use this if it's non-null, otherwise use this default - the ?? feature
This isn't really "new", just a reminder of a neat feature, especially for those of us used to doing something very similar. It works great on Nullable<T> too!
using System;
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
int? realInt = 27;
int? nullInt = null;
string realString = "foo";
string nullString = null;
int defaultInt = -1;
string defaultString = "default";
Console.WriteLine("realInt: {0}", realInt ?? defaultInt);
Console.WriteLine("nullInt: {0}", nullInt ?? defaultInt);
Console.WriteLine("realString: {0}", realString ?? defaultString);
Console.WriteLine("nullString: {0}", nullString ?? defaultString);
// Output:
// realInt: 27
// nullInt: -1
// realString: foo
// nullString: default
}
}