Hidden Features of C#? [closed]

Answer 1

lambdas and type inference are underrated. Lambdas can have multiple statements and they double as a compatible delegate object automatically (just make sure the signature match) as in:

Console.CancelKeyPress +=
    (sender, e) => {
        Console.WriteLine("CTRL+C detected!\n");
        e.Cancel = true;
    };

Note that I don't have a new CancellationEventHandler nor do I have to specify types of sender and e, they're inferable from the event. Which is why this is less cumbersome to writing the whole delegate (blah blah) which also requires you to specify types of parameters.

Lambdas don't need to return anything and type inference is extremely powerful in context like this.

And BTW, you can always return Lambdas that make Lambdas in the functional programming sense. For example, here's a lambda that makes a lambda that handles a Button.Click event:

Func<int, int, EventHandler> makeHandler =
    (dx, dy) => (sender, e) => {
        var btn = (Button) sender;
        btn.Top += dy;
        btn.Left += dx;
    };

btnUp.Click += makeHandler(0, -1);
btnDown.Click += makeHandler(0, 1);
btnLeft.Click += makeHandler(-1, 0);
btnRight.Click += makeHandler(1, 0);

Note the chaining: (dx, dy) => (sender, e) =>

Now that's why I'm happy to have taken the functional programming class :-)

Other than the pointers in C, I think it's the other fundamental thing you should learn :-)

Answer 2

I didn't know the "as" keyword for quite a while.

MyClass myObject = (MyClass) obj;

vs

MyClass myObject = obj as MyClass;

The second will return null if obj isn't a MyClass, rather than throw a class cast exception.

Answer 3

Mixins. Basically, if you want to add a feature to several classes, but cannot use one base class for all of them, get each class to implement an interface (with no members). Then, write an extension method for the interface, i.e.

public static DeepCopy(this IPrototype p) { ... }

Of course, some clarity is sacrificed. But it works!

Answer 4

Aliased generics:

using ASimpleName = Dictionary<string, Dictionary<string, List<string>>>;

It allows you to use ASimpleName, instead of Dictionary<string, Dictionary<string, List<string>>>.

Use it when you would use the same generic big long complex thing in a lot of places.

Answer 5

I tend to find that most C# developers don't know about 'nullable' types. Basically, primitives that can have a null value.

double? num1 = null; 
double num2 = num1 ?? -100;

Set a nullable double, num1, to null, then set a regular double, num2, to num1 or -100 if num1 was null.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/1t3y8s4s(VS.80).aspx

one more thing about Nullable type:

DateTime? tmp = new DateTime();
tmp = null;
return tmp.ToString();

it is return String.Empty. Check this link for more details

Answer 6

1. ?? - coalescing operator
2. using (statement / directive) - great keyword that can be used for more than just calling Dispose
3. readonly - should be used more
4. netmodules - too bad there's no support in Visual Studio