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up vote 1 down vote favorite
1

What can be done better in this code? I am sure it's not missing much.

You can copy and paste the whole thing in LinqPad; it's all there.

public interface IRep<T>
{
    List<T> GetAll();
}

public interface IEntity
{
    int Id{get;set;}
}

public class Customer: IEntity
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

public class Product: IEntity
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Code { get; set; }
    public decimal Price {get;set;}
}

public class RepProduct: IRep<Product>
{
    public List<Product> GetAll()
    {
        List<Product> list = new List<Product>();
        list.Add(new Product() {Id=1, Code = "burger", Price = 2.99M});
        list.Add(new Product() {Id=1, Code = "fries", Price = 1.99M});
        list.Add(new Product() {Id=1, Code = "pepsi", Price = 1.99M});
        return list;
    }
}

public class RepCustomer: IRep<Customer>
{
    public List<Customer> GetAll()
    {
        List<Customer> list = new List<Customer>();
        list.Add(new Customer() {Id=1,Name="Fred", Age=44   });
        list.Add(new Customer() {Id=2,Name="Victoria", Age=13   });
        list.Add(new Customer() {Id=3,Name="Kiefer", Age=10 });
        return list;}
}

void Main()
{

    IRep<IEntity> rep = null;



}
share|improve this question

1 Answer 1

up vote 4 down vote accepted

To get it to work, use IEnumerable<T> instead of List<T> as it's covariant:

public interface IRep<out T>
{
    IEnumerable<T> GetAll();
}

public interface IEntity
{
    int Id { get; set; }
}

public class Customer: IEntity
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

public class Product: IEntity
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Code { get; set; }
    public decimal Price {get;set;}
}

public class RepProduct: IRep<Product>
{
    public IEnumerable<Product> GetAll()
    {
        List<Product> list = new List<Product>();
        list.Add(new Product() {Id=1, Code = "burger", Price = 2.99M});
        list.Add(new Product() {Id=1, Code = "fries", Price = 1.99M});
        list.Add(new Product() {Id=1, Code = "pepsi", Price = 1.99M});
        return list;
    }
}

public class RepCustomer: IRep<Customer>
{
    public IEnumerable<Customer> GetAll()
    {
        List<Customer> list = new List<Customer>();
        list.Add(new Customer() {Id=1,Name="Fred", Age=44   });
        list.Add(new Customer() {Id=2,Name="Victoria", Age=13   });
        list.Add(new Customer() {Id=3,Name="Kiefer", Age=10 });
        return list;
    }
}

void Main()
{
    IRep<IEntity> rep = null;

    rep = new RepCustomer();
    Console.WriteLine(rep.GetAll());

    rep = new RepProduct();
    Console.WriteLine(rep.GetAll());
}
share|improve this answer
    
YES!!!!!!!!!!!! i spent hours looking for the solution.. THANKS A LOT –  SerenityNow Aug 15 '13 at 15:31
    
What is the OUT for in <out T> –  SerenityNow Aug 15 '13 at 15:33
    
That indicates the type parameter for the interface is covariant, that is, it can accept type T and subclasses of T as well. That's the secret sauce here. –  Jesse C. Slicer Aug 15 '13 at 15:34
    
You have no idea how hard i tried to make this code work.. you really helped me out.. thanks a lot again –  SerenityNow Aug 15 '13 at 15:38
1  
@RedSoxFred: As a more intuitive explanation of the purpose of covariance: It's illegal to pass List<Dog> to method expecting a List<Mammal> because the method might try to add a Cat to the list (as this is legal with a List<Mammal>). It's legal to pass IEnumerable<Dog> to a method expecting IEnumerable<Mammal> because there is no way to add entries to an IEnumerable. It is still possible to pull entries out, but an IEnumerable<Dog> will never contain non-mammals. Hence, you use the keyword out to say that you plan to pull stuff out (but not put stuff in). –  Brian Aug 15 '13 at 16:56

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