What's so bad about ref parameters?

Question

I\'m faced with a situation that I think can only be solved by using a ref parameter. However, this will mean changing a method to always accept a ref parameter when I only

Answer 1

If you take the .NET Framework as a barometer of people's expectations of an API, consider that almost all of the String methods return the modified value, but leave the passed argument unchanged. String.Trim(), for instance, returns the trimmed String - it doesn't trim the String that was passed in as an argument.

Now, obviously, this is only feasible if you're willing to put return-values into your API. Also, if your function already returns a value, you run into the nasty possibility of creating a custom structure that contains your original return value as well as the newly changed object.

Ultimately, it's up to you and how you document your API. I've found in my experience though that my fellow programmers tend to expect my functions to act "like the .NET Framework functions". :)