How do you provide a default type for generics?

Question

I have a class that currently has several methods that take integer parameters. These integers map to operations that the application can perform. I\'d like to make the clas

Answer 1

You can't do it in the definition of the class:

var foo = new MyGenericClass(); // defaults to integer... this doesn't work
var bar = new MyGenericClass(); // T is a MyEnum

If really value the implicitness of the default type being int, you'll have to do it with a static factory method, although I don't see the value of it.

public class MyGenericClass
{
    public static MyGenericClass Create()
    {
        return new MyGenericClass();
    }
    public static MyGenericClass CreateDefault()
    {
        return new MyGenericClass();
    }
}

See below for how you really don't benefit from the above.

var foo = MyGenericClass.Create();
var bar1 = MyGenericClass.CreateDefault(); // doesn't work
var bar2 = MyGenericClass.CreateDefault(); // works, but what's the point

If you want to take it even farther, you can create a static factory class that will solve this, but that's an even more ridiculous solution if you're doing it for no other reason than to provide a default type:

public static class MyGenericClassFactory
{
    public static MyGenericClass Create()
    {
        return new MyGenericClass();
    }
    public static MyGenericClass Create()
    {
        return new MyGenericClass();
    }
}

var foo = MyGenericClassFactory.Create(); // now we have an int definition
var bar = MyGenericClassFactory.Create();