What is the point of "static new" modifier for a function?

c# static new-operator modifier
Morgan Cheng picture Morgan Cheng · Mar 19, 2009 · Viewed 16.2k times · Source

Today, I found something in legacy code. It has "static new" for one function. It looks like this.

class Foo
{
    public static void Do()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Foo.Do");
    }
}

class Bar: Foo
{
    public static new void Do()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Bar.Do");
    }
}

I don't understand the static new modifier for the Do method in class Bar. In C#, static method can only be invoked with class name instead of object name. So, I don't think there is any difference between having the "new" and not.

Generally, if some syntax is unnecessary, C# just treat it is error. Anybody has any idea about why C# allows such syntax?

Answer

Rasmus Faber picture Rasmus Faber · Mar 19, 2009

If you remove the new from your code you get:

warning CS0108: 'Bar.Do()' hides inherited member 'Foo.Do()'. Use the new keyword if hiding was intended.

The C# compiler just warns you that you might be doing something you did not intend and asks you to insert the new keyword to confirm that you know what you are doing. Besides suppressing the warning, it has no other effects.

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