default(T) with empty collection instead of null

Question

I\'d like to have generic method which returns default value for passed type, but for collection type I\'d like to get empty collection instead of null, for example:

Answer 1

You can use the magic of a static constructor to do this efficiently. To use the default value in code, simply use Default<T>.Value. The value will only be evaluated for any given type T once for the duration of your application.

public static class Default<T>
{
    private static readonly T _value;

    static Default()
    {
        if (typeof(T).IsArray)
        {
            if (typeof(T).GetArrayRank() > 1)
                _value = (T)(object)Array.CreateInstance(typeof(T).GetElementType(), new int[typeof(T).GetArrayRank()]);
            else
                _value = (T)(object)Array.CreateInstance(typeof(T).GetElementType(), 0);
            return;
        }

        if (typeof(T) == typeof(string))
        {
            // string is IEnumerable<char>, but don't want to treat it like a collection
            _value = default(T);
            return;
        }

        if (typeof(IEnumerable).IsAssignableFrom(typeof(T)))
        {
            // check if an empty array is an instance of T
            if (typeof(T).IsAssignableFrom(typeof(object[])))
            {
                _value = (T)(object)new object[0];
                return;
            }

            if (typeof(T).IsGenericType && typeof(T).GetGenericArguments().Length == 1)
            {
                Type elementType = typeof(T).GetGenericArguments()[0];
                if (typeof(T).IsAssignableFrom(elementType.MakeArrayType()))
                {
                    _value = (T)(object)Array.CreateInstance(elementType, 0);
                    return;
                }
            }

            throw new NotImplementedException("No default value is implemented for type " + typeof(T).FullName);
        }

        _value = default(T);
    }

    public static T Value
    {
        get
        {
            return _value;
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

IList<object> is not a collection type, it's an interface. There are dozens of possible classes you could return.

If you pass in an actual collection type, you can do this:

public static T GetDefault<T>() where T : new
{
   if (typeof(IEnumerable).IsAssignableFrom(typeof(T)))
   {
      return new T();
   }
   return default(T);   
}

GetDefault<List<object>>();

To handle both empty collections, and null values of types without default constructors, you can do it like this:

public static T GetDefault<T>()
{
   if (typeof(IEnumerable).IsAssignableFrom(typeof(T)))
   {
            if (typeof(T).IsGenericType)
            {
                Type T_template = typeof(T).GetGenericTypeDefinition();
                if (T_template == typeof(IEnumerable<>))
                {
                    return (T)Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(Enumerable).MakeGenericType(typeof(T).GetGenericArguments()));
                }
                if (T_template == typeof(IList<>))
                {
                    return (T)Activator.CreateInstance(typeof(List<>).MakeGenericType(typeof(T).GetGenericArguments()));
                }
            }

      try {
          return Activator.CreateInstance<T>();
      }
      catch (MissingMethodException) {} // no default exists for this type, fall-through to returning null
   }
   return default(T);   
}