C# 12 features: Inline arrays

Part 6 in a series on new language features in C# 12.

Inline arrays

Super-niche, but I guess if you need it, you'll appreciate it. Previously you'd probably need to resort to using unsafe code to deal with this.

[System.Runtime.CompilerServices.InlineArray(10)]
public struct InlineArray
{
    public int Thing;
}

The compiler now knows this is an array of 10 contiguous elements.

Further reading

https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/csharp/language-reference/builtin-types/struct?WT.mc_id=DOP-MVP-5001655#inline-arrays

Example source

https://github.com/flcdrg/csharp-12/blob/main/06-inline-arrays/InlineArrays.cs

C# 12 features: Using aliases

Part 5 in a series on new language features in C# 12.

Alias any type

Now you can create aliases for any type - it doesn't need to have a name. Tuples are a great example, but also arrays.

using P = Tuple<string, string, int>;
using C = char[];

Further reading

https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/csharp/language-reference/proposals/csharp-12.0/using-alias-types?WT.mc_id=DOP-MVP-5001655

Example source

https://github.com/flcdrg/csharp-12/blob/main/05-alias/Aliases.cs

C# 12 features: Default lambda parameters

Part 4 in a series on new language features in C# 12.

Default lambda parameters

A pretty simple addition to the language - you can now provide default values for lambda expression parameters.

var IncrementBy = (int source, int increment = 1) => source + increment;

In the lambda defined above, if you don't supply the increment parameter, it defaults to 1.

Again, interesting, but I've not come across a need to use this yet.

Further reading

https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/csharp/language-reference/operators/lambda-expressions?WT.mc_id=DOP-MVP-5001655#input-parameters-of-a-lambda-expression

Example source

https://github.com/flcdrg/csharp-12/blob/main/04-optional-params-lambda/LambdaParameters.cs