Generic Methods

Context: A generic method declares its own type parameters, independent of the class (which may also be generic or not). This allows you to create a method that works with any type, with compile-time type safety.

Usage Example

using System;

public class Utility
{
    // Generic method
    public T Max<T>(T a, T b) where T : IComparable<T>
    {
        return a.CompareTo(b) > 0 ? a : b;
    }
}

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        Utility util = new Utility();
        int maxInt = util.Max(5, 10);
        Console.WriteLine(maxInt);

        string maxString = util.Max("apple", "banana");
        Console.WriteLine(maxString);
    }
}

Output console

dotnet run
10
apple

Important notes

• The type parameter is declared after the method name and before the parameter list.
• Generic methods can be overloaded.
• Constraints apply to the method’s type parameters.

Real-world usage example

LINQ – Methods like Select, Where, OrderBy are generic methods that work with IEnumerable<T>.
See .NET docs on generic methods.

Related sections

• 11.2.1 T MyMethod(T param)
• 11.2.2 Type inference at call site