Functional programming has been gaining popularity in recent years, and many programming languages have been adding features to support it. C# 11 is no exception, and it comes with several features that make it more functional. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of these features and provide examples of how to use them.
Record Types
Record types are a new type of class introduced in C# 9, and C# 11 has added some additional features to make them more functional. Records provide a way to define a type that is immutable by default and provides built-in value equality semantics. You can use records to represent data without worrying about accidental mutation or the need to implement value equality manually.
Here’s an example of a record type:
public record Person(string FirstName, string LastName, int Age);
This record type defines a person’s first name, last name, and age. The record type is immutable by default, and you can create a new instance of this record type using the following code:
var person = new Person("John", "Doe", 30);
Init-Only Properties
Init-only properties are another new feature introduced in C# 9 that allows you to initialize a property’s value when it is created and then make it read-only. C# 11 extends this feature to allow for init-only setters in interfaces and base classes.
Here’s an example of an interface with an init-only property:
public interface IShape
{
public int Sides { get; init; }
}
In this example, the Sides property is initialized when the object is created, and it can be read, but it cannot be modified after initialization.
Lambda Discards
Lambda discards are a new feature in C# 11 that allows you to use a discard (underscore) as a parameter in a lambda expression. This feature is useful when you want to ignore one or more parameters in a lambda expression.
Here’s an example of a lambda expression with a discard parameter:
var list = new List<int>() { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
var evens = list.Where(_ => _ % 2 == 0);
In this example, the lambda expression ignores the parameter passed to it and only evaluates the even numbers in the list.
Global Using Directives
Global using directives are another new feature in C# 11 that allows you to add using directives at the project level instead of having to add them to each file. This feature is useful when you have multiple files in a project that require the same using directives.
Here’s an example of a global using directive:
global using System.Linq;
In this example, the global using directive allows you to use LINQ methods in all files within the project without having to add a using directive to each file.
Nullable Reference Types
Nullable reference types were introduced in C# 8, but C# 11 has added some additional features to make them more functional. Nullable reference types allow you to declare whether a reference type can be null or not.
Here’s an example of a nullable reference type:
string? nullableString = null;
In this example, the nullableString variable can be assigned a value of null because it has been declared as nullable.
Conclusion
C# 11 has added several new features that make it more functional. These features include record types, init-only properties, lambda discards, global using directives, and nullable reference types. These features make it easier to write functional code in C#
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