A default constructor has no parameters. And nor does a constructor that you write with no parameters. So what is the ultimate difference in c#?
Added to this when you inherit a default constructor and a parameterless constructor are they exposed on the inheritting type exactly the same? Because my IOC container doesn't seem to think so. (Unity).
Cheers, Pete
The "default" constructor is added by the C# compiler if your class does not contain an explicit instance constructor. It is a public, parameterless constructor. If you have created an explicit non-public, parameterless constructor, Unity will not be able to use it in the same way it would have used a public constructor (regardless of whether this was generated by the compiler, and regardless of whether it had parameters).
You can override the behaviour of the default constructor by creating a parameterless constructor. A common use of this is when you have a custom object as a member of your class and you need to initialize it with a default value when an instance of your class created.
A default constructor is a synonym for a parameterless constructor.
Adding to @Sachin Kainth and @Fredrik Leijon answers, in .NET (also in Java) constructors are not inherited.
You either explicitly call a base constructor or, by default, the base parameterless constructor is invoked.
If you don't add a constructor then a default constructor with no parameters is inserted for you. If you add a constructor (with or without parameters) no default constructor is generated
I'll let the code speak for itself:
public class ThisHasADefaultConstructor
{
}
public class ThisHasAParameterlessConstructor
{
public ThisHasAParameterlessConstructor()
{
}
}
Note that a default constructor is effectively a parameterless constructor that is automatically generated when you don't specify a constructor (with or without parameters).
Maybe you need the the parameterless constructor if you want to have more constructors. Let's say one without parameters and one with parameters.
if your class has only a constructor with parameters, you're are not allowed to use the parameterless constructor, unless you define one, in other words, no default parameterless constructor is provided if you define a custom constructor in your class.
MSDN states:
A constructor that takes no parameters is called a default constructor. Default constructors are invoked whenever an object is instantiated using the new operator and no arguments are provided to new.
So the default constructor does not have to be automatically generated. A hand-written, parameterless constructor is also the default constructor.
This actually makes sense when you look at derived classes:
class A
{
public A() { ... } // do something
public A(object o) { ... } // do something else
}
class B
{
public B() { ... }
}
Which A constructor is called while creating B? The default one.
Default constructor refers to a constructor without parameters, wheter created automatically or created by you.
A defualt constructor is created automatically if you don't declare any other instance constructor, with or without paramters. (declaring a static constructor won't avoid the defautl constructor to be automatically created).
The constructors of a hierarchy of classes are not inherited, but all the constructor on the inheriting chain are invoked when using the constructor of a derived class, starting from the root of the hierarchy. Unless you specify which constructor to invoke, the default constructor of each class is invoked.
public class Base
{
public Base()
{
}
}
public class Derived : Base
{
public Derived()
{
}
}
// invokes, the Base() construtor, and then the Derived() constructor
var d = new Derived();
You can also explicitly invoke a base class constructor, with or without parameters like so:
// Derived class explicitly invoking base class constructor.
public Derived() :base()
{
}
If you want, you can invoke a base class constructor with parameters like so:
public Derived(int j) :base(j)
or so
public Derived() :base(23)
In this last code sample, if you create a Derived object with the default constructor, the constructor invoked in the base class isn't the default one, but a constructor with an integer parameter, invoked with the parameter 23.
(of course, this constructor with parameter must exist in the Base class).
You can only invoke explicitly the constructor of the inmediate base class.
A default contructor is called implicitly by the comppiler, except if you have explicitly created a new one (with no parameters).
