C# Named Parameters

Use named parameters to improve method calling syntax. Make programs more readable.

Named parameters. This is an alternate parameter syntax form. It can result in easier to read and clearer code. Parameters are checked for correctness by the compiler.Optional Parameters

By specifying the formal parameter name, we can reorder arguments. Named parameters have no performance penalty in more recent versions of the .NET Framework.

Example. We use the syntax "name:" and then a string literal to specify the value of the name parameter. The syntax "size:" and then an integer signifies the size parameter.

Tip: You can reorder these named parameters in any way you want. This is a key benefit of named parameters.

Also: You can specify names on only some parameters, using the positional syntax for some arguments.

C# program that uses named parameters using System; class Program { static void Main() { // Call the Test method several times in different ways. Test(name: "Perl", size: 5); Test(name: "Dot", size: -1); Test(6, "Net"); Test(7, name: "Google"); } static void Test(int size, string name) { Console.WriteLine("Size = {0}, Name = {1}", size, name); } } Output Size = 5, Name = Perl Size = -1, Name = Dot Size = 6, Name = Net Size = 7, Name = Google

Benchmark. The intermediate language representation of named parameters introduces extra local variables and assignments before passing the arguments.

Version 1: This version of the code uses a method invocation with named parameter syntax.

Version 2: This version uses position parameters (not named parameters) to call the same method as version 1.

Result: In 2019, no difference was found between the 2 calling syntax forms. Named parameters are fast.

Note: Please disregard the logic of Method3 as it is there mainly to ensure the method is not inlined.

C# program that tests named parameter performance using System; using System.Diagnostics; class Program { const int _max = 100000000; static void Main() { Method1(); Method2(); var s1 = Stopwatch.StartNew(); // Version 1: use named parameters. for (int i = 0; i < _max; i++) { Method1(); } s1.Stop(); var s2 = Stopwatch.StartNew(); // Version 2: use positional parameters. for (int i = 0; i < _max; i++) { Method2(); } s2.Stop(); Console.WriteLine(((double)(s1.Elapsed.TotalMilliseconds * 1000 * 1000) / _max).ToString("0.00 ns")); Console.WriteLine(((double)(s2.Elapsed.TotalMilliseconds * 1000 * 1000) / _max).ToString("0.00 ns")); Console.Read(); } static void Method1() { Method3(flag: true, size: 1, name: "Perl"); } static void Method2() { Method3(1, "Perl", true); } static void Method3(int size, string name, bool flag) { if (!flag && size != -1 && name != null) { throw new Exception(); } } } Output 0.28 ns [named parameters] 0.28 ns

Notes, implementation. Programs are compiled into a high-level abstract assembly language. For the named parameters feature, the compiler uses temporary local variables.IL

And: It then reorders those locals in the argument slots. For named parameters, the compiler infers the regular order from the new syntax.

A summary. The named parameters feature in new versions of the C# language introduces syntactic sugar for method calls. This feature embeds more contextual information into method calls.

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C# Named Parameters

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