Converting objects to string by prepending empty string in C#

Question

Recently, I've seen the following statement quite a lot:

object o;
// assign o
return "" + o;

(Basically the same as return String.Concat(o);)

Why would anyone want to do that? Why not just call .ToString() on the object (after checking object is not null, of course)?

Sure, the code is shorter and does away with the null check, but I find it confusing to read. Are there any other benefits to this? I've also seen the same statement with regard to integer values.

I expect to see above code in loosely typed languages such as JavaScript or PHP – but not in C#.

IMO "+" operator for concatenation is always not so clear but well this may be a too extreme position... — Adriano Repetti
– Adriano Repetti, Commented Oct 29, 2013 at 14:15

Habib · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-29 14:16:38Z

4

IMO, Just a bad approach to avoid Null Reference Exception.

Probably the original developer's intent was to use as less code as possible in returning string without checking null or Type

answered Oct 29, 2013 at 14:16

Habib

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paparazzo · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-29 14:16:37Z

3

No, you would not want to do that in C#. You are better off with calling the ToString method on the object. There are some languages where that is the preferred syntax, such as with JavaScript. So you might be seeing some cross-language leak.

edited Oct 29, 2013 at 14:16

paparazzo

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answered Oct 29, 2013 at 14:15

Scott

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