Why does a static method on a generic type require a Type parameter?

Question

public class BinarySearchTree
where T : IComparable
{
    public static BinarySearchTree InitializeSampleCharacterBST()
    {
        v         


        

Answer 1

You're forgetting that type parameters don't only appear in the parameter/return type of a method. They can also appear in the implementation:

public static BinarySearchTree InitializeSampleCharacterBST()
{
    var forSomeReason = new T();

By placing your method inside a static class with a type parameter, you are saying that the implementation of the method may (now or in some future revision) depend upon that type parameter.

If this isn't the case, you've put the method in the wrong place.