What are 'closures' in .NET?

2楼-- · 2018-12-31 03:52

Closures are chunks of code that reference a variable outside themselves, (from below them on the stack), that might be called or executed later, (like when an event or delegate is defined, and could get called at some indefinite future point in time)... Because the outside variable that the chunk of code references may gone out of scope (and would otherwise have been lost), the fact that it is referenced by the chunk of code (called a closure) tells the runtime to "hold" that variable in scope until it is no longer needed by the closure chunk of code...

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忆尘夕之涩

3楼-- · 2018-12-31 03:53

Closures are functional values that hold onto variable values from their original scope. C# can use them in the form of anonymous delegates.

For a very simple example, take this C# code:

    delegate int testDel();

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        int foo = 4;
        testDel myClosure = delegate()
        {
            return foo;
        };
        int bar = myClosure();

    }

At the end of it, bar will be set to 4, and the myClosure delegate can be passed around to be used elsewhere in the program.

Closures can be used for a lot of useful things, like delayed execution or to simplify interfaces - LINQ is mainly built using closures. The most immediate way it comes in handy for most developers is adding event handlers to dynamically created controls - you can use closures to add behavior when the control is instantiated, rather than storing data elsewhere.

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流年柔荑漫光年

4楼-- · 2018-12-31 03:54

I Have been trying to understand it too, well below are the code snippets for Same Code in Javascript and C# showing closure.

Count No of Times each event has happened or no of times each button is clicked.

JavaScript :

var c = function ()
{
    var d = 0;

    function inner() {
      d++;
      alert(d);
  }

  return inner;
};

var a = c();
var b = c();

<body>
<input type=button value=call onClick="a()"/>
  <input type=button value=call onClick="b()"/>
</body>

C#:

using System.IO;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
      var a = new a();
      var b = new a();

       a.call();
       a.call();
       a.call();

       b.call();
       b.call();
       b.call();
    }
}

public class a {

    int b = 0;

    public  void call()
    {
      b++;
     Console.WriteLine(b);
    }
}

count Total no of times click event has happened or count total no of clicks regardless of control.

JavaScript:

var c = function ()
{
    var d = 0;

    function inner() {
     d++;
     alert(d);
  }

  return inner;
};

var a = c();

<input type=button value=call onClick="a()"/>
  <input type=button value=call onClick="a()"/>

C#:

using System.IO;
using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
      var a = new a();
      var b = new a();

       a.call();
       a.call();
       a.call();

       b.call();
       b.call();
       b.call();
    }
}

public class a {

    static int b = 0;

    public void call()
    {
      b++;
     Console.WriteLine(b);
    }
}

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不流泪的眼

5楼-- · 2018-12-31 03:59

Func<int, int> GetMultiplier(int a)
{
     return delegate(int b) { return a * b; } ;
}
//...
var fn2 = GetMultiplier(2);
var fn3 = GetMultiplier(3);
Console.WriteLine(fn2(2));  //outputs 4
Console.WriteLine(fn2(3));  //outputs 6
Console.WriteLine(fn3(2));  //outputs 6
Console.WriteLine(fn3(3));  //outputs 9

A closure is an anonymous function passed outside of the function in which it is created. It maintains any variables from the function in which it is created that it uses.

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临风纵饮

6楼-- · 2018-12-31 03:59

A closure is a function, defined within a function, that can access the local variables of it as well as its parent.

public string GetByName(string name)
{
   List<things> theThings = new List<things>();
  return  theThings.Find<things>(t => t.Name == name)[0];
}

so the function inside the find method.

 t => t.Name == name

can access the variables inside its scope, t, and the variable name which is in its parents scope. Even though it is executed by the find method as a delegate, from another scope all together.

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刘海飞了

7楼-- · 2018-12-31 04:05

If you write an inline anonymous method (C#2) or (preferably) a Lambda expression (C#3+), an actual method is still being created. If that code is using an outer-scope local variable - you still need to pass that variable to the method somehow.

e.g. take this Linq Where clause (which is a simple extension method which passes a lambda expression):

var i = 0;
var items = new List<string>
{
    "Hello","World"
};   
var filtered = items.Where(x =>
// this is a predicate, i.e. a Func<T, bool> written as a lambda expression
// which is still a method actually being created for you in compile time 
{
    i++;
    return true;
});

if you want to use i in that lambda expression, you have to pass it to that created method.

So the first question that arises is: should it be passed by value or reference?

Pass by reference is (I guess) more preferable as you get read/write access to that variable (and this is what C# does; I guess the team in Microsoft weighed the pros and cons and went with by-reference; According to Jon Skeet's article, Java went with by-value).

But then another question arises: Where to allocate that i?

Should it actually/naturally be allocated on the stack? Well, if you allocate it on the stack and pass it by reference, there can be situations where it outlives it's own stack frame. Take this example:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    Outlive();
    var list = whereItems.ToList();
    Console.ReadLine();
}

static IEnumerable<string> whereItems;

static void Outlive()
{
    var i = 0;
    var items = new List<string>
    {
        "Hello","World"
    };            
    whereItems = items.Where(x =>
    {
        i++;
        Console.WriteLine(i);
        return true;
    });            
}

The lambda expression (in the Where clause) again creates a method which refers to an i. If i is allocated on the stack of Outlive, then by the time you enumerate the whereItems, the i used in the generated method will point to the i of Outlive, i.e. to a place in the stack that is no longer accessible.

Ok, so we need it on the heap then.

So what the C# compiler does to support this inline anonymous/lambda, is use what is called "Closures": It creates a class on the Heap called (rather poorly) DisplayClass which has a field containing the i, and the Function that actually uses it.

Something that would be equivalent to this (you can see the IL generated using ILSpy or ILDASM):

class <>c_DisplayClass1
{
    public int i;

    public bool <GetFunc>b__0()
    {
        this.i++;
        Console.WriteLine(i);
        return true;
    }
}

It instantiates that class in your local scope, and replaces any code relating to i or the lambda expression with that closure instance. So - anytime you are using the i in your "local scope" code where i was defined, you are actually using that DisplayClass instance field.

So if I would change the "local" i in the main method, it will actually change _DisplayClass.i ;

i.e.

var i = 0;
var items = new List<string>
{
    "Hello","World"
};  
var filtered = items.Where(x =>
{
    i++;
    return true;
});
filtered.ToList(); // will enumerate filtered, i = 2
i = 10;            // i will be overwriten with 10
filtered.ToList(); // will enumerate filtered again, i = 12
Console.WriteLine(i); // should print out 12

it will print out 12, as "i = 10" goes to that dispalyclass field and changes it just before the 2nd enumeration.

A good source on the topic is this Bart De Smet Pluralsight module (requires registration) (also ignore his erroneous use of the term "Hoisting" - what (I think) he means is that the local variable (i.e. i) is changed to refer to the the new DisplayClass field).

In other news, there seems to be some misconception that "Closures" are related to loops - as I understand "Closures" are NOT a concept related to loops, but rather to anonymous methods / lambda expressions use of local scoped variables - although some trick questions use loops to demonstrate it.

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What are 'closures' in .NET?

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