.NET Syntax For Implementing An Array

Question

What is the syntax for implementing an array of an interface?
iWord is an interface.

This is the syntax for List

public class Words : List<iWord>
{

}

But this fails
With an error message invalid base type
Am I getting an error because I am asking for something stupid?

public class Words : iWord[]
{

}

You cannot do that, maybe `IEnumerable` will do? What do you want to achive? — Zbigniew, Apr 20 '13 at 14:26
@walkhard Basically IEnumerable and I will just add an indexer(this). I will give it a try. If you want to mark that as an answer I will accept. — paparazzo, Apr 20 '13 at 14:28
Why not work with List<> and then turn it into array if needed? I find lists much easier to manipulate than arrays. — bobek, Apr 20 '13 at 14:34
@Blam to put it into better words. Array's are part of the language itself and not written as part of the framework like a List or Stack or some other data structure. Any type that exists you could put a `[]` against it and now you've got an array of that type. So as a result you don't need to implement an array. Here is a question : **What would you put into your words class?** — gideon, Apr 20 '13 at 14:35
@bobek Because under the covers is it an array as that is better suited for what I need than List — paparazzo, Apr 20 '13 at 14:40
@Blam you'll get all of that when you inherit from `List` if you want it readonly then there are readonly lists too. — gideon, Apr 20 '13 at 15:02
@gideon Under the covers is it an Array and I use it as an Array. Yes I could expose an enumerator and indexer with about any collection. — paparazzo, Apr 25 '13 at 12:57

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 20 '13 at 14:35

1

You can't do that, but since arrays implements IEnumerable and IEnumerable<T> maybe it'd be enough to

class Words : IEnumerable<iWord>

or you can just stick with your initial idea, after all List has an indexer:

class Words : List<iWord>
// use indexer to get first element
var myWords = new Words();
var first = myWords[0];

answered Apr 20 '13 at 14:35

Zbigniew

Because under the covers I need Array.Copy Method (Array, Int32, Array, Int32, Int32). To the outside world only need to expose IEnumerable and indexer. – paparazzo Apr 20 '13 at 14:44
If you really need to expose array to the outside word you can use `ToArray()` method. You can also take a look at [this](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1921701/how-to-copy-list-to-array). – Zbigniew Apr 20 '13 at 14:47
See my comment "To the outside world only need (want) to expose IEnumerable and a (read only) indexer". Under the covers I do not want to use a List. Under the covers I need an array and that is what I have. I used List as a syntax example that did not throw an error - not because I wanted to expose a list. IEnumerable with with a read only indexer is exactly what I need. – paparazzo Apr 20 '13 at 15:14

1 Answers1