String.Empty is not a constant value?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Why isn’t String.Empty a constant?

To make my code more readable I tried to assign String.Empty to a constant value:

const string PLATYPUS_ADDED_AND_ACCEPTED = string.Empty;
if (false) { }
else
{
    toolTip = PLATYPUS_ADDED_AND_ACCEPTED;
}

but I get "the expression being added must be constant"

Isn't String.Empty always the same thing? That seems pretty constant to me.

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 13 '12 at 16:08

3

string.Empty is a readonly field, not a constant.

The compiler has no way to know this will always be the same value.

answered Dec 13 '12 at 16:08

Steve B

Actually, Tim's answer is better as Tim pointed to the explanation of this choice by Microsoft. – Steve B Dec 17 '12 at 17:04

1 Answers1