C#: How do sequential function calls work? (efficiency-wise)

Question

In C# it's conventional to write in a fairly objective manner, like so:

MyObj obj = new MyObj();
MyReturn ret = obj.DoSomething();
AnotherReturn rett = ret.DoSomethingElse();

I could just write the above like this:

AnotherReturn rett = new MyObj().DoSomething().DoSomethingElse();

However, how does the stackframe work when you have a bunch of function calls in a sequence like this? The example is fairly straightforward but imagine if I've got 50+ function calls chained (this can possibly happen in the likes of JavaScript (/w jQuery)).

My assumption was that, for each function call, a return address is made (to the "dot"?) and the return value (a new object with other methods) is then immediately pumped into the next function call at that return address. How does this work w.r.t. getting to the overall return value (in this example the return address will assign the final function value to rett)? If I kept chaining calls would I eventually overflow? In that case, is it considered wiser to take the objective route (at the cost of "needless" memory assignment?).

Answer 1

It's exactly the same as if you called each method on a separate line, assigning the return value to a variable each time and then using that variable to call the next method.

So your two samples are the same, effectively.

Do you have Reflector? You could try the two methods and inspect the generated IL code to see exactly what differences there are.