Why parameter of Object.Equals is not 'in' (input)? - c#

Following (incorrect/dangerous) code
class EvilClass
{
protected int x;
public EvilClass(int x)
{
this.x = x;
}
public override bool Equals(Object obj)
{
if ((obj == null) || !this.GetType().Equals(obj.GetType()))
{
return false;
}
else
{
EvilClass p = (EvilClass)obj;
p.x = 42;
return (x == p.x);
}
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return (x << 2);
}
public override string ToString()
{
return String.Format("EvilClass({0})", x);
}
}
void Main()
{
var e1 = new EvilClass(1);
var e2 = new EvilClass(2);
var equals = e1.Equals(e2);
Console.WriteLine("{0}", e1.ToString());
Console.WriteLine("{0}", e2.ToString());
}
Output:
EvilClass(1)
EvilClass(42)
As you can see, call of e1.Equals(e2) modify e2. If we mark parameter as in compiler would not allow us to modify it.
Object.Equals() not suppose to change it's parameter - so why parameter is not in (input) parameter?

The most obvious reason is that in was introduced in C# 7.2, while object.Equals has been around since the very first version of .net.
The other reason is that it wouldn't actually change anything. in prevents from mutating the reference, not the actual object. If you try this:
public bool Equals2(in Object obj)
{
if ((obj == null) || !this.GetType().Equals(obj.GetType()))
{
return false;
}
else
{
EvilClass p = (EvilClass)obj;
p.x = 42;
return (x == p.x);
}
}
Then the output will still be:
EvilClass(1)
EvilClass(42)

Related

Overriding Equals and GetHashCode doesn't necessarily override equality overloading operator

I have the following code:
public enum ClassType
{
I,
II,
}
public enum LocationType
{
A,
B
}
public class Person
{
public LocationType LocType
{ get; set; }
public ClassType ClaType
{ get; set; }
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
Person obPer = obj as Person;
if (obPer == null)
return false;
if (LocType != obPer.LocType)
return false;
if (ClaType != obPer.ClaType)
return false;
return true;
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return LocType.GetHashCode()^ClaType.GetHashCode();
}
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var p1 = new Person()
{
ClaType = ClassType.I,
LocType = LocationType.A
};
var p2 = new Person()
{
ClaType = ClassType.I,
LocType = LocationType.A
};
bool isEqual1 = p1.Equals(p2); //true
bool getHashCodeNum = p1.GetHashCode() == p2.GetHashCode(); //true
bool isEqual2 = p1 == p2; //false
}
I find that isEqual1=true, getHashCodeNum=true, but isEqual2=false.
I would expect that since I already override Equals and GetHashCode, then the operator == should automatically follow the behavior of Equals, but this is not so. Any reason?
An == is an operator. You can overload the == operator over two Persons as follows:
public class Person {
//..
public static bool operator == (Person a, Person b)
{
if (Object.ReferenceEquals(a,null) && Object.ReferenceEquals(b,null))
return true;
if (Object.ReferenceEquals(a,null) || Object.ReferenceEquals(a,null))
return false;
return a.LocType == b.LocType && a.ClaType != b.ClaType;
}
public static bool operator != (Person a, Person b)
{
return ! (a == b);
}
}
== and != are pairs: you need to implement != if you implement == and vice versa, otherwise you get the error:
error CS0216: The operator Person.operator ==(Person, Person) requires a matching operator != to also be defined
Now when you compare two Persons it should work. Mind however that you do not override equality operators, you overload them. So the compiler picks the == implementation (this is not done at runtime through a dynamic binding). As a result:
bool isEqual2 = p1 == p2; //true
bool isEqual3 = (object) p1 == p2; //false
bool isEqual4 = p1 == (object) p2; //false
bool isEqual5 = (object) p1 == (object) p2; //false
By default the == over two objects is reference equality so only if the two arguments are Persons here, we check whether the two persons are equivalent.
It is therefore probably better to use Equals(..) if you want to check equality with a dynamic binding.

