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c#constructorextension-methods

Is it possible to create constructor-extension-method ? how?


Is it possible to add a constructor extension method?

Sample Use Case

I want to add a List< T > constructor to receive specific amount of bytes out of a given partially filled buffer (without the overhead of copying only the relevant bytes and so on):

...
public static List<T>(this List<T> l, T[] a, int n)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
       l.Add(a[i]);
}
...

so the usage would be:

List<byte> some_list = new List<byte>(my_byte_array,number_of_bytes);

I've already added an AddRange extension method:

public static void AddRange<T>(this List<T> l, T[] a, int n)
{
   for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
       l.Add(a[i]);
}

I want to do it as a constructor too. Is it possible? If yes - how?


Solution

  • No, but if you changed your AddRange signature to return the list instance, then you could at least do

    var list = new List<int>().AddRange(array, n);
    

    which imho is probably clearer than overloading the constructor anyway.