I think I showed you this one before, but I like the fun here - this took some debugging to track down! (the original code was obviously more complex and subtle...)
static void Foo<T>() where T : new()
{
T t = new T();
Console.WriteLine(t.ToString()); // works fine
Console.WriteLine(t.GetHashCode()); // works fine
Console.WriteLine(t.Equals(t)); // works fine
// so it looks like an object and smells like an object...
// but this throws a NullReferenceException...
Console.WriteLine(t.GetType());
}
So what was T...
Answer: any Nullable<T> - such as int?. All the methods are overridden, except GetType() which can't be; so it is cast (boxed) to object (and hence to null) to call object.GetType()... which calls on null ;-p
Update: the plot thickens... Ayende Rahien threw down a similar challenge on his blog, but with a where T : class, new():
private static void Main() {
CanThisHappen<MyFunnyType>();
}
public static void CanThisHappen<T>() where T : class, new() {
var instance = new T(); // new() on a ref-type; should be non-null, then
Debug.Assert(instance != null, "How did we break the CLR?");
}
But it can be defeated! Using the same indirection used by things like remoting; warning - the following is pure evil:
class MyFunnyProxyAttribute : ProxyAttribute {
public override MarshalByRefObject CreateInstance(Type serverType) {
return null;
}
}
[MyFunnyProxy]
class MyFunnyType : ContextBoundObject { }
With this in place, the new() call is redirected to the proxy (MyFunnyProxyAttribute), which returns null. Now go and wash your eyes!
