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Discover an effective and elegant approach for calling functions in a generic C# class without the messy switch statements.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/72624655/ asked by the user 'Justin Neff' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/15985010/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/72653182/ provided by the user 'Enigmativity' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/259769/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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The Best Way to Call a Function from a Generic Class in C#

When working with C# , you might find yourself needing to call functions from various classes within a generic class context. For instance, let’s say you have numerous classes that you want to handle uniformly — invoking a method on each without resorting to extensive switch statements. If you are in such a scenario, read on!

Understanding the Problem

The typical challenge developers face is efficiently dispatching calls to methods across multiple classes based solely on a generic input type. Creating a vast switch statement to manage this in code can quickly become unwieldy, especially when dealing with several classes (like 30 in some cases) and a multitude of objects.

Example of Initial Complication

Consider the initial approach using a switch statement in a method like this:

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This is not only tedious to manage but also prone to error and duplication in logic — especially during CRUD operations.

A Cleaner Solution: Utilizing Dictionary and Delegates

What if there was a way to avoid those massive switch statements? Enter the use of a Dictionary<Type, Delegate> in combination with dynamic registration of factory methods.

Step-by-Step Implementation

Create a Dictionary for Method Registrations:
First, set up a dictionary to hold the relationship between your class types and their respective constructors.

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Define a Create Method:
The method that will utilize the dictionary to create instances based on the type provided.

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Register Your Factory Methods:
Each class can be registered with its factory method like so:

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Implement Registration Calls:
As you add new entities or classes, you can register their methods easily:

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Alternative: Hard-Coded Dictionary

For situations where the types aren’t expected to change dynamically, you can populate the dictionary statically:

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Conclusion

By employing this dictionary-driven approach, we manage to reduce complexity and enhance readability. Instead of a labyrinth of switch cases, we have a clean, maintainable set of registrations. Each time you need to add a new class, you only need to register it, making your codebase flexible and easier to adapt.

This elegant solution not only speeds up development but also keeps the focus on functionality rather than boilerplate code. Happy coding!