Specify default value for a reference type

Question

As I understand default(object) where 'object' is any reference type always returns null, but can I specify what a default is? For instance, I want default(object) == new object();

Answer 1

No. default(type) will always return the same thing - a "zero'ed out" version of that type. For a reference type, this is a handle to an object that is always set with a value of zero - which equates to null. For a value type, this is always the struct with all members set to zero.

There is no way to override this behavior - the language specification is designed this way.

---

Edit: As to your comment:

Just to be able to say FirstOrDefault() and never get a null.

I would not recommend this in any case. Users expect FirstOrDefault() to return null on failure. It would be better to write your own extension method:

static T FirstOrNewInstance<T>(this IEnumerable<T> sequence) where T : class, new() {      return sequence.FirstOrDefault() ?? new T(); }