C# 5.0 All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 6: Programming Dynamically!

In This Chapter

Understanding dynamic typing

Defining variables

Staying flexible by being dynamic

Making static operations dynamic

For many years, I thought that dynamic programming referred to being really flashy and flamboyant while writing code. So, I started wearing Hawaiian shirts and singing loudly.

Later, I found out this isn’t the case.

Dynamic programming is another one of those buzzwords that really doesn’t have a clear definition. At its loosest, it means developing something in such a way that the program makes more decisions about the way it runs while running, rather than when you compile it.

Scripting languages are a great example of this. When you write something in VBScript, you don’t compile it at all — all of the decisions are made at runtime. Ruby is another good example: Most of the time, an entire program can just be typed into a command prompt and run right from there.

There are examples that are not so good — like VB Classic. Remember the Variant type? You could declare a variable to be Variant, and VB wouldn’t decide what ...