Introduction
Delegates are a powerful feature in C# that allows developers to encapsulate methods and pass them as parameters. This provides a flexible and type-safe way to define callback methods and event handling mechanisms. Delegates are similar to function pointers in C++ but are object-oriented, making them more secure and manageable. This article explores the concept of delegates in C#, providing a comprehensive understanding along with a sample code snippet and its output.
Delegates
A delegate is a type that represents references to methods with a specific signature. When you instantiate a delegate, you can associate it with any method that matches its signature, whether it's static or instance. Delegates are commonly used to define event handlers and callback methods, promote loose coupling, and enhance code flexibility.
Declaring and Using Delegates
To declare a delegate, you use the delegate keyword followed by the method's return type and signature. Here's an example of how to declare, instantiate, and use a delegate in C#.