This print for content only-size & color not accurate 7" X 9-1/4" / casebound / malloy

The Lack of Operator Constraints

When you are creating generic methods, it may come as a surprise to you that it is a compiler error

to apply any C# operators (+, -, *, ==, etc.) on the type parameters. As an example, I am sure you

could imagine the usefulness of a class that can Add(), Subtract(), Multiply(), and Divide()

generic types:

// Compiler error! Cannot apply

// operators to type parameters!

public class BasicMath

{

public T Add(T arg1, T arg2)

{ return arg1 + arg2; }

public T Subtract(T arg1, T arg2)

{ return arg1 - arg2; }

public T Multiply(T arg1, T arg2)

{ return arg1 * arg2; }

public T Divide(T arg1, T arg2)

{ return arg1 / arg2; }

}

Sadly, the preceding BasicMath class will not compile. While this may seem like a major

restriction, you need to again remember that generics are generic. Of course, the System.Int32 type

can work just fine with the binary operators of C#. However, for the sake of argument, if  were a

custom class or structure type, the compiler cannot assume it has overloaded the +, -, *, and / oper-

ators. Ideally, C# would allow a generic type to be constrained by supported operators, for example: