Book Image

Metaprogramming in C#

By : Einar Ingebrigtsen
Book Image

Metaprogramming in C#

By: Einar Ingebrigtsen

Overview of this book

Metaprogramming is an advanced technique that helps developers to automate repetitive tasks, generate scalable code, and enhance productivity in software development. Metaprogramming in C# is a comprehensive guide that will help you reap the full potential of metaprogramming in .NET runtime. You’ll start by learning about the .NET runtime environment and how you can use it to become a more productive developer. You'll learn how to infer types using reflection, use attributes, and create dynamic proxies. You’ll also explore the use of expressions to create and execute code and how to take advantage of Dynamic Language Runtime. But that's not all! You’ll also learn to go beyond inheritance and use method signature conventions to create easily maintainable code. Finally, you’ll dive into the world of compiler magic with Roslyn, where you'll discover how to use Roslyn to generate code, perform static code analysis, and write your own compiler extensions. By the end of this book, you’ll have a deep understanding of metaprogramming concepts and how to apply them to your C# code. You’ll be able to think about types, use attributes and expressions to generate code, and apply crosscutting concerns to improve code quality.
Table of Contents (25 chapters)
1
Part 1:Why Metaprogramming?
5
Part 2:Leveraging the Runtime
12
Part 3:Increasing Productivity, Consistency, and Quality
18
Part 4:Compiler Magic Using Roslyn

Traversing an expression tree

An Expression is a simple construct that represents a node in a tree. The expression has a node type, and the implementation decides what the node type expresses and means. This forms a tree that can be recursively traversed and reasoned about.

For lambda expressions, it means it has a body that consists of an expression that is of a specific type; this type could be a Binary Expression that holds a left and a right and the node itself representing the operand (equals, not equals, and so forth):

Figure 7.2 – Binary expression

Taking the example of the filter:

Expression<Func<int, bool>> filter = (i) => i >= 37;

Visually it looks like the following:

Figure 7.3 - A parameter larger than the constant expression

The operand is greater than or equal, the left-hand side accesses the parameter passed into it, and the right-hand side holds the constant value of 37.

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