Using equality comparer in lambda expression

I have a Venue class, and a Coordinate class like so:
class Venue
{
string Name;
Coordinate coordinate;
}
class Coordinate
{
double latitute;
double longitude;
}
Now, I want to be able to select a venue based on a coordinate as follows:
List<Venue> venues = GetAllVenues();
var myVenue = venues.FirstOrDefault(venue=>venue.coordinate == myCoordinate);
I have an IEqualityComparer implementation, but the lambda expression does not have an overload which takes the IEqualityComparer as a parameter.
How do I use my equality comparer in a lambda expression?
EDIT:
My equality comparer looks like this:
class CoordinatesEqualityComparer:IEqualityComparer<Coordinate>
{
public bool Equals(Coordinate x, Coordinate y)
{
return x.RowIndex == y.RowIndex && x.ColumnIndex == y.ColumnIndex;
}
public int GetHashCode(Coordinate obj)
{
return obj.GetHashCode();
}
}
When I do a Union() operation, like so, it does not work correctly, even though coordinates in both lists are same.
List<Coordinates> coordinates;
CoordinatesEqualityComparer comparer;
coordinates.Union(someOtherListOfCoordinates, comparer);
However, when I do a union with itself, it works. What am I doing wrong? Does it have something to do with the GetHashCode() implementation?
Edit 2:
Fixing the GetHashCode() method seems to do the trick.
public int GetHashCode(Coordinates obj)
{
// Warning:Hack. Use two prime numbers to generate a hash based on two properties.
return obj.RowIndex.GetHashCode() * 7 + obj.ColumnIndex.GetHashCode() * 13 ;
}
Have you tried:
var ec = new YourEqualityComparer();
var myVenue = venues.FirstOrDefault(venue =>
ec.Equals(venue.coordinate, myCoordinate));
Of course, another approach would be to define the == operator for your Coordinate class and then you wouldn't need an IEqualityComparer:
class Coordinate
{
double latitude;
double longitude;
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return Object.ReferenceEquals(this, obj)) ||
this == (other as Coordinate);
}
public static bool operator ==(Coordinate l, Coordinate r)
{
return ((object)l == null && (object)r == null) ||
((object)l != null && (object)r != null) &&
// equality check including epsilons, edge cases, etc.
}
public static bool operator !=(Coordinate l, Coordinate r)
{
return !(l == r);
}
}
I would implement IEquatable<Coordinate>, override Equals(object), override GetHashCode(), and == != operators like this:
public class Coordinate : IEquatable<Coordinate>
{
public double Latitide { get; set; }
public double Longitude { get; set; }
public bool Equals(Coordinate other)
{
if (other == null)
{
return false;
}
else
{
return this.Latitide == other.Latitide && this.Longitude == other.Longitude;
}
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return this.Equals(obj as Coordinate);
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return this.Latitide.GetHashCode() ^ this.Longitude.GetHashCode();
}
public static bool operator ==(Coordinate value1, Coordinate value2)
{
if (!Object.ReferenceEquals(value1, null) && Object.ReferenceEquals(value2, null))
{
return false;
}
else if (Object.ReferenceEquals(value1, null) && !Object.ReferenceEquals(value2, null))
{
return false;
}
else if (Object.ReferenceEquals(value1, null) && Object.ReferenceEquals(value2, null))
{
return true;
}
else
{
return value1.Latitide == value2.Latitide && value1.Longitude == value2.Longitude;
}
}
public static bool operator !=(Coordinate value1, Coordinate value2)
{
return !(value1 == value2);
}
}

C# ValueType equals not comparing properties?

