C#: event with explicity add/remove != typical event?

Question

I have declared a generic event handler

public delegate void EventHandler();

to which I have added the extension method \'RaiseEvent\':

Answer 1

The "plain" declaration for TypicalEvent does some compiler trickery. It creates an event metadata entry, add and remove methods and a backing field. When your code refers to TypicalEvent, the compiler translates it into a reference to the backing field; when external code refers to TypicalEvent (using += and -=), the compiler translates it into a reference to the add or remove method.

The "explicit" declaration bypasses this compiler trickery. You are spelling out the add and remove methods and the backing field: indeed, as TcKs points out, there may not even be a backing field (this is a common reason for using the explicit form: see e.g. events in System.Windows.Forms.Control). Therefore the compiler can no longer quietly translate the reference to TypicalEvent into a reference to the backing field: if you want the backing field, the actual delegate object, you have to reference the backing field directly:

_explicitEvent.RaiseEvent()