Difference between this and base

Question

I am interested to know the difference between this and base object in C#. What is the best practice when using them?

Answer 1

this represents the current class instance while base the parent. Example of usage:

public class Parent {     public virtual void Foo()     {     } }  public class Child : Parent {     // call constructor in the current type     public Child() : this("abc")     {     }      public Child(string id)     {     }      public override void Foo()     {          // call parent method         base.Foo();     } } 

Answer 2

The two keywords are very different.

• this refers to the current instance (not the “current class”). It can only be used in non-static methods (because in a static method there is no current instance). Calling a method on this will call the method in the same way as it would if you called it on a variable containing the same instance.

• base is a keyword that allows inherited method call, i.e. it calls the specified method from the base type. It too can only be used in a non-static method. It is usually used in a virtual method override, but actually can be used to call any method in the base type. It is very different from normal method invocation because it circumvents the normal virtual-method dispatch: it calls the base method directly even if it is virtual.