Delegates in Asp.Net C#

Delegates in C# are similar to the function pointer in C/C++. It provides a way which tells which method is to be called when an event is triggered.

Deepak Talwar Deepak Talwar
Feb 16, 2022 - 01:10 Updated: Feb 16, 2022 - 01:10
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Delegates in Asp.Net C#
Delegate, C#, Asp.Net, Programming - thetechfoyer,thetechfoyer.com

This Articles helps you to understand the concept of Delegates in C#.

A delegate is an object which refers to a method or you can say it is a reference type variable that can hold a reference to the methods.


KeyPoints About Delegates:
1. Provides a good way to encapsulate the methods.
2. Delegates are the library class in System namespace.
3. These are the type-safe pointer of any method.
4. Delegates are mainly used in implementing the call-back methods and events.
5. Delegates can be chained together as two or more methods can be called on a single event.
6. It doesn’t care about the class of the object that it references.
7. Delegates can also be used in “anonymous methods” invocation.
8. Anonymous Methods(C# 2.0) and Lambda expressions(C# 3.0) are compiled to delegate types in certain contexts. Sometimes, these features together are known as anonymous functions.


Declaration of Delegates (Single Cast Delegate)
Step 1 Declare : Delegate type can be declared using the delegate keyword.
Step 2 Refer Method: Once a delegate is declared, delegate instance will refer and call those methods whose return type and parameter-list matches with the delegate declaration.

[modifier] delegate [return_type] [delegate_name] ([parameter_list]);

/*
    modifier:       It is the required modifier which defines the access of delegate and it is optional to use.
    delegate:       It is the keyword which is used to define the delegate.
    return_type:    It is the type of value returned by the methods which the delegate will be going to call. It can be void.
                    A method must have the same return type as the delegate.
    delegate_name:  It is the user-defined name or identifier for the delegate.
    parameter_list: This contains the parameters which are required by the method when called through the delegate.
*/

class TheTechFoyer {
     
  // Declaring the delegates
  // Here return type and parameter type should be same as the return type and parameter type of the two methods
  // "addnumber" and "subnumber" are two delegate names
  public delegate void addnumber(int a, int b);
  public delegate void subnumber(int a, int b);
     
  // method "sum"
  public void sum(int a, int b)
  {
      Console.WriteLine("(100 + 50) = {0}", a + b);
  }

  // method "subtract"
  public void subtract(int a, int b)
  {
      Console.WriteLine("(100 - 80) = {0}", a - b);
  }
 
  // Main Method
  public static void Main(String []args)
  {        
      // creating object
      TheTechFoyer obj = new TheTechFoyer();
         
      // creating object of delegate, for method "sum" & instantiating the delegates
      addnumber del_sum = new addnumber(obj.sum);

      // creating object of delegate, for method "subtract" & instantiating the delegates
      subnumber del_subtract = new subnumber(obj.subtract);
 
      // pass the values to the methods using respective delegate object(s)
      del_sum(100, 50);
      del_subtract(100, 80);
 
      // OR can be written as using "Invoke" method
      // del_sum.Invoke(100, 50);
      // del_subtract.Invoke(100, 80);
}}




Multicasting of a Delegate
Multicasting of delegate is an extension of the normal delegate(sometimes termed as Single Cast Delegate). It helps the user to point more than one method in a single call.

Properties of Multicasting:
Delegates are combined and when you call a delegate then a complete list of methods is called.
All methods are called in First in First Out(FIFO) order.
+ or += Operator is used to add the methods to delegates.
– or -= Operator is used to remove the methods from the delegates list.

Multicasting of delegate should have a return type of Void otherwise it will throw a runtime exception. Also, the multicasting of delegate will return the value only from the last method added in the multicast. Although, the other methods will be executed successfully.

class rectangle {
     
  // declaring delegate
  public delegate void rectDelegate(double height, double width);

  // "area" method
  public void area(double height, double width){
      Console.WriteLine("Area is: {0}", (width * height));
  }

  // "perimeter" method
  public void perimeter(double height, double width){
      Console.WriteLine("Perimeter is: {0} ", 2 * (width + height));
  }


  // Main Method
  public static void Main(String []args)
  {
     
      // creating object of class "rectangle"
      rectangle rect = new rectangle();    
 
      // creating delegate object, and pass the method as parameter by class object "rect"
      rectDelegate rectdele = new rectDelegate(rect.area);
      // OR can be written as
      rectDelegate rectdele = rect.area;

     
      // Multicasting 2nd method "perimeter", with the same object
      rectdele += rect.perimeter;
 
      // pass the values in both method by using "Invoke" method
      rectdele.Invoke(1.5, 2.5);
      Console.WriteLine();    
  }
}

// Output is
Area is: 3.75
Perimeter is: 8

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