Day: October 11, 2019

Digesting Tim Corey’s C# Generics Video

I’ve just compled a learning session on C# Generics using Tim Corey’s YouTube video on C# Generics as my primer.

Below are helpful links to get you started so you can follow along with the video as well as my learning notes below to help you get the basics of C# Generics.

Tim Corey’s C# Generics Video

You can get all the files to go along with Tim Corey’s C# Generics video at Time’s web site for the cost of providing Tim with your email address for his email list. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Below is Corey’s Video. Watch it, then continue if you’re still interested. My personal training notes will be shared below. This information might help you if you’re feeling stuck or want or want to make sure you understand C# Generics.

What are C# Generics

C# generics are a feature of the C# programming language that allow you to create classes, interfaces, methods, or delegates that operate on specified data types without committing to a particular data type at compile time. Generics provide a way to write reusable and type-safe code by enabling you to parameterize your code with one or more type parameters.

Here are some key points about C# generics:

1. Type Safety: Generics ensure type safety by allowing you to work with strongly typed data. This means that you can catch type-related errors at compile time rather than runtime.
2. Reusability: With generics, you can create classes or methods that can work with different data types. This promotes code reusability and reduces the need to duplicate code for each specific data type.
3. Code Efficiency: Generics eliminate the need for casting data types, making code more efficient and readable.
4. Collections: Generic collections, such as List<T>, Dictionary<TKey, TValue>, and Queue<T>, are widely used in C# to store and manipulate data of various types in a type-safe manner.
5. Constraints: You can apply constraints on generic type parameters to specify that they must implement certain interfaces, inherit from specific classes, or have default constructors, which further restrict the types that can be used with your generic code.

Here’s a simple example of a generic method in C#:

public T FindMax<T>(T[] array) where T : IComparable<T>
{
    if (array.Length == 0)
    {
        throw new ArgumentException("The array is empty.");
    }
    T max = array[0];
    foreach (T item in array)
    {
        if (item.CompareTo(max) > 0)
        {
            max = item;
        }
    }

    return max;
}

In this example, T is a generic type parameter that allows you to find the maximum value in an array of any data type that implements the IComparable<T> interface. This method can be used with various types, making it highly reusable and type-safe.