Programmatic equivalent of default(Type)

I'm using reflection to loop through a Type's properties and set certain types to their default. Now, I could do a switch on the type and set the default(Type) explicitly, but I'd rather do it in one line. Is there a programmatic equivalent of default?

• In case of a value type use Activator.CreateInstance and it should work fine.
• When using reference type just return null

public static object GetDefault(Type type)
{
   if(type.IsValueType)
   {
      return Activator.CreateInstance(type);
   }
   return null;
}

In the newer version of .net such as .net standard, type.IsValueType needs to be written as type.GetTypeInfo().IsValueType

Why not call the method that returns default(T) with reflection ? You can use GetDefault of any type with:

    public object GetDefault(Type t)
    {
        return this.GetType().GetMethod("GetDefaultGeneric").MakeGenericMethod(t).Invoke(this, null);
    }

    public T GetDefaultGeneric<T>()
    {
        return default(T);
    }

You can use PropertyInfo.SetValue(obj, null). If called on a value type it will give you the default. This behavior is documented in .NET 4.0 and in .NET 4.5.

If you're using .NET 4.0 or above and you want a programmatic version that isn't a codification of rules defined outside of code, you can create an Expression, compile and run it on-the-fly.

The following extension method will take a Type and get the value returned from default(T) through the Default method on the Expression class:

public static T GetDefaultValue<T>()
{
    // We want an Func<T> which returns the default.
    // Create that expression here.
    Expression<Func<T>> e = Expression.Lambda<Func<T>>(
        // The default value, always get what the *code* tells us.
        Expression.Default(typeof(T))
    );

    // Compile and return the value.
    return e.Compile()();
}

public static object GetDefaultValue(this Type type)
{
    // Validate parameters.
    if (type == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("type");

    // We want an Func<object> which returns the default.
    // Create that expression here.
    Expression<Func<object>> e = Expression.Lambda<Func<object>>(
        // Have to convert to object.
        Expression.Convert(
            // The default value, always get what the *code* tells us.
            Expression.Default(type), typeof(object)
        )
    );

    // Compile and return the value.
    return e.Compile()();
}

You should also cache the above value based on the Type, but be aware if you're calling this for a large number of Type instances, and don't use it constantly, the memory consumed by the cache might outweigh the benefits.

Why do you say generics are out of the picture?

    public static object GetDefault(Type t)
    {
        Func<object> f = GetDefault<object>;
        return f.Method.GetGenericMethodDefinition().MakeGenericMethod(t).Invoke(null, null);
    }

    private static T GetDefault<T>()
    {
        return default(T);
    }

This is optimized Flem's solution:

using System.Collections.Concurrent;

namespace System
{
    public static class TypeExtension
    {
        //a thread-safe way to hold default instances created at run-time
	    private static ConcurrentDictionary<Type, object> typeDefaults =
           new ConcurrentDictionary<Type, object>();

	    public static object GetDefaultValue(this Type type)
	    {
		    return type.IsValueType
               ? typeDefaults.GetOrAdd(type, Activator.CreateInstance)
               : null;
        }
    }
}

The chosen answer is a good answer, but be careful with the object returned.

string test = null;
string test2 = "";
if (test is string)
     Console.WriteLine("This will never be hit.");
if (test2 is string)
     Console.WriteLine("Always hit.");

Extrapolating...

string test = GetDefault(typeof(string));
if (test is string)
     Console.WriteLine("This will never be hit.");

I do the same task like this.

//in MessageHeader 
   private void SetValuesDefault()
   {
        MessageHeader header = this;             
        Framework.ObjectPropertyHelper.SetPropertiesToDefault<MessageHeader>(this);
   }

//in ObjectPropertyHelper
   public static void SetPropertiesToDefault<T>(T obj) 
   {
            Type objectType = typeof(T);

            System.Reflection.PropertyInfo [] props = objectType.GetProperties();

            foreach (System.Reflection.PropertyInfo property in props)
            {
                if (property.CanWrite)
                {
                    string propertyName = property.Name;
                    Type propertyType = property.PropertyType;

                    object value = TypeHelper.DefaultForType(propertyType);
                    property.SetValue(obj, value, null);
                }
            }
    }

//in TypeHelper
    public static object DefaultForType(Type targetType)
    {
        return targetType.IsValueType ? Activator.CreateInstance(targetType) : null;
    }

The Expressions can help here:

    private static Dictionary<Type, Delegate> lambdasMap = new Dictionary<Type, Delegate>();

    private object GetTypedNull(Type type)
    {
        Delegate func;
        if (!lambdasMap.TryGetValue(type, out func))
        {
            var body = Expression.Default(type);
            var lambda = Expression.Lambda(body);
            func = lambda.Compile();
            lambdasMap[type] = func;
        }
        return func.DynamicInvoke();
    }

I did not test this snippet, but i think it should produce "typed" nulls for reference types..

Equivalent to Dror's answer but as an extension method:

namespace System
{
	public static class TypeExtensions
	{
		public static object Default(this Type type)
		{
			object output = null;

			if (type.IsValueType)
			{
				output = Activator.CreateInstance(type);
			}

			return output;
		}
	}
}

Slight adjustments to @Rob Fonseca-Ensor's solution: The following extension method also works on .Net Standard since I use GetRuntimeMethod instead of GetMethod.

public static class TypeExtensions
{
    public static object GetDefault(this Type t)
    {
        var defaultValue = typeof(TypeExtensions)
            .GetRuntimeMethod(nameof(GetDefaultGeneric), new Type[] { })
            .MakeGenericMethod(t).Invoke(null, null);
        return defaultValue;
    }

    public static T GetDefaultGeneric<T>()
    {
        return default(T);
    }
}

...and the according unit test for those who care about quality:

[Fact]
public void GetDefaultTest()
{
    // Arrange
    var type = typeof(DateTime);

    // Act
    var defaultValue = type.GetDefault();

    // Assert
    defaultValue.Should().Be(default(DateTime));
}

 /// <summary>
    /// returns the default value of a specified type
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="type"></param>
    public static object GetDefault(this Type type)
    {
        return type.IsValueType ? (!type.IsGenericType ? Activator.CreateInstance(type) : type.GenericTypeArguments[0].GetDefault() ) : null;
    }

This should work: Nullable<T> a = new Nullable<T>().GetValueOrDefault();