The following prints equals:
struct A
{
int x;
public A(int _x) { x = _x; }
public int Y
{
get
{
Random r = new Random();
return r.Next(0, 1000);
}
}
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
A a1 = new A(1),a2 = new A(1);
if (a1.Equals(a2))
{
Console.Write("Equals");
}
else
{
Console.Write("Different");
}
}
Is there anyway to get C# to return false in that case? Meaning, to take the properties under consideration when comparing value types?
Write equal then hit "tab" button twice:
// override object.Equals
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
if (obj == null || GetType() != obj.GetType())
{
return false;
}
// TODO: write your implementation of Equals() here
throw new NotImplementedException();
return base.Equals(obj);
}
This is an automatically generated snippet. Now you can try something like:
// override object.Equals
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
// checks for A versus A
if (obj == null || GetType() != obj.GetType())
{
return false;
}
// TODO: write your implementation of Equals() here
throw new NotImplementedException();
int compareThis=(A)obj.x;
return ((A)base).x==compareThis; // maybe casting is not needed
}
The recommended approach is to use IEquatable<T> instead of using the default inherited Equals method. The IEquatable generic interface defines a generalized method that a value type or class implements to create a type-specific method for determining equality of instances.
using System;
namespace ConsoleApplication2
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
A a1 = new A(1), a2 = new A(1);
//here the CLR will do a lot of unboxing and check operations via reflection in order to make a comparaison between fields value.
//just take a look bellow at the decompiled default Equals method how it's done
if (a1.Equals(a2))
{
Console.Write("Equals");
}
else
{
Console.Write("Different");
}
}
}
public struct A : IEquatable<A>
{
int x;
public A(int _x) { x = _x; }
public int Y
{
get
{
Random r = new Random();
return r.Next(0, 1000);
}
}
//here no boxing or unboxing is needed even if is a value type and the CLR will call this method first
public bool Equals(A other)
{
return this.Y == other.Y;
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
//this is why a bad approach to compare both objects you need to unbox the struct arguments wich hurting performance
return this.Y == ((A)obj).Y;
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return base.GetHashCode();
}
//default implementation
//public override bool Equals(object obj)
//{
// return base.Equals(obj);
//}
}
}
CLR Implementation
The CLR what's going underneath
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
if (obj == null)
return false;
RuntimeType runtimeType = (RuntimeType) this.GetType();
if ((RuntimeType) obj.GetType() != runtimeType)
return false;
object a = (object) this;
if (ValueType.CanCompareBits((object) this))
return ValueType.FastEqualsCheck(a, obj);
FieldInfo[] fields = runtimeType.GetFields(BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.NonPublic);
for (int index = 0; index < fields.Length; ++index)
{
object obj1 = ((RtFieldInfo) fields[index]).UnsafeGetValue(a);
object obj2 = ((RtFieldInfo) fields[index]).UnsafeGetValue(obj);
if (obj1 == null)
{
if (obj2 != null)
return false;
}
else if (!obj1.Equals(obj2))
return false;
}
return true;
}
This is very similar to this question.
All you need to do is to override the Equals method:
struct A
{
int x;
public A(int _x) { x = _x; }
public int Y
{
get
{
Random r = new Random();
return r.Next(0, 1000);
}
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
//compare whatever you want...
}
}
}
Override equal method and return true or false based on property comparison.

Define how a comparison operator is applied to a type?

