C# 0 The Complete Reference

PART I

C h a p t e r   1 8 :  

G e n e r i c s  

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PART IPART I

Using Explicit Type Arguments to Call a Generic Method

Although implicit type inference is adequate for most invocations of a generic method, it is 

possible to explicitly specify the type argument. To do so, specify the type argument after 

the method name when calling the method. For example, here 

CopyInsert( )

 is explicitly 

passed type 

string

:

ArrayUtils.CopyInsert("in C#", 1, strs, strs2);

You will need to explicitly specify the type when the compiler cannot infer the type for the 

T

 parameter or if you want to override the type inference.

Using a Constraint with a Generic Method

You can add constraints to the type arguments of a generic method by specifying them after 

the parameter list. For example, the following version of 

CopyInsert( )

 will work only with 

reference types:

public static bool CopyInsert(T e, uint idx,

                                 T[] src, T[] target) where T : class {

If you were to try this version in the program shown earlier, then the following call to