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c#terminologycoalescenull-coalescing-operator

?? Null Coalescing Operator --> What does coalescing mean?

I'm tempted to lie and say that English is my second language, but the truth is that I just have no idea what 'Coalescing' means. I know what ?? 'does' in C#, but the name doesn't make sense to me.

I looked up the word and I understand it to be a synonym for 'join'. 'Null Join Operator' still doesn't make sense.

Can someone enlighten me?

Solution

  • I'm tempted to lie and say that English is my second language...but the truth is that I just have no idea what 'Coalescing' means. I know what ?? 'does' in C#, but the name doesn't make sense to me.

    I looked up the word and I understand it to be a synonym for 'join'.

    I'd say a more accurate description of "coalesce" would be "to form one thing from different elements". The "coalescing" of the ?? operator happens because a single value is always resolved from one of the two values. The first non-null value is the result.