How can I define whether and how a comparison operator is applied to operands of my type?
You implement the IComparable interface with the CompareTo method.
To use all of the operators, try this:
public sealed class Foo : IEquatable<Foo>, IComparable<Foo>
{
public static int Compare(Foo first, Foo second)
{
if (Object.ReferenceEquals(first, null))
return (Object.ReferenceEquals(second, null) ? 0 : -1);
return first.CompareTo(second);
}
public static bool operator==(Foo first, Foo second)
{
return Object.Equals(first, second);
}
public static bool operator!=(Foo first, Foo second)
{
return !Object.Equals(first, second);
}
public static bool operator<(Foo first, Foo second)
{
return Foo.Compare(first, second) < 0;
}
public static bool operator >(Foo first, Foo second)
{
return Foo.Compare(first, second) > 0;
}
public static bool operator <=(Foo first, Foo second)
{
return Foo.Compare(first, second) <= 0;
}
public static bool operator >=(Foo first, Foo second)
{
return Foo.Compare(first, second) >= 0;
}
private string bar;
public string Bar
{
//getter and setter
}
public bool Equals(Foo other)
{
if (Object.ReferenceEquals(other, null))
return false;
if (Object.ReferenceEquals(other, this)) //Not mandatory
return true;
return String.Equals(this.foo, other.foo);
}
public int CompareTo(Foo other)
{
if (Object.ReferenceEquals(other, null))
return 1;
if (Object.ReferenceEquals(other, this)) //Not mandatory
return 0;
return String.Compare(this.bar, other.bar);
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
return this.Equals(obj as Foo);
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return this.bar == null ? 0 : this.bar.GetHashCode();
}
}
A good tutorial on this: http://winsharp93.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/implementing-icomparablet-iequatablet-and-the-equality-members/
Since you know the interfaces IComparable, IEquatable needs to be implemented you can tell if two instances of yourClass are comparable by using this (example):
if (yourClass is IEquatable<T> && yourClass2 is IEquatable<T> && yourClass is IComparable<T> && yourClass2 is IComparable<T>) //T is the same type
{
yourClass <= yourClass2;
}
You can overload operators for your type, e.g.
public class MyComparable
{
public static bool operator <(MyComparable left, MyComparable right)
{
// other things...
}
Allows you to do this:
MyComparable c1 = // something
MyComparable c2 = // something
if (c1 < c2)
// something
(in such a case, it would probably make sense to implement IComparable<MyComparable> also.
A simple class that implements IComparable, IComparable<T>, IEquatable<T> and overrides object.Equals(object), object.GetHashCode() and the various "standard" operators ==, !=, >, <, >=, <=.
Note the use of object.ReferenceEquals(object, object) so as not to trigger StackOverflowException. This because we are overloading the == and != operators and basing them on MyClass.Equals(MyClass), so MyClass.Equals(MyClass) clearly can't use them. A common error is, in fact, inside the
bool Equals(MyClass other)
{
if (other == null)
{
}
}
Booooom! Can't do that. Because the if (other == null) will recursively call the other.Equals((MyClass)null). What you could do is: if (((object)other) == null), because in C# operators can't be virtual, so here we are using the == of the object class.
InnerEquals and InnerCompareTo are present so the null check mustn't be done twice if the Equals(object) or CompareTo(object) are called.
public class MyClass : IComparable<MyClass>, IComparable, IEquatable<MyClass>
{
public int MyInt1 { get; set; }
public int MyInt2 { get; set; }
public int CompareTo(MyClass other)
{
if (object.ReferenceEquals(other, null))
{
return 1;
}
return this.InnerCompareTo(other);
}
int IComparable.CompareTo(object obj)
{
// obj is object, so we can use its == operator
if (obj == null)
{
return 1;
}
MyClass other = obj as MyClass;
if (object.ReferenceEquals(other, null))
{
throw new ArgumentException("obj");
}
return this.InnerCompareTo(other);
}
private int InnerCompareTo(MyClass other)
{
// Here we know that other != null;
if (object.ReferenceEquals(this, other))
{
return 0;
}
int cmp = this.MyInt1.CompareTo(other.MyInt1);
if (cmp == 0)
{
cmp = this.MyInt2.CompareTo(other.MyInt2);
}
return cmp;
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
// obj is object, so we can use its == operator
if (obj == null)
{
return false;
}
MyClass other = obj as MyClass;
if (object.ReferenceEquals(other, null))
{
return false;
}
return this.InnerEquals(other);
}
public bool Equals(MyClass other)
{
if (object.ReferenceEquals(other, null))
{
return false;
}
return this.InnerEquals(other);
}
private bool InnerEquals(MyClass other)
{
// Here we know that other != null;
if (object.ReferenceEquals(this, other))
{
return true;
}
return this.MyInt1 == other.MyInt1 && this.MyInt2 == other.MyInt2;
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
unchecked
{
// From http://stackoverflow.com/a/263416/613130
int hash = 17;
hash = hash * 23 + this.MyInt1;
hash = hash * 23 + this.MyInt2;
return hash;
}
}
public static bool operator==(MyClass a, MyClass b)
{
if (object.ReferenceEquals(a, null))
{
return object.ReferenceEquals(b, null);
}
return a.Equals(b);
}
// The != is based on the ==
public static bool operator!=(MyClass a, MyClass b)
{
return !(a == b);
}
public static bool operator>(MyClass a, MyClass b)
{
if (object.ReferenceEquals(a, null))
{
return false;
}
return a.CompareTo(b) > 0;
}
// The <, >=, <= are all based on the >
public static bool operator <(MyClass a, MyClass b)
{
return b > a;
}
public static bool operator >=(MyClass a, MyClass b)
{
//return !(a < b);
//We short-circuit the <operator, because we know how it's done
return !(b > a);
}
public static bool operator <=(MyClass a, MyClass b)
{
return !(a > b);
}
}
And this one is the variant for struct types. A lot shorter, because nearly all the object.ReferenceEquals(object, object) are gone. Value types can't be null.
public struct MyStruct : IComparable<MyStruct>, IComparable, IEquatable<MyStruct>
{
public int MyInt1 { get; set; }
public int MyInt2 { get; set; }
public int CompareTo(MyStruct other)
{
return this.InnerCompareTo(other);
}
int IComparable.CompareTo(object obj)
{
if (obj == null)
{
return 1;
}
if (!(obj is MyStruct))
{
throw new ArgumentException("obj");
}
MyStruct other = (MyStruct)obj;
return this.InnerCompareTo(other);
}
private int InnerCompareTo(MyStruct other)
{
int cmp = this.MyInt1.CompareTo(other.MyInt1);
if (cmp == 0)
{
cmp = this.MyInt2.CompareTo(other.MyInt2);
}
return cmp;
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
if (obj == null)
{
return false;
}
if (!(obj is MyStruct))
{
throw new ArgumentException("obj");
}
MyStruct other = (MyStruct)obj;
return this.InnerEquals(other);
}
public bool Equals(MyStruct other)
{
return this.InnerEquals(other);
}
private bool InnerEquals(MyStruct other)
{
return this.MyInt1 == other.MyInt1 && this.MyInt2 == other.MyInt2;
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
unchecked
{
// From http://stackoverflow.com/a/263416/613130
int hash = 17;
hash = hash * 23 + this.MyInt1;
hash = hash * 23 + this.MyInt2;
return hash;
}
}
// The != is based on the ==
public static bool operator ==(MyStruct a, MyStruct b)
{
return a.Equals(b);
}
public static bool operator !=(MyStruct a, MyStruct b)
{
return !(a == b);
}
public static bool operator >(MyStruct a, MyStruct b)
{
return a.CompareTo(b) > 0;
}
// The <, >=, <= are all based on the >
public static bool operator <(MyStruct a, MyStruct b)
{
return b > a;
}
public static bool operator >=(MyStruct a, MyStruct b)
{
//return !(a < b);
//We short-circuit the <operator, because we know how it's done
return !(b > a);
}
public static bool operator <=(MyStruct a, MyStruct b)
{
return !(a > b);
}
}

