Programmatic equivalent of default(Type)

c# reflection default
tags2k picture tags2k · Nov 28, 2008 · Viewed 142.9k times · Source

I'm using reflection to loop through a Type's properties and set certain types to their default. Now, I could do a switch on the type and set the default(Type) explicitly, but I'd rather do it in one line. Is there a programmatic equivalent of default?

Answer

Dror Helper picture Dror Helper · Dec 9, 2008
  • In case of a value type use Activator.CreateInstance and it should work fine.
  • When using reference type just return null
public static object GetDefault(Type type)
{
   if(type.IsValueType)
   {
      return Activator.CreateInstance(type);
   }
   return null;
}

In the newer version of .net such as .net standard, type.IsValueType needs to be written as type.GetTypeInfo().IsValueType

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