What do square brackets around an identifier in VB.NET signify?

Question

I'm quite familiar with VB and .NET in general, but I just ran across this code:

Me.[GetType]() 

What is the purpose of the brackets around GetType?

Answer 1

The square brackets are used to tell the compiler that he should interpret it as a type, even if it would be a keyword. But your example should be the same as Me.GetType().

You could use it for example for Enums.

Example-Enum:

Enum Colors     Red     Green     Blue     Yellow End Enum 'Colors  Dim colors = [Enum].GetValues(GetType(Colors)) For Each c In colors    Console.WriteLine(c) Next 

That wouldn't compile normally:

Enum.GetValues(GetType(Colors)) 'because Enum is a keyword'