Why is implicit typing disallowed in non-local variable declarations?

Question

I changed this:

List<string> chapterNames = new List<string>();

...to this:

var chapterNames = new List<string>();

...and was jabbed with this message from the compiler:

"The contextual keyword 'var' may only appear within a local variable declaration"

Implicit typing is *only* allowed in local variable declarations. You might wanna fix the title of your question. — Max, Dec 27 '13 at 19:30

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 27 '13 at 19:34

2

The simple answer is because that's how Microsoft introduced the var keyword in the specification for .NET 3.0.

answered Dec 27 '13 at 19:34

cgotberg

1 Answers1