What is the New Keyword in C#?

C# is a powerful, modern programming language that is used to develop a wide range of applications. It is a popular choice for software developers due to its flexibility and scalability. One of the features of C# is the new keyword, which is used to explicitly hide a member that is inherited from a base class. In this article, we will explore what the new keyword is and how it is used in C#.

What is the New Keyword?

The new keyword is a declaration modifier in C# that is used to explicitly hide a member that is inherited from a base class. When you hide an inherited member, the derived version of the member replaces the base class version. This means that the derived class can have its own implementation of the member, which will be used instead of the base class version.

When to Use the New Keyword

The new keyword should be used when you want to override a base class member in a derived class. It is important to note that the new keyword does not actually override the base class member, but rather hides it. This means that the derived class will have its own implementation of the member, which will be used instead of the base class version.

It is also important to note that the new keyword should only be used when the derived class is implementing a member that is already present in the base class. If the derived class is implementing a member that is not present in the base class, then the new keyword should not be used.

Using the New Keyword

Using the new keyword is relatively straightforward. To use the new keyword, you simply need to add the keyword to the declaration of the member in the derived class. For example, if you wanted to hide a method named “DoSomething” that is inherited from a base class, you would use the following code:

public new void DoSomething()
{
// Code for derived class implementation of DoSomething
}

It is important to note that the new keyword should only be used when the derived class is implementing a member that is already present in the base class. If the derived class is implementing a member that is not present in the base class, then the new keyword should not be used.

Advantages of Using the New Keyword

Using the new keyword has several advantages. First, it allows you to explicitly hide a member that is inherited from a base class. This means that the derived class can have its own implementation of the member, which will be used instead of the base class version.

Second, using the new keyword can help to improve the readability of your code. By explicitly hiding a member that is inherited from a base class, you can make it clear to other developers that the derived class is implementing its own version of the member.

Finally, using the new keyword can help to improve the performance of your code. By explicitly hiding a member that is inherited from a base class, you can ensure that the derived class version of the member is used instead of the base class version. This can help to improve the performance of your code by avoiding unnecessary calls to the base class version of the member.

Disadvantages of Using the New Keyword

Using the new keyword also has some disadvantages. First, it can make it difficult to debug your code. By explicitly hiding a member that is inherited from a base class, you can make it difficult to determine which version of the member is being used.

Second, using the new keyword can make it difficult to maintain your code. By explicitly hiding a member that is inherited from a base class, you can make it difficult to ensure that the derived class version of the member is up to date with the base class version.

Conclusion

The new keyword is a declaration modifier in C# that is used to explicitly hide a member that is inherited from a base class. When you hide an inherited member, the derived version of the member replaces the base class version. This means that the derived class can have its own implementation of the member, which will be used instead of the base class version. The new keyword can be a useful tool for developers, but it is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of using it.