Static constructors cause a performance overhead?

Question

Recently read in a article on dotnetpearls.com here saying that static ctors take a substantial amount of perfomance hit.

Could not fathom why?

Answer 1

Well I've just replicated his test.

For 1000000000 iterations with a DEBUG build I get:

• 4s for his static class with a static constructor
• 3.6s same class with commented out static constructor
• 2.9s with the class non-static (and creating an instance before the iteration) with either a static constructor or not

The same with a RELEASE build does highlight a difference:

• Static class with static constructor: 4046.875ms
• Static class with no static constructor: 484.375ms
• Instance with static constructor: 484.375ms
• Instance with no static constructor: 484.375ms