How to create a global method in C# that can be called without prefixing the classname?

Question

If I want to make a function that can be called from every location in my project, I create static class with a static function, but I still have to refer to the function as Class.Method instead of Method even if I import the static class with using. How can you do this?

Ask yourself: how many times have I *consumed* such a feature in C#? The answer is zero. This should tell you something. — Marc Gravell, Mar 31 '14 at 20:38
@DaveZych .NET creators decided to go different way than Java creators. — Ulugbek Umirov, Mar 31 '14 at 20:39
@UlugbekUmirov This cannot be done in `Java` either. Methods in Java must be contained within a type. — Servy, Mar 31 '14 at 20:39
there are many obscure features of all languages. a significant perentage of SO traffic is about obscure features — pm100, Mar 31 '14 at 20:39
@Servy In Java you can import static function from class. So you don't need to prefix the method with class name. — Ulugbek Umirov, Mar 31 '14 at 20:40
@DaveZych Im porting a Java library to C# and I want the resulting code to look as much as possible as the original, because it will make it easier to sync changes in the future. — Maestro, Mar 31 '14 at 20:45
@Muis - mirror is two way street :)... consider to change original to match features. — Alexei Levenkov, Mar 31 '14 at 21:21

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 31 '14 at 20:37

6

You cannot. Functions must be declared within a type in C#.

answered Mar 31 '14 at 20:37

Servy

202,030
26
332
449

There are no functions in C# actually, they are methods - that's why they need to be inside a type – Michał Mar 31 '14 at 20:45

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 03 '14 at 16:47

At the Build 2014 keynote it was announce that the following should work in the next version:

using Class;

...

Method(...);

Basically, exactly what you wanted. The using Class; imports the static methods from the Class type so that they don't need to be referenced from the type.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 31 '14 at 20:38

0

You have to refer to the STATIC method as Class.Method() unless you are inside the class.

answered Mar 31 '14 at 20:38

T McKeown

12,971
1
25
32

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 31 '14 at 20:38

First of all - you cannot import a static class. You only import a namespace in which it is contained.

You actually cannot do it - that is the basic principle of OOP - everything has it's class. Methods in static classes are the replacement for the global functions in C++

How to create a global method in C# that can be called without prefixing the classname?

4 Answers4