explaining it?

Answer 1

A closure aims to simplify functional thinking, and it allows the runtime to manage state, releasing extra complexity for the developer. A closure is a first-class function with free variables that are bound in the lexical environment. Behind these buzzwords hides a simple concept: closures are a more convenient way to give functions access to local state and to pass data into background operations. They are special functions that carry an implicit binding to all the nonlocal variables (also called free variables or up-values) referenced. Moreover, a closure allows a function to access one or more nonlocal variables even when invoked outside its immediate lexical scope, and the body of this special function can transport these free variables as a single entity, defined in its enclosing scope. More importantly, a closure encapsulates behavior and passes it around like any other object, granting access to the context in which the closure was created, reading, and updating these values.