C#

Anonymous Functions in C#

Programmingempire

This article describes Anonymous Functions in C# with examples. Basically, anonymous functions are those functions that don’t have any name. Hence, we define the anonymous functions at that place in the code where we need to use them.

In fact, C# has a delegate keyword that we can use to create anonymous functions. In order to create an anonymous function, we must create a variable of the type delegate. Further, we need to create a function using the delegate keyword. After that, the function is assigned to the variable of the delegate type.

How to Create Anonymous Functions in C#

In order to create an anonymous function first, we need to create a delegate. The following syntax shows how to create a delegate.

delegate return-type delegate-name(parameter-list);

Examples:
delegate int mydelegate(int a, int b);
delegate String mydelegate1(String s1);

After that, we need to create a variable of the delegate type declared earlier. For example,

mydelegate v1, v2;
mydelegate1 x1, x2;

Now that we have variables of these delegate types, we can create anonymous methods of matching signatures and assign them to these variables. For example,

v1=delegate(int a, int b){
   //statements
}

Example Program to Demonstrate Anonymous Functions in C#

The following code shows how to create and use anonymous functions in C#. As can be seen, we have two delegate types. The first one returns a value of int type and takes no parameter. Likewise, the second delegate takes an integer type parameter and returns an integer type value.

Calling an Anonymous Method

In order to call an anonymous method, we just need to use the delegate variable name followed by the parentheses. Furthermore, any parameter should be enclosed in the parentheses separated by a comma. Also, assign the returned value in a variable of the appropriate type. For instance, consider the following method call

<return-type> <variable-name> = <delegate-variable-name>(<parameter-list>);

For example,

int x = mydelegate(5, 12);

The following code shows two anonymous functions that return the sum of numbers.

using System;

namespace AnonymousFunctionExample2
{
    delegate int d1();
    delegate int d2(int n);
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            d1 ob = delegate ()
            {
                int n = 5;
                int s = 0;
                for(int i=1;i<=n;i++)
                {
                    s += i;
                }
                return s;
            };

            int s1 = ob();
            Console.WriteLine("Sum = " + s1);
            d2 ob1 = delegate (int j)
            {
                int s = 0;
                for (int i = 1; i <= j; i++)
                {
                    s += i;
                }
                return s;
            };

            int s2 = ob1(7);
            Console.WriteLine("Sum = " + s2);
        }
    }
}

Output

The Output of a Program Demonstrating Anonymous Functions in C#
The Output of a Program Demonstrating Anonymous Functions in C#

Further Reading

Selection Sort in C#

Insertion Sort in C#

Bubble Sort in C#

How to Create Instance Variables and Class Variables in Python

Comparing Rows of Two Tables with ADO.NET

Example of Label and Textbox Control in ASP.NET

One Dimensional and Two Dimensuonal Indexers in C#

Private and Static Constructors in C#

Methods of Array Class

Anonymous Functions in C#

Programs to Find Armstrong Numbers in C#

Matrix Multiplication in C#

One Dimensional and Two Dimensional Indexers in C#

Static Class Example in C#

Rotating an Array in C#

Generic IList Interface and its Implementation in C#

Recursive Binary search in C#

C# Practice Questions

Creating Navigation Window Application Using WPF in C#

Find Intersection Using Arrays

An array of Objects and Object Initializer

Performing Set Operations in LINQ

Using Quantifiers in LINQ

Data Binding Using BulletedList Control

Grouping Queries in LINQ

Generic Binary Search in C#

Understanding the Quantifiers in LINQ

Join Operation using LINQ

Deferred Query Execution and Immediate Query Execution in LINQ

Examples of Query Operations using LINQ in C#

An array of Objects and Object Initializer

Language-Integrated Query (LINQ) in C#

How Data Binding Works in WPF

Examples of Connected and Disconnected Approach in ADO.NET

New Features in C# 9

IEnumerable and IEnumerator Interfaces

KeyValuePair and its Applications

C# Root Class – Object

Access Modifiers in C#

Learning Properties in C#

Learning All Class Members in C#

Examples of Extension Methods in C#

How to Setup a Connection with SQL Server Database in Visual Studio

Understanding the Concept of Nested Classes in C#

LINQ To SQL Examples

A Beginner’s Tutorial on WPF in C#

Explaining C# Records with Examples

Everything about Tuples in C# and When to Use?

Creating Jagged Arrays in C#

Linear Search and Binary search in C#

Learning Indexers in C#

Object Initializers in C#

Examples of Static Constructors in C#

When should We Use Private Constructors?

C# Basic Examples

IEqualityComparer Interface

programmingempire

You may also like...