Collections and Generics

 

1. Interface layout

2. the .NET platform supports two broad groups of data types, termed value types and reference types. C# provides a very simple mechanism, termed boxing, to convert a value type to a reference
type.

 

3. In summary, generic containers provide the following benefits over their nongeneric counterparts:
• Generics provide better performance, as they do not result in boxing or unboxing penalties.
• Generics are more type safe, as they can only contain the “type of type” you specify.
• Generics greatly reduce the need to build custom collection types, as the base class library provides several prefabricated containers.

 

4. With the introduction of generics, the C# default keyword has been given a dual identity. In addition to its use within a switch construct, it can be used to set a type parameter to its default value. This is clearly helpful given that a generic type does not know the actual placeholders up front and therefore cannot safely assume what the default value will be. The defaults for a type parameter are as follows:
• Numeric values have a default value of 0.
• Reference types have a default value of null.
• Fields of a structure are set to 0 (for value types) or null (for reference types).

1.    1. // The "default" keyword is overloaded in C#.  
2.    2. // When used with generics, it represents the default  
3.    3. // value of a type parameter.  
4.    4. public void ResetPoint()  
5.    5. {  
6.    6.     xPos = default(T);  
7.    7.     yPos = default(T);  
8.    8. }  

// The "default" keyword is overloaded in C#.
// When used with generics, it represents the default
// value of a type parameter.
public void ResetPoint()
{
    xPos = default(T);
    yPos = default(T);
}

 

5.

1.    1. // MyGenericClass derives from Object, while  
2.    2. // contained items must have a default ctor.  
3.    3. public class MyGenericClass<T> where T : new()  
4.    4. {...}  
5.    5. // MyGenericClass derives from Object, while  
6.    6. // contained items must be a class implementing IDrawable  
7.    7. // and support a default ctor.  
8.    8. public class MyGenericClass<T> where T : class, IDrawable, new()  
9.    9. {...}  
10.   10. // MyGenericClass derives from MyBase and implements ISomeInterface,  
11.   11. // while the contained items must be structures.  
12.   12. public class MyGenericClass<T> : MyBase, ISomeInterface where T : struct  
13.   13. {...}  
14.   14. // <K> must have a default ctor, while <T> must  
15.   15. // implement the generic IComparable interface.  
16.   16. public class MyGenericClass<K, T> where K : new()  
17.   17. where T : IComparable<T>  
18.   18. {...}