deligates , can anyone simplify?

Question

i know i have used deligates, i know how to use them, but im still not 100% on them. can anyone give me an explination for dummies on what deligates do and how they do it? thanks

spgilmore · Answer

They are a managed version of a function pointer as was used in C or Pascal. Although that is how I think of it, I like to explain it this way... An object exists somewhere in memory. You can have a reference to it. You can have many references to it. Without a reference, the object is lost. It is the only way that you can get to it. If you have two of these objects, you may change your reference to point to the second one instead of the first. These are all simple concepts that you probably already understand. Delegates are references to a method instead of an object. You can a single delegate refer to a method. You can have many delegates refer to a single method. You can change a delegate change from referencing one method to reference another method. Same thing. There is a single slight difference. Though objects and and methods don't have to have references, you have no other way to get to an object, but you *can* get to a method without such a reference (because you have the reference to its object instead).

pavithran · Answer

they are like safe functional pointers(FP). What ever u can achieve with FP u can with delegates.

knravi0606 · Answer

tell me about deligates like definiton and use with example

spgilmore · Answer

Most people like to think of Delegates as events that are manually fired. They are names for methods. The method is hard-coded, but the delegate points to it. I like to think of it this way. Variables hold values. Some hold stings (string variables), some hold integers (integer variables), some hold methods (delegates). Delegates are a way to call procedures that are not hard-coded. Constants cannot be changed. Variables can. Procedures cannot be changed. Delegates can. Same thing Technically, delegates are classes and not variables, and technically, they hold more than one value even though they are not arrays, but they can be treated as any other type and assigned as any reference type. Another way to think of them is that Delegates are aliases for methods. You can have 10 variables that all hold 'Hello World', and you can have 10 delegates by different names that all point to the same procedure.

deligates , can anyone simplify?

Answers (4)