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Difference between generic argument constrained to an interface and just using the interface

What is the difference between this:

void MyMethod(IMyInterface value)
{
    //...
}

and this:

void MyMethod<T>(T value) where T : IMyInterface
{
    //...
}
like image 401
Joel Coehoorn Avatar asked Feb 27 '09 15:02

Joel Coehoorn


1 Answers

The main functional difference is that you can know the actual type of the object inside of the generic method. The T parameter will contain the actual type which can advantageous in certain scenarios.

In the non-generic case you cannot guarantee access to the underlying type of the object. Most of the type you could grab value.GetType() but the user could pass Null and thwart you.

like image 99
JaredPar Avatar answered Oct 05 '22 07:10

JaredPar