C# Generic Dictionary TryGetValue doesn't find keys

I have this simple example:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Dictionary<MyKey, string> data = new Dictionary<MyKey, string>();
data.Add(new MyKey("1", "A"), "value 1A");
data.Add(new MyKey("2", "A"), "value 2A");
data.Add(new MyKey("1", "Z"), "value 1Z");
data.Add(new MyKey("3", "A"), "value 3A");
string myValue;
if (data.TryGetValue(new MyKey("1", "A"), out myValue))
Console.WriteLine("I have found it: {0}", myValue );
}
}
public struct MyKey
{
private string row;
private string col;
public string Row { get { return row; } set { row = value; } }
public string Column { get { return col; } set { col = value; } }
public MyKey(string r, string c)
{
row = r;
col = c;
}
}
}
This is working fine. But if I change the MyKey struct by a MyKey class in this way:
public class MyKey
Then method TryGetValue doesn't find any key in spite of the key is out there.
I am sure I am missing something obvious but I don't know what.
Any idea ?
Thanks
** Solution **
(please, see accepted solution for better GetHashCode resolution)
I have redefined MyKey class like this, and all is working fine now:
public class MyKey
{
private string row;
private string col;
public string Row { get { return row; } set { row = value; } }
public string Column { get { return col; } set { col = value; } }
public MyKey(string r, string c)
{
row = r;
col = c;
}
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
if (obj == null || !(obj is MyKey)) return false;
return ((MyKey)obj).Row == this.Row && ((MyKey)obj).Column == this.Column;
}
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return (this.Row + this.Column).GetHashCode();
}
}
Thanks to all people answered this.
You need to override Equals() and GetHashCode() in the class MyKey
Maybe something like this:
GetHashCode()
public override int GetHashCode()
{
return GetHashCodeInternal(Row.GetHashCode(),Column.GetHashCode());
}
//this function should be move so you can reuse it
private static int GetHashCodeInternal(int key1, int key2)
{
unchecked
{
//Seed
var num = 0x7e53a269;
//Key 1
num = (-1521134295 * num) + key1;
num += (num << 10);
num ^= (num >> 6);
//Key 2
num = ((-1521134295 * num) + key2);
num += (num << 10);
num ^= (num >> 6);
return num;
}
}
Equals
public override bool Equals(object obj)
{
if (obj == null)
return false;
MyKey p = obj as MyKey;
if (p == null)
return false;
// Return true if the fields match:
return (Row == p.Row) && (Column == p.Column);
}
Because classes are compared by default using reference comparison.
If you compare two objects you are doing a object.ReferenceEquals(obj1, obj2)
If you compare two structs you are doing a value comparison (like when you compare two ints for example).
If you want to compare two MyKey objects you need to implement you own Equals and GetHashCode method and it will be used automatically by the dictionary.
Struct is value type and Class is reference type, so when you use struct all values inside it are compared but when you use class instead only the object reference is checked.
You can change that behavior for certain classes by overriding Equals() method. You can also override == operator if you want. See samples on Guidelines for Overloading Equals() and Operator == (C# Programming Guide).
Edit:
your Equals() method should look like that:
public override bool Equals(System.Object obj)
{
MyKey p = obj as MyKey;
if ((System.Object)p == null)
{
return false;
}
// Return true if the fields match:
return (row == p.row) && (col == p.col);
}

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