How do I check for nulls in an '==' operator overload without infinite recursion?
C#.NetOperator OverloadingC# Problem Overview
The following will cause infinite recursion on the == operator overload method
Foo foo1 = null;
Foo foo2 = new Foo();
Assert.IsFalse(foo1 == foo2);
public static bool operator ==(Foo foo1, Foo foo2) {
if (foo1 == null) return foo2 == null;
return foo1.Equals(foo2);
}
How do I check for nulls?
C# Solutions
Solution 1 - C#
Use ReferenceEquals
:
Foo foo1 = null;
Foo foo2 = new Foo();
Assert.IsFalse(foo1 == foo2);
public static bool operator ==(Foo foo1, Foo foo2) {
if (object.ReferenceEquals(null, foo1))
return object.ReferenceEquals(null, foo2);
return foo1.Equals(foo2);
}
Solution 2 - C#
Cast to object in the overload method:
public static bool operator ==(Foo foo1, Foo foo2) {
if ((object) foo1 == null) return (object) foo2 == null;
return foo1.Equals(foo2);
}
Solution 3 - C#
Use ReferenceEquals
. From the MSDN forums:
public static bool operator ==(Foo foo1, Foo foo2) {
if (ReferenceEquals(foo1, null)) return ReferenceEquals(foo2, null);
if (ReferenceEquals(foo2, null)) return false;
return foo1.field1 == foo2.field2;
}
Solution 4 - C#
If you are using C# 7 or later you can use null constant pattern matching:
public static bool operator==(Foo foo1, Foo foo2)
{
if (foo1 is null)
return foo2 is null;
return foo1.Equals(foo2);
}
This gives you slightly neater code than the one calling object.ReferenceEquals(foo1, null)
Solution 5 - C#
Try Object.ReferenceEquals(foo1, null)
Anyway, I wouldn't recommend overloading the ==
operator; it should be used for comparing references, and use Equals
for "semantic" comparisons.
Solution 6 - C#
If I have overridden bool Equals(object obj)
and I want the operator ==
and Foo.Equals(object obj)
to return the same value, I usually implement the !=
operator like this:
public static bool operator ==(Foo foo1, Foo foo2) {
return object.Equals(foo1, foo2);
}
public static bool operator !=(Foo foo1, Foo foo2) {
return !object.Equals(foo1, foo2);
}
The operator ==
will then after doing all the null checks for me end up calling foo1.Equals(foo2)
that I have overridden to do the actual check if the two are equal.
Solution 7 - C#
There is actually a simpler way of checking against null
in this case:
if (foo is null)
That's it!
This feature was introduced in C# 7
Solution 8 - C#
My approach is to do
(object)item == null
upon which I'm relying on object
's own equality operator which can't go wrong. Or a custom extension method (and an overload):
public static bool IsNull<T>(this T obj) where T : class
{
return (object)obj == null;
}
public static bool IsNull<T>(this T? obj) where T : struct
{
return !obj.HasValue;
}
or to handle more cases, may be:
public static bool IsNull<T>(this T obj) where T : class
{
return (object)obj == null || obj == DBNull.Value;
}
The constraint prevents IsNull
on value types. Now its as sweet as calling
object obj = new object();
Guid? guid = null;
bool b = obj.IsNull(); // false
b = guid.IsNull(); // true
2.IsNull(); // error
which means I have one consistent/not-error-prone style of checking for nulls throughout. I also have found (object)item == null
is very very very slightly faster than Object.ReferenceEquals(item, null)
, but only if it matters (I'm currently working on something where I've to micro-optimize everything!).
To see a complete guide on implementing equality checks, see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/104158/what-is-best-practice-for-comparing-two-instances-of-a-reference-type
Solution 9 - C#
The static Equals(Object, Object)
method indicates whether two objects, objA
and objB
, are equal. It also enables you to test objects whose value is null
for equality. It compares objA
and objB
for equality as follows:
- It determines whether the two objects represent the same object reference. If they do, the method returns
true
. This test is equivalent to calling theReferenceEquals
method. In addition, if bothobjA
andobjB
arenull
, the method returnstrue
. - It determines whether either
objA
orobjB
isnull
. If so, it returnsfalse
. If the two objects do not represent the same object reference and neither isnull
, it callsobjA.Equals(objB)
and returns the result. This means that ifobjA
overrides theObject.Equals(Object)
method, this override is called.
.
public static bool operator ==(Foo objA, Foo objB) {
return Object.Equals(objA, objB);
}
Solution 10 - C#
replying more to overriding operator how to compare to null that redirects here as a duplicate.
In the cases where this is being done to support Value Objects, I find the new notation to handy, and like to ensure there is only one place where the comparison is made. Also leveraging Object.Equals(A, B) simplifies the null checks.
This will overload ==, !=, Equals, and GetHashCode
public static bool operator !=(ValueObject self, ValueObject other) => !Equals(self, other);
public static bool operator ==(ValueObject self, ValueObject other) => Equals(self, other);
public override bool Equals(object other) => Equals(other as ValueObject );
public bool Equals(ValueObject other) {
return !(other is null) &&
// Value comparisons
_value == other._value;
}
public override int GetHashCode() => _value.GetHashCode();
For more complicated objects add additional comparisons in Equals and a richer GetHashCode.
Solution 11 - C#
For a modern and condensed syntax:
public static bool operator ==(Foo x, Foo y)
{
return x is null ? y is null : x.Equals(y);
}
public static bool operator !=(Foo x, Foo y)
{
return x is null ? !(y is null) : !x.Equals(y);
}
Solution 12 - C#
> A common error in overloads of operator == is to use (a == b)
, (a ==null)
, or (b == null)
to check for reference equality. This instead
results in a call to the overloaded operator ==, causing an infinite loop
. Use ReferenceEquals
or cast the type to Object, to avoid the
loop.
check out this
// If both are null, or both are same instance, return true.
if (System.Object.ReferenceEquals(a, b))// using ReferenceEquals
{
return true;
}
// If one is null, but not both, return false.
if (((object)a == null) || ((object)b == null))// using casting the type to Object
{
return false;
}
reference Guidelines for Overloading Equals() and Operator ==
Solution 13 - C#
You can try to use an object property and catch the resulting NullReferenceException. If the property you try is inherited or overridden from Object, then this works for any class.
public static bool operator ==(Foo foo1, Foo foo2)
{
// check if the left parameter is null
bool LeftNull = false;
try { Type temp = a_left.GetType(); }
catch { LeftNull = true; }
// check if the right parameter is null
bool RightNull = false;
try { Type temp = a_right.GetType(); }
catch { RightNull = true; }
// null checking results
if (LeftNull && RightNull) return true;
else if (LeftNull || RightNull) return false;
else return foo1.field1 == foo2.field2;
}