Dynamic C#

Just used the dynamic key word for the first time in C# - to get the compiler to relax a bit and act more like VB which allows late binding.

I was using a control Tag to store a couple of data items and as Tag accepts an object decided to use an Anonymous Object rather than define another class or whatnot. Something like:

aControl.Tag = new { Sequence = ItemSequence, id = ItemID};

But how to consume those object attributes in another function?

The IDE and compiler are not going to take kindly to anything like aControl.Tag.Sequence as that can only make sense at runtime.

The dynamic keyword comes to the rescue.

Here I am looping through a control collection filtered by my specific control type and in the order of the Sequence attribute in the anonymous object stored in the control Tag:

foreach(MyCheckbox mb in this.Controls.OfType().OrderBy(p => ((dynamic)p.Tag).Sequence))
            { … }

Also (after prompting by Visual Studio) used the following syntax to check if a reference to a delegate is null and execute it if it is valid:

notifyChange?.Invoke(ids);

You can add a conditional call to a delegate to a standard control event. For example:

myControl.SizeChanged += (object s, EventArgs e) => { checkSize?.Invoke(); };

The “is” keyword also came in handy with the ability to say something like:

if (myobj is CardSubsection){} 

and do something if myobj can be safely cast to the relevant class. “is” makes it way simpler (and produces clearer code) when passing one of a range of classes into a function via an object reference.

On the subject of clarity, I came across a little bit of code like this in a blog:

if (pa.TicksToGo-- > 0) {}

which is shorter than

pa.TicksToGo--; // or maybe pa.TicksToGo -=1;

if (pa.TicksToGo > 0) {}

but less easy to maintain at some future date. I know that JSLint would like to persuade you that -– and ++ are evil in and of themselves but I am not convinced – safe to use with due caution I think.

Looks like C# is going to “keep on giving” with the news that the dev teams for C# and VB are going to let the two languages drift further apart. Seems that developers using VB favour stability (presumably finding multiple language versions bothersome within their organisations) and the C# types are gluttons for novelty. Should be interesting.

Read more here: http://www.infoworld.com/article/3051066/application-development/microsoft-c-visual-basic-are-now-set-to-diverge.html