Possible Duplicate:
are there function pointers in c#?
I'm interested in finding the difference between delegate in C# and function pointer in C++.
Possible Duplicate:
are there function pointers in c#?
I'm interested in finding the difference between delegate in C# and function pointer in C++.
A delegate in C# is a type-safe function pointer with a built in iterator.
It's guaranteed to point to a valid function with the specified signature (unlike C where pointers can be cast to point to who knows what). It also supports the concept of iterating through multiple bound functions.
In C#, delegates are multi-cast meaning they can iterate through multiple functions. For example:
class Program
{
delegate void Foo();
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Foo myDelegate = One;
myDelegate += Two;
myDelegate(); // Will call One then Two
}
static void One()
{
Console.WriteLine("In one..");
}
static void Two()
{
Console.WriteLine("In two..");
}
}
Delegates in C# can be either synchronous or asynchronous; C++ function pointers are synchronous unless you write your own multi-threading capability.
A pointer in C/C++ needn't refer to a full-blown object. C had function pointers and no object-oriented language support. Delegates are true function objects.