what are the main usage of returning a value by refrence from a func?

Question

hi

i have been read about the ref keyword i understand the concept of returning the value by ref from a function using the ref keyword but what i didnt understand what are the usage of it why whould i use somthong like that

can any one help me in that

Pankaj Patel · Answer

Hi Mina Shaker, The ref keyword indicates that a variable is a reference , or an alias for another object . Used in five different contexts: In a method signature and in a method call, to pass an argument to a method by reference. For more information, see Passing an argument by reference. In a method signature, to return a value to the caller by reference. For more information, see Reference return values. In a member body, to indicate that a reference return value is stored locally as a reference that the caller intends to modify. Or to indicate that a local variable accesses another value by reference. For more information, see Ref locals. In a struct declaration, to declare a ref struct or a readonly ref struct. For more information, see the ref struct article. In a ref struct declaration, to declare that a field is a reference. See the ref field article. For more details: ref (C# Reference) https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/language-reference/keywords/ref Hope this will help you!

Abhishek Yadav · Answer

When returning a reference, be careful that the object being referred to does not go out of scope. So it is not legal to return a reference to local var. But you can always return a reference on a static variable.

Pankaj Patel · Answer

Hi Mina Shaker, "i know how to use them but i dont know what are the senarios that i shoud use this approches in" The best example coming in my mind is a function to Swap two variables values: static void Swap (ref T el1, ref T el2) { var mem = el1; el1 = el2; el2 = mem; } Usage: static void Main(string[] args) { string a = "Hello"; string b = "Hi"; Swap(ref a, ref b); // now a = "Hi" b = "Hello" // it works also with array values: int[] arr = new[] { 1, 2, 3 }; Swap(ref arr[0], ref arr[2]); // now arr = {3,2,1} } For more details: Example of practical of "ref" use https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4646159/example-of-practical-of-ref-use Hope this will help you!

Vishal Yelve · Answer

Hi Mina, Please check below link. for example of ref keyword https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/mahakgupta/working-with-ref-and-out-parameter-in-C-Sharp/ https://www.tutorialsteacher.com/articles/ref-keyword

mina shaker · Answer

@Pankaj Patel thank you for help but i know how to use them but i dont know what are the senarios that i shoud use this approches in

what are the main usage of returning a value by refrence from a func?

Answers (5)