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c#interfaceoverloading
john
john

Reputation: 4423

C# Method Overload vs. Interface Parameter

I'm just curious, what is considered the "best practice" for the following example: I have either a numeric array or numeric list and want to supply it to a function to return the average.

Is it better to overload the method for each case:

double Average(int[] intArray){...}
double Average(uint[] uintArray){...}
double Average(double[] doubleArray){...}
...
double Average(List<int> intList){...}
...

Or, is it better to use some type of interface:

double Average(IEnumerable arrayOrList)
{
   // Branching logic for array or list.
}

Thanks!

EDIT

Average is used as an example. I have several numeric algorithms which need to be able to run on a variety of numeric data.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 369

Answers (3)

dtb
dtb

Reputation: 217263

Take a look at the various overloads of the Enumerable.Average Extension Method for guidance:

public static double Average(this IEnumerable<int> source)

A method in this style works for any collection type that implements IEnumerable<T> (T[], List<T>, HashSet<T>, ReadOnlyCollection<T>, ...) and avoids the overhead incurred by a non-generic IEnumerable argument. Since C# doesn't have a where T : num constraint, you need to provide an overload for all primitive types you wish to support (Int32, Int64, Single, Double, Decimal, ...).

Upvotes: 3

AJC
AJC

Reputation: 1893

Assuming Average is just an example, you should use IEnumerable but overload the funciton with your data type, like so: IEnumerable<DataType>

For example:

double Average(IEnumerable<Int32> array){...}
double Average(IEnumerable<Double> array){...}

Upvotes: 0

Charlie
Charlie

Reputation: 10307

An interface will allow you to supply an array or any other collection. You might want to use a strongly typed interface like IEnumerable<int> though.

Upvotes: 1

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