C#•2y 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

júlioOP•2y ago

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

blinkbat•2y ago

yes there are no first-class functions in c#

júlioOP•2y 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•2y ago

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

júlioOP•2y 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•2y ago

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

júlioOP•2y ago

I come from C++

Denis•2y 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

júlioOP•2y ago

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

blinkbat•2y 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 
}

júlioOP•2y ago

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

Denis•2y ago

A great example of a static class is Console

blinkbat•2y ago

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

Denis•2y ago

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

júlioOP•2y ago

Could be a Singleton

blinkbat•2y ago

namespace System
{
    public static class Console
    {

namespace System
{
    public static class Console
    {

it's not though

Denis•2y ago

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

júlioOP•2y ago

I see I will experiment with that a bit

Denis•2y ago

Happy coding

júlioOP•2y ago

Thank you both :)

Anton•2y 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•2y ago

it depends on context, lambdas are common in many places

Angius•2y 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";   
}

júlioOP•2y 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•2y ago

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

Accord•2y 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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