Functions in a namespace? [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Why C# is not allowing non-member functions like C++

Instead of writing StaticClass.Function() I'd like to simply write Function(). There will be many functions and all should be accessible from different (and unrelated) classes and files. How do I put these functions in a specific namespace? Simply declaring it there will give me a compile error

error CS1518: Expected class, delegate, enum, interface, or struct

I know other .NET languages can do it. Is there a compile option i may use? Perhaps even undocumented?

Answer 1

C# does not allow for free functons. Each function must reside in a type. This is just the way it works, it's not a matter of technical possibility, it was a design decision.

You may be interested in this article.

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On a side note, ever notice how Intellisense works much, much better when writing C# than C++? This is one of those things that help (not the only one, but one).

EDIT: Funny, in reading that linked article I noticed that this is a dup...

Answer 2

C# does not allow this, by design.

However, if your goal is merely to reduce typing, you have a couple of options.

First, you can use the using Directive to simplify this. By adding this:

using SC = YourNamespace.StaticClass;

You can shorten the calls within that specific document to:

SC.Function();

Another option which is occasionally appropriate would be to use an Extension method. This can eliminate the need to specify the type, as the function appears to be a member function of the first argument. Of course, this wouldn't work for the supplied example (as it requires a parameter), but is potentially another option to reduce the amount of typing and searching, depending on the specific use case.