This workshop will be retired on May 1, 2025.
Heads up! To view this whole video, sign in with your Courses account or enroll in your free 7-day trial. Sign In Enroll
Preview
Start a free Courses trial
to watch this video
Extension methods make it easy to add functional methods to any type.
LINQ extension methods defined in System.Linq.Enumerable
Follow these guidelines when writing extension methods:
- Only create extension methods that you could realistically see as being part of the original class.
- Because methods can be applied to interfaces, we need to be very careful that we’re sticking to the interface, and not creating methods that only make sense for some implementations of the interface.
- Only write extension methods for reusable code. Assume the extension will be reused by others and code it accordingly.
- Extension methods should have a very specific and straight-forward purpose.
- Their implementation should be obvious from the way they are named. They should also be well documented.
- They should be in a limited namespace. This makes it more obvious to coders when they’re using an extension method and it makes it easier to scope methods to files. Don't forget about "using static".
- Extension methods are highly reusable and you never know how they’ll be used. So they need to be tested thoroughly.
Related Discussions
Have questions about this video? Start a discussion with the community and Treehouse staff.
Sign upRelated Discussions
Have questions about this video? Start a discussion with the community and Treehouse staff.
Sign up
The situation I use extension methods
the most in is with delegates and
0:00
lambda functions.
0:04
This is also known as
functional programming.
0:06
Instead of calling methods and
passing in parameters,
0:09
with functional programming we
apply simple functions to data.
0:12
Many people agree that the resulting
code is both more succinct and readable.
0:16
In fact, most Linq methods take a function
delegate as one of their parameters.
0:20
Most of the Linq methods we know and love
are defined in System.Linq.Enumerable.
0:26
Let's take a look.
0:31
Here's the Enumerable
class in System.Linq.
0:33
If you go through these methods,
0:35
you'll notice that these
are all extension methods.
0:37
Notice how many of them take,
0:41
as one of their parameters,
an action or func delegate.
0:42
Some of the Linq methods
I find myself using a lot
0:46
are these ones that start
with the word First.
0:49
These methods search the collection for
the first matching item.
0:52
If no item is found, then an invalid
operation exception is thrown.
0:57
Or in the case of the FirstOrDefault
methods, the default value for
1:01
the type of item in
the collection is returned.
1:05
Let's write our own method that,
instead of throwing an exception or
1:07
returning the default value,
will return whatever it's told to return.
1:12
Almost all Linq methods
extend IEnumerable.
1:17
So we'll say public static, and
1:20
the thing it will return will be of
type T, or the parameter we tell it to.
1:23
We'll just call it FirstOr,
set the parameter type,
1:28
say this IEnumerable<T>.
1:36
Now this first parameter will be of
type Func, which is a delegate type.
1:43
It will take a T and return a bool,
and we'll name it predicate.
1:50
So this function will be called
on each item in the IEnumerable
1:57
to determine if it's found
the item it's looking for.
2:01
If it doesn't find
the item it's looking for
2:04
in the IEnumerable,
we need to tell it what to do.
2:06
So we'll pass in another function,
so say Func,
2:10
and it'll just return an item of type T.
2:14
And I'll call it onOr.
2:18
We need to check to make
sure that this isn't null.
2:24
We can actually just copy that
code from StringExtensions.
2:27
So here's null check, and we throw
ArgumentNullException if this is null.
2:42
To check to see if the item we're
looking for is in IEnumerable,
2:47
we'll just call the FirstOrDefault
method from Linq.
2:51
So say T found = @this.FirstOrDefault,
2:55
and pass in the predicate.
3:02
If(found.Equals) the default value for T.
3:13
So to get the default value for T, there's
a special operator in C# called default.
3:19
Say default, and we just pass in the type.
3:25
So this will return the default value for
T.
3:29
So if T was int, it would return 0.
3:34
If it was a float, it would return 0.0.
3:38
If it was any other type of class,
it would return null.
3:41
If it was a C# struct, it would return
the default value for that struct.
3:46
So if found equals the default value for
t,
3:52
that means FirstOrDefault couldn't
find the item using the predicate.
3:54
In that case, we'll call our onOr
function that was passed in.
3:59
It will return an object of type T and
4:03
we'll just return that,
so say found = onOr().
4:08
Finally, we'll return found.
4:14
Let's go back to Program.cs and
use our FirstOr method.
4:18
We can get rid of these lines here.
4:24
Let's say var best =
synonymsForBest.FirstOr(),
4:34
and we'll for
the first thing in synonymsForBest that
4:39
has a length that is an even
number of characters.
4:44
So say s, s.Length.IsEven, and
4:49
here we'll need to pass
in what we want our
4:53
FirstOrMethod to return
if it can't find any
4:58
words in the list that
have an even length.
5:03
For that, let's use our RandomItem method.
5:09
So we'll just say
synonymsForBest.RandomItem,
5:12
and we'll change this to just return best.
5:17
You might be wondering why the third
parameter to our FirstOr method
5:23
is a function and
not just a parameter of type T.
5:28
After all,
we could have just called RandomItem and
5:33
gotten the item, and then just passed
that in here as the parameter.
5:38
The reason is,
5:43
we don't want the RandomItem method
to be called unless it needs to be.
5:44
If FirstOr finds an item in
the list that has an even length,
5:50
then it should just return that.
5:56
If it can't find one, then only then
should it call our RandomItem method.
5:58
This is known as lazy evaluation.
6:04
Our RandomItem method won't be called
unless it absolutely needs to be.
6:06
This is one of the great things
about functional programming, and
6:11
C# extension methods allow us to add
functional methods to any type of object.
6:14
>> As you can see, extension methods can
be a big asset when programming in C#.
6:20
However because they
make code more readable,
6:25
there's a tendency to make
extension methods for everything.
6:28
They can actually cause confusion and
6:32
end up making code less readable
if they're over used like that.
6:34
Here are some guidelines
when considering whether or
6:38
not to write an extension method.
6:40
Only create extension methods
that you could realistically see
6:43
as being part of the original class.
6:47
Because methods can be
applied to interfaces,
6:49
we need to be very careful that
we're sticking to the interface and
6:52
not creating methods that only make sense
for some implementations of the interface.
6:55
Only write extension methods for
reusable code.
7:00
Assume that the extension will be reused
by others, and code it accordingly.
7:03
Extension methods should have a very
specific and straightforward purpose.
7:08
This is true for most methods, but
even more so for extension methods.
7:12
Their implementation should be
obvious from the way they're named.
7:17
They should also be well documented.
7:20
They should be in a limited namespace.
7:23
This makes it more obvious for coders when
they're using an extension method, and
7:26
it makes it possible to scope
methods to specific files.
7:30
Extension methods are highly reusable and
7:34
you never know how they'll be used,
so they need to be tested thoroughly.
7:37
Luckily, extension methods
lend themselves to be tested
7:42
since they're public static methods.
7:45
Extension methods
are just one more tool to
7:48
have in your toolbox as
a software developer.
7:50
I think they're pretty nifty, and
7:53
they're one of the things that
make C# such a unique language.
7:54
I hope you have fun making
your own extension methods.
7:58
Until next time, happy coding.
8:01
You need to sign up for Treehouse in order to download course files.
Sign upYou need to sign up for Treehouse in order to set up Workspace
Sign up