Skip to Content
C# 5.0 in a Nutshell, 5th Edition
book

C# 5.0 in a Nutshell, 5th Edition

by Joseph Albahari, Ben Albahari
June 2012
Intermediate to advanced
1064 pages
28h 34m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from C# 5.0 in a Nutshell, 5th Edition

Chapter 20. Dynamic Programming

In Chapter 4, we explained how dynamic binding works in the C# language. In this chapter, we look briefly at the DLR, and then explore the following dynamic programming patterns:

  • Numeric type unification

  • Dynamic member overload resolution

  • Custom binding (implementing dynamic objects)

  • Dynamic language interoperability

Note

In Chapter 25, we’ll describe how dynamic can improve COM interoperability.

The types in this chapter live in the System.Dynamic namespace, except for CallSite<>, which lives in System.Runtime.CompilerServices.

The Dynamic Language Runtime

C# relies on the Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR) to perform dynamic binding.

Contrary to its name, the DLR is not a dynamic version of the CLR. Rather, it’s a library that sits atop the CLR—just like any other library such as System.Xml.dll. Its primary role is to provide runtime services to unify dynamic programming—in both statically and dynamically typed languages. Hence languages such as C#, VB, IronPython, and IronRuby all use the same protocol for calling functions dynamically. This allows them to share libraries and call code written in other languages.

The DLR also makes it relatively easy to write new dynamic languages in .NET. Instead of having to emit IL, dynamic language authors work at the level of expression trees (the same expression trees in System.Linq.Expressions that we talked about in Chapter 8).

The DLR further ensures that all consumers get the benefit of call-site caching, an optimization ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

AirBnbBlueOriginElectronic ArtsHomeDepotNasdaqRakutenTata Consultancy Services

QuotationMarkO’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
QuotationMarkI wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
QuotationMarkI’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
QuotationMarkI'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Mark W.
Embedded Software Engineer

You might also like

C# in Depth, Fourth Edition

C# in Depth, Fourth Edition

Jon Skeet
C# 6 for Programmers, Sixth Edition

C# 6 for Programmers, Sixth Edition

Paul Deitel, Harvey Deitel

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781449334192Errata