Code Inspection: Delegate subtractions
The .NET framework defines operator overloads for the +
and -
operators on the Delegate
data type. The +
operator effectively combines delegates so that a multiple delegates are called within one. The -
operator, on the other hand, attempts to remove the delegate invocation list from a delegate.
The list distinction is important here: what this implies is that subtraction of a delegate effectively implies a subtraction of lists. For example, in the code below, removing the A
and C
delegates from the ABC invocation list via the expression s - (a + c)
has no effect whatsoever, because AC
is not a sublist of ABC
.
static void Main()
{
Action a = () => Console.Write("A");
Action b = () => Console.Write("B");
Action c = () => Console.Write("C");
Action s = a + b + c + Console.WriteLine;
s(); //ABC
(s - a)(); //BC
(s - b)(); //AC
(s - c)(); //AB
(s - (a + b))(); //C
(s - (b + c))(); //A
(s - (a + c))(); //ABC
}
It is also worth noting that sublist removal happens from the end of the list. For example:
s = a + b + a;
(s - a)(); // AB
Since the above mechanics can lead to unpredictable results, ReSharper issues a warning whenever it encounters a delegate subtraction operator.