Specifying the return type of an abstract method from a Base Class according to a Sub Class

Question

I have the following structure:

abstract class Base {
        public abstract List<...> Get(); //What should be the generic type?
}

class SubOne :         


        

Answer 1

Your abstract class should be generic.

abstract class Base<T> {
        public abstract List<T> Get(); 
}

class SubOne : Base<SubOne> {
    public override List<SubOne> Get() {

    }
}

class SubTwo : Base<SubTwo> {
    public override List<SubTwo> Get() {
    }
}

If you need to refer to the abstract class without the generic type argument, use an interface:

interface IBase {
        //common functions
}

abstract class Base<T> : IBase {
        public abstract List<T> Get(); 
}

Answer 2

Try this:

public abstract class Base<T> {
  public abstract List<T> Foo();
}

public class Derived : Base<Derived> {   // Any derived class will now return a List of
  public List<Derived> Foo() { ... }     //   itself.
}

Answer 3

I don't think you can get it to be the specific subclass. You can do this though:

abstract class Base<SubClass> {
        public abstract List<SubClass> Get(); 
}
class SubOne : Base<SubOne> {
    public override List<SubOne> Get() {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }
}
class SubTwo : Base<SubTwo> {
    public override List<SubTwo> Get() {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }
}

Answer 4

public abstract class Base<T> 
{       
    public abstract List<T> Get(); 
}

class SubOne : Base<SubOne> 
{
    public override List<SubOne> Get() { return new List<SubOne>(); }
}

class SubTwo : Base<SubTwo> 
{
    public override List<SubTwo> Get() { return new List<SubTwo>(); }
}