Better (legible) way to perform runtime check without adding boilerplate?

Question

I have this piece of code that consumes too much vertical space and it's too verbose.

    if (property == null)
    {
        throw new XamlParseException($"Cannot find a property named \"{Name}\" in the type {underlyingType}");
    }

Isn't there an equivalent method, but more legible and compact?

Something in the shape of ThrowIfNull<XamlParseException>(message)

Answer 1

You can always create an extension method:

public static class ClassContracts {
   public static void ThrowIfNull(this Object item)
   {
       if(item == null) throw new XamlParseException("Your message here", null); 
   }

}

This way you use up less space which is what you were talking about, and you can use the code over and over whenever you need it. I have a library of these for testing for nulls etc. I like doing it this way over Code Contracts, because that requires the binary rewriter and depending on your environment, your build system (if you have one) may not support doing that. Ultimately, Code Contracts do more than just this, but in a pinch this offers a quick and concise way of checking for nulls and other conditions easily in code as you can create other ones like:

 public static void CheckForCondition <T>(this T item, Predicate<T> p, Func<Your_Exception_Type> createException) 
{
    if(p(item)){throw createException();}
}

With this base method, you can then create other ones and create overloads, etc. have the predicate, or the exception method already created.

    public static void CheckForNullCondition<T>(this T item)
    {
        item.CheckForCondition(x => x == null,
            () => new Exception("Item is null"));
    }

Extension Methods