Static implicit operator

Question

I recently found this code:

 public static implicit operator XElement(XmlBase xmlBase)
 {
     return xmlBase.Xml;
 }

What does stati

Answer 1

This is a conversion operator. It means that you can write this code:

XmlBase myBase = new XmlBase();
XElement myElement = myBase;

And the compiler won't complain! At runtime, the conversion operator will be executed - passing myBase in as the argument, and returning a valid XElement as the result.

It's a way for you as a developer to tell the compiler:

"even though these look like two totally unrelated types, there is actually a way to convert from one to the other; just let me handle the logic for how to do it."