How to create a new object instance from a Type

Question

One may not always know the Type of an object at compile-time, but may need to create an instance of the Type.

How do you get a new objec

Answer 1

The Activator class within the root System namespace is pretty powerful.

There are a lot of overloads for passing parameters to the constructor and such. Check out the documentation at:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.activator.createinstance.aspx

or (new path)

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.activator.createinstance

Here are some simple examples:

ObjectType instance = (ObjectType)Activator.CreateInstance(objectType);

ObjectType instance = (ObjectType)Activator.CreateInstance("MyAssembly","MyNamespace.ObjectType");

Answer 2

Without use of Reflection:

private T Create<T>() where T : class, new()
{
    return new T();
}

Answer 3

ObjectType instance = (ObjectType)Activator.CreateInstance(objectType);

The Activator class has a generic variant that makes this a bit easier:

ObjectType instance = Activator.CreateInstance<ObjectType>();

Answer 4

Compiled expression is best way! (for performance to repeatedly create instance in runtime).

static readonly Func<X> YCreator = Expression.Lambda<Func<X>>(
   Expression.New(typeof(Y).GetConstructor(Type.EmptyTypes))
 ).Compile();

X x = YCreator();

Statistics (2012):

    Iterations: 5000000
    00:00:00.8481762, Activator.CreateInstance(string, string)
    00:00:00.8416930, Activator.CreateInstance(type)
    00:00:06.6236752, ConstructorInfo.Invoke
    00:00:00.1776255, Compiled expression
    00:00:00.0462197, new

Statistics (2015, .net 4.5, x64):

    Iterations: 5000000
    00:00:00.2659981, Activator.CreateInstance(string, string)
    00:00:00.2603770, Activator.CreateInstance(type)
    00:00:00.7478936, ConstructorInfo.Invoke
    00:00:00.0700757, Compiled expression
    00:00:00.0286710, new

Statistics (2015, .net 4.5, x86):

    Iterations: 5000000
    00:00:00.3541501, Activator.CreateInstance(string, string)
    00:00:00.3686861, Activator.CreateInstance(type)
    00:00:00.9492354, ConstructorInfo.Invoke
    00:00:00.0719072, Compiled expression
    00:00:00.0229387, new

Statistics (2017, LINQPad 5.22.02/x64/.NET 4.6):

    Iterations: 5000000
    No args
    00:00:00.3897563, Activator.CreateInstance(string assemblyName, string typeName)
    00:00:00.3500748, Activator.CreateInstance(Type type)
    00:00:01.0100714, ConstructorInfo.Invoke
    00:00:00.1375767, Compiled expression
    00:00:00.1337920, Compiled expression (type)
    00:00:00.0593664, new
    Single arg
    00:00:03.9300630, Activator.CreateInstance(Type type)
    00:00:01.3881770, ConstructorInfo.Invoke
    00:00:00.1425534, Compiled expression
    00:00:00.0717409, new

Statistics (2019, x64/.NET 4.8):

Iterations: 5000000
No args
00:00:00.3287835, Activator.CreateInstance(string assemblyName, string typeName)
00:00:00.3122015, Activator.CreateInstance(Type type)
00:00:00.8035712, ConstructorInfo.Invoke
00:00:00.0692854, Compiled expression
00:00:00.0662223, Compiled expression (type)
00:00:00.0337862, new
Single arg
00:00:03.8081959, Activator.CreateInstance(Type type)
00:00:01.2507642, ConstructorInfo.Invoke
00:00:00.0671756, Compiled expression
00:00:00.0301489, new

Statistics (2019, x64/.NET Core 3.0):

Iterations: 5000000
No args
00:00:00.3226895, Activator.CreateInstance(string assemblyName, string typeName)
00:00:00.2786803, Activator.CreateInstance(Type type)
00:00:00.6183554, ConstructorInfo.Invoke
00:00:00.0483217, Compiled expression
00:00:00.0485119, Compiled expression (type)
00:00:00.0434534, new
Single arg
00:00:03.4389401, Activator.CreateInstance(Type type)
00:00:01.0803609, ConstructorInfo.Invoke
00:00:00.0554756, Compiled expression
00:00:00.0462232, new

