Why use delegates? 1

[thedougster]

Why use delegates?

I understand HOW to use delegates, but in what situations would you actually use them? The examples I see in the literature are all in situations where the code could just be written without ever using them.

 

[jmeckley]

I use them all the time in the form of lambda expressions.
Rhino Mock 3.5
Structure.Map 2.x
Castle Windsor
Linq Expressions

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

 

[misterstick]

a delegate is a description of a function.

if you have an integer, you declare a variable of type byte, int or long.

these types are self-describing, the amount of memory they take up and the maximum and minimum values they can hold are already declared for you.

if you want a variable to store the pointer to a function, you need more information, namely the parameters and return type of that function. this is where delegates come in.

they provide a mechanism whereby you can effectively define your own type.

this type can then be used in exactly the same way you would use int.

having a function take and return a pointer to a function is all very meta and c-like. it makes my head hurt.

hope this helps.

mr s. <

 

[jmeckley]

well said

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.