C# Overload return type - recommended approach

c# .net overloading return-type
richard picture richard · May 23, 2013 · Viewed 10.4k times · Source

I have a situation where I just want the return type to be different for a method overload, but you can't do this in C#.

What's the best way to handle this? Is the fact that I need this mean my program structure flawed?

Given the fact that this is impossible in C#, what is the recommended approach?

Answer

Jon Skeet picture Jon Skeet · May 23, 2013

Typically you simply give the methods different names.

An example of this is IDataReader with GetInt32, GetInt64 etc.

To be honest, I believe this usually makes it clearer what you're trying to do anyway - particularly if you're then calling an overloaded method with the result:

Console.WriteLine(reader.GetInt32()); // This is clear

Console.WriteLine(foo.OverloadedGet()); // Which overload of OverloadedGet?

Related questions

method overloading vs optional parameter in C# 4.0

which one is better? at a glance optional parameter seems better (less code, less XML documentation, etc), but why do most MSDN library classes use overloading instead of optional parameters? Is there any special thing you have to take note …

Read More
Overriding == operator. How to compare to null?

Possible Duplicate: How do I check for nulls in an ‘==’ operator overload without infinite recursion? There is probably an easy answer to this...but it seems to be eluding me. Here is a simplified example: public class Person { public string …

Read More
Why method overloading is not allowed in WCF?

Assume that this is a ServiceContract [ServiceContract] public interface MyService { [OperationContract] int Sum(int x, int y); [OperationContract] int Sum(double x, double y); } Method overloading is allowed in C#, but WCF does not allow you to overload operation contracts …

Read More