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static-delegates.md

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Static Delegates (superseded by ../csharp-9.0/function-pointers.md)

Champion issue: #302

Summary

Provide a general-purpose, lightweight callback capability to the C# language.

Motivation

Today, users have the ability to create callbacks using the System.Delegate type. However, these are fairly heavyweight (such as requiring a heap allocation and always having handling for chaining callbacks together).

Additionally, System.Delegate does not provide the best interop with unmanaged function pointers, namely due being non-blittable and requiring marshalling anytime it crosses the managed/unmanaged boundary.

With a few minor tweaks, we could provide a new type of delegate that is lightweight, general-purpose, and interops well with native code.

Detailed design

One would declare a static delegate via the following:

static delegate int Func()

One could additionally attribute the declaration with something similar to System.Runtime.InteropServices.UnmanagedFunctionPointer so that the calling convention, string marshalling, and set last error behavior can be controlled. NOTE: Using System.Runtime.InteropServices.UnmanagedFunctionPointer itself will not work, as it is only usable on Delegates.

The declaration would get translated into an internal representation by the compiler that is similar to the following

struct <Func>e__StaticDelegate
{
    IntPtr pFunction;

    static int WellKnownCompilerName();
}

That is to say, it is internally represented by a struct that has a single member of type IntPtr (such a struct is blittable and does not incur any heap allocations):

  • The member contains the address of the function that is to be the callback.
  • The type declares a method matching the method signature of the callback.
  • The name of the struct should not be user-constructible (as we do with other internally generated backing structures).
  • For example: fixed size buffers generate a struct with a name in the format of <name>e__FixedBuffer (< and > are part of the identifier and make the identifier not constructible in C#, but still useable in IL).
  • The name of the method declaration should be a well known name used across all static delegate types (this allows the compiler to know the name to look for when determining the signature).

The value of the static delegate can only be bound to a static method that matches the signature of the callback.

Chaining callbacks together is not supported.

Invocation of the callback would be implemented by the calli instruction.

Drawbacks

Static Delegates would not work with existing APIs that use regular delegates (one would need to wrap said static delegate in a regular delegate of the same signature).

  • Given that System.Delegate is represented internally as a set of object and IntPtr fields (http://source.dot.net/#System.Private.CoreLib/src/System/Delegate.cs), it would be possible to allow implicit conversion of a static delegate to a System.Delegate that has a matching method signature. It would also be possible to provide an explicit conversion in the opposite direction, provided the System.Delegate conformed to all the requirements of being a static delegate.

Additional work would be needed to make Static Delegate readily usable in the core framework.

Alternatives

TBD

Unresolved questions

What parts of the design are still TBD?

Design meetings

Link to design notes that affect this proposal, and describe in one sentence for each what changes they led to.