What does assert() do?

In debug compilation, assert takes in a Boolean condition as a parameter, and shows the error dialog if the condition is false. The program proceeds without any interruption if the condition is true.


How do I get deterministic finalization in C#?

In a garbage collected environment, it's impossible to get true determinism. However, a design pattern that we recommend is implementing IDisposable on any class that contains a critical resource. Whenever this class is consumed, it may be placed in a using statement, as shown in the following Example:

using(FileStream myFile = File.Open(@"c:temptest.txt",

FileMode.Open))

{

int fileOffset = 0;

while(fileOffset <>


How can I get around scope problems in a try/catch?

If you try to instantiate the class inside the try, it'll be out of scope when you try to access it from the catch block. A way to get around this is to do the following: Connection conn

= null;

try{

conn = new Connection();

conn.Open();

}

finally

{

if (conn != null) conn.Close();

}

By setting it to null before the try block, you avoid getting the CS0165 error (Use of possibly unassigned local variable 'conn').


Why do I get an error (CS1006) when trying to declare a method without specifying a return type?

If you leave off the return type on a method declaration, the compiler thinks you are trying to declare a constructor. So if you are trying to declare a method that returns nothing, use void. The following is an example: // This results in a CS1006 error public static staticMethod (mainStatic obj) // This will work as wanted public static void staticMethod (mainStatic obj)