Full code:

static X CreateY_New()
{
    return new Y();
}

static X CreateY_New_Arg(int z)
{
    return new Y(z);
}

static X CreateY_CreateInstance()
{
    return (X)Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(Y));
}

static X CreateY_CreateInstance_String()
{
    return (X)Activator.CreateInstance("Program", "Y").Unwrap();
}

static X CreateY_CreateInstance_Arg(int z)
{
    return (X)Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(Y), new object[] { z, });
}

private static readonly System.Reflection.ConstructorInfo YConstructor =
    typeof(Y).GetConstructor(Type.EmptyTypes);
private static readonly object[] Empty = new object[] { };
static X CreateY_Invoke()
{
    return (X)YConstructor.Invoke(Empty);
}

private static readonly System.Reflection.ConstructorInfo YConstructor_Arg =
    typeof(Y).GetConstructor(new[] { typeof(int), });
static X CreateY_Invoke_Arg(int z)
{
    return (X)YConstructor_Arg.Invoke(new object[] { z, });
}

private static readonly Func<X> YCreator = Expression.Lambda<Func<X>>(
   Expression.New(typeof(Y).GetConstructor(Type.EmptyTypes))
).Compile();
static X CreateY_CompiledExpression()
{
    return YCreator();
}

private static readonly Func<X> YCreator_Type = Expression.Lambda<Func<X>>(
   Expression.New(typeof(Y))
).Compile();
static X CreateY_CompiledExpression_Type()
{
    return YCreator_Type();
}

private static readonly ParameterExpression YCreator_Arg_Param = Expression.Parameter(typeof(int), "z");
private static readonly Func<int, X> YCreator_Arg = Expression.Lambda<Func<int, X>>(
   Expression.New(typeof(Y).GetConstructor(new[] { typeof(int), }), new[] { YCreator_Arg_Param, }),
   YCreator_Arg_Param
).Compile();
static X CreateY_CompiledExpression_Arg(int z)
{
    return YCreator_Arg(z);
}

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    const int iterations = 5000000;

    Console.WriteLine("Iterations: {0}", iterations);

    Console.WriteLine("No args");
    foreach (var creatorInfo in new[]
    {
        new {Name = "Activator.CreateInstance(string assemblyName, string typeName)", Creator = (Func<X>)CreateY_CreateInstance},
        new {Name = "Activator.CreateInstance(Type type)", Creator = (Func<X>)CreateY_CreateInstance},
        new {Name = "ConstructorInfo.Invoke", Creator = (Func<X>)CreateY_Invoke},
        new {Name = "Compiled expression", Creator = (Func<X>)CreateY_CompiledExpression},
        new {Name = "Compiled expression (type)", Creator = (Func<X>)CreateY_CompiledExpression_Type},
        new {Name = "new", Creator = (Func<X>)CreateY_New},
    })
    {
        var creator = creatorInfo.Creator;

        var sum = 0;
        for (var i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
            sum += creator().Z;

        var stopwatch = new Stopwatch();
        stopwatch.Start();
        for (var i = 0; i < iterations; ++i)
        {
            var x = creator();
            sum += x.Z;
        }
        stopwatch.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("{0}, {1}", stopwatch.Elapsed, creatorInfo.Name);
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Single arg");
    foreach (var creatorInfo in new[]
    {
        new {Name = "Activator.CreateInstance(Type type)", Creator = (Func<int, X>)CreateY_CreateInstance_Arg},
        new {Name = "ConstructorInfo.Invoke", Creator = (Func<int, X>)CreateY_Invoke_Arg},
        new {Name = "Compiled expression", Creator = (Func<int, X>)CreateY_CompiledExpression_Arg},
        new {Name = "new", Creator = (Func<int, X>)CreateY_New_Arg},
    })
    {
        var creator = creatorInfo.Creator;

        var sum = 0;
        for (var i = 0; i < 1000; i++)
            sum += creator(i).Z;

        var stopwatch = new Stopwatch();
        stopwatch.Start();
        for (var i = 0; i < iterations; ++i)
        {
            var x = creator(i);
            sum += x.Z;
        }
        stopwatch.Stop();
        Console.WriteLine("{0}, {1}", stopwatch.Elapsed, creatorInfo.Name);
    }
}

public class X
{
  public X() { }
  public X(int z) { this.Z = z; }
  public int Z;
}

public class Y : X
{
    public Y() {}
    public Y(int z) : base(z) {}
}

Answer 5

Wouldn't the generic T t = new T(); work?

Answer 6

Just as an extra to anyone using the above answers that implement:

ObjectType instance = (ObjectType)Activator.CreateInstance(objectType);

Be careful - if your Constructor isn't "Public" then you will get the following error:

"System.MissingMethodException: 'No parameterless constructor defined for this object."

Your class can be Internal/Friend, or whatever you need but the constructor must be public.