C# - Named Arguments

Named Arguments in C#

Named parameters in C# allow you to specify the name of the parameter when calling a method, rather than passing values in the order defined by the method signature. This can enhance the clarity of the code and help avoid errors when calling methods with multiple parameters, especially when the parameters have default values.

Named parameters make the code more readable and allow you to skip some parameters when calling a method, as long as those parameters have default values.

Example

using System;

class Greeting
{
    // Method with multiple parameters
    public void SayHello(string name, string message = "Hello", string punctuation = "!")
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"{message}, {name}{punctuation}");
    }
}

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        Greeting greet = new Greeting();

        // Using named parameters to skip some parameters
        greet.SayHello(name: "John", message: "Good morning"); // Output: Good morning, John!
        
        // Using default parameters for message and punctuation
        greet.SayHello(name: "Alice"); // Output: Hello, Alice!
        
        // Providing all parameters
        greet.SayHello(name: "Mike", message: "Greetings", punctuation: "?"); // Output: Greetings, Mike?
    }
}

Explanation:

• In the SayHello method, we use named parameters (name, message, punctuation) to provide values for specific parameters.
• We can specify any parameter in any order as long as we use the correct parameter name.
• This example demonstrates the flexibility of named parameters, as we can skip parameters with default values, like punctuation in the second call.