CA1007: Use generics where appropriate

Item	Value
RuleId	CA1007
Category	Microsoft.Design
Breaking change	Breaking

Cause

An externally visible method contains a reference parameter of type System.Object, and the containing assembly targets .NET Framework 2.0.

Rule description

A reference parameter is a parameter that is modified by using the ref (ByRef in Visual Basic) keyword. The argument type that is supplied for a reference parameter must exactly match the reference parameter type. To use a type that is derived from the reference parameter type, the type must first be cast and assigned to a variable of the reference parameter type. Use of a generic method allows all types, subject to constraints, to be passed to the method without first casting the type to the reference parameter type.

How to fix violations

To fix a violation of this rule, make the method generic and replace the Object parameter by using a type parameter.

When to suppress warnings

Do not suppress a warning from this rule.

Example

The following example shows a general-purpose swap routine that is implemented as both nongeneric and generic methods. Note how efficiently the strings are swapped by using the generic method compared to the nongeneric method.

C#

using System;

namespace DesignLibrary
{
   public sealed class ReferenceParameters
   {
      private ReferenceParameters(){}

      // This method violates the rule.
      public static void Swap(ref object object1, ref object object2)
      {
         object temp = object1;
         object1 = object2;
         object2 = temp;
      }

      // This method satifies the rule.
      public static void GenericSwap<T>(ref T reference1, ref T reference2)
      {
         T temp = reference1;
         reference1 = reference2;
         reference2 = temp;
      }
   }

   class Test
   {
      static void Main()
      {
         string string1 = "Swap";
         string string2 = "It";

         object object1 = (object)string1;
         object object2 = (object)string2;
         ReferenceParameters.Swap(ref object1, ref object2);
         string1 = (string)object1;
         string2 = (string)object2;
         Console.WriteLine("{0} {1}", string1, string2);

         ReferenceParameters.GenericSwap(ref string1, ref string2);
         Console.WriteLine("{0} {1}", string1, string2);
      }
   }
}

VB

Imports System

Namespace DesignLibrary

   Public NotInheritable Class ReferenceParameters
   
      Private Sub New()
      End Sub

      ' This method violates the rule.
      Public Shared Sub Swap( _  
         ByRef object1 As Object, ByRef object2 As Object)

         Dim temp As Object = object1
         object1 = object2
         object2 = temp

      End Sub

      ' This method satifies the rule.
      Public Shared Sub GenericSwap(Of T)( _ 
         ByRef reference1 As T, ByRef reference2 As T)
      
         Dim temp As T = reference1
         reference1 = reference2
         reference2 = temp

      End Sub

   End Class

   Class Test
   
      Shared Sub Main()
      
         Dim string1 As String = "Swap"
         Dim string2 As String = "It"

         Dim object1 As Object = DirectCast(string1, Object)
         Dim object2 As Object = DirectCast(string2, Object)
         ReferenceParameters.Swap(object1, object2)
         string1 = DirectCast(object1, String)
         string2 = DirectCast(object2, String)
         Console.WriteLine("{0} {1}", string1, string2)

         ReferenceParameters.GenericSwap(string1, string2)
         Console.WriteLine("{0} {1}", string1, string2)

      End Sub

   End Class

End Namespace

Related rules

CA1005: Avoid excessive parameters on generic types

CA1010: Collections should implement generic interface

CA1000: Do not declare static members on generic types

CA1002: Do not expose generic lists

CA1006: Do not nest generic types in member signatures

CA1004: Generic methods should provide type parameter

CA1003: Use generic event handler instances

See also

Generics