What is the Importance of IComparable interface ?

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hello people ,

Why do i need to use an IComparable interface to compare types. Because finally we will be implementing its CompareTo() in the class which will inherit this interface.

Instead of this i can use method overloading in the same class so as to compare different types.

Thanks

Posted 21-Aug-13 7:54am

Rahul VB

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OriginalGriff · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-21T08:06:00

Solution 1

Because overloading the equals and not equals operators does not do the same thing: Anything which implements IComparable is allowed to use the built in Sorting and Ordering functions, which is not available to those that don't.

The reason for this is pretty simple: unless you implement the IComparable interface the system does not know that your class, and all the classes derived from your class, implement the methods it needs to actually establish an order of the elements of a collection.

Think of it this way: when you apply for a job, you can be as good at C# as possible, but unless you have the qualifications to prove that you are "in the club" your CV is likely to go in the bin, because the employer cannot verify that you know anything about it. The qualification ensures that a minimum standard has been met and that it is worth interviewing you. In other words, by implementing the IQualified interface, you automatically prove that you are capable of doing the job.

Posted 21-Aug-13 8:06am

OriginalGriff

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Rahul VB 21-Aug-13 14:10pm

Hello Sir,

Thats a fantastic answer thanks a lot. Similarly please give me an explanation of Idisposable interface also thanks a lot. I am being a little greedy hehe.

Rahul VB 21-Aug-13 14:15pm

Hello Sir,

This real world example which you gave is fantastic. Unless i inherit the qualification interface i wont be able to implement my job method ( get a job). I hope i am correct. So please do also explain me Idisposable method in the same way. I am sorry i am being greedy hehe, but thanks again.

Thanks again

OriginalGriff 21-Aug-13 14:26pm

I tell you what, why don't you explain IDisposable to me? That way, I think you will learn more as you have to think about what IDisposable actually does - and it's an important one, a lot more so than IComparable.

(And this is sounding a lot like your homework :laugh:)

Rahul VB 2-Jan-14 15:23pm

Respected Sir,
After this comment i became your fan :laugh:)
Member 10070204 is me.

Thanks,
Rahul

Rahul VB 24-Aug-13 15:06pm

Hello Sir,
I am back with my homework and sorry for the delay,

Normally we have garbage collector in order to free down managed resources when that particular object is no longer used. It cant be predicted as to when and how the garbage collector will come into picture.

However if i want to free unmanaged resources like a window handle or some thing like that, then i can forcefully release the object and free the resource if i implement the dispose method of the IDisposable interface.

Suppose my homework is finished and my teacher signs my notebook then only i can say that i have finished my home work. So i can say that i have implemented the Ihomework interface's finished() method forcefully. Forcefully because only then will my teacher award me with points.

I hope i am correct.

:)
Thanks again

OriginalGriff 25-Aug-13 3:51am

That's close enough! Well done - not a bad description.
The only changes I would make is to change "if I want to free unmanaged resources" to "if I use any scarce or unmanaged resources", because one of the primary uses for IDisposable is to release resources that are managed: files, bitmaps, SqlConnections and any Graphics items - these run out very quickly if you don't Dispose them properly. Files and streams are a common problem - if you don;t Close and Dispose them, then they are liable to remain locked until your app ends and cause "file in use" exceptions when you try to read or write them again.

Also, implementing IDisposable means that you class can be used in a "using" block which both disposes the object and ensure it goes out of scope so you can't accidentally use a Disposed object:
using (MyClass mc = new MyClass)
{
// Do things with mc here
}
// mc is Disposed, and cannot be accessed here
// because it is out of scope - the compiler
// will complain if you try.