C#•16mo ago

❔ C# methods

Why do I need to have a class or struct, so that I can have functions? In other words, why do I need to put functions inside classes or structures?

26 Replies

júlio•16mo ago

Is it just the way the language was build? Functions must always be associated to some object?

blinkbat•16mo ago

yes there are no first-class functions in c#

júlio•16mo ago

If that is the case, are lambdas the way to go in c# so small functions that dont have to be directly related to any object?

blinkbat•16mo ago

sure lambdas are great there are also static classes that can have static methods for reuse without instantiation

júlio•16mo ago

Yeah, I was thinking about that, would be annoying if the language forced me to instantiate an object every time I want to call a function :)

Denis•16mo ago

In C you do not need to associate a class/struct with a function

júlio•16mo ago

I come from C++

Denis•16mo ago

In F# you work with functions, even though it does support classes So what you are asking is just how C#, as an OOP language, is built

júlio•16mo ago

Yes Pretty much I was curious to see the compiler didnt allowed me to declare functions outside classes

blinkbat•16mo ago

I typically make a static class for helpers related by concern

public static class UserHelpers
{
  public static void SomeMethodToReuse() {} // etc 
}

public static class UserHelpers
{
  public static void SomeMethodToReuse() {} // etc 
}

júlio•16mo ago

no syntax sugar to avoid having to write static all over?

Denis•16mo ago

A great example of a static class is Console

blinkbat•16mo ago

not that i'm aware of and when using you need using static

Denis•16mo ago

You do Console.WriteLine("hello") without creating an instance of Console

júlio•16mo ago

Could be a Singleton

blinkbat•16mo ago

namespace System
{
    public static class Console
    {

namespace System
{
    public static class Console
    {

it's not though

Denis•16mo ago

No there is not. However you can omit the static keyword on a class and only have the methods static

júlio•16mo ago

I see I will experiment with that a bit

Denis•16mo ago

Happy coding

júlio•16mo ago

Thank you both :)

Anton•16mo ago

"first-class member" is a term that means "can be treated as an expression", which basically means "can be assigned to a variable and passed around" which C# supports in the form of delegates. Functions without a class are usually just called functions, while functions inside a class are usually called methods. Technically speaking, C# doesn't have functions. Even local functions are converted to regular methods by the compiler (I think)

Jayy•16mo ago

it depends on context, lambdas are common in many places

Angius•16mo ago

There's one scenario where you don't need to put method inside of a class explicitly, and that's when using top-level statements. You're limited to just a single file then, though.

Console.WriteLine($"Hello {Foo()}");

string Foo()
{
    return Random.Shared.Next(10) > 5
        ? "World"
        : "Galaxy";   
}

Console.WriteLine($"Hello {Foo()}");

string Foo()
{
    return Random.Shared.Next(10) > 5
        ? "World"
        : "Galaxy";   
}

júlio•16mo ago

Yes, the first time I created a project I didn't notice I had top level statements checked and it felt like a scripting language ahahah I see what you mean tho, that is interesting

Angius•16mo ago

Yep, that's the goal of TLS Making quick little projects without the whole ceremony

Accord•16mo ago

Was this issue resolved? If so, run /close - otherwise I will mark this as stale and this post will be archived until there is new activity.

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