C# Delegate under the hood question.

Question

Hi Guys

I was doing some digging around into delegate variance after reading the following question in SO : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2714989/delegate-createdelegate-and-generics-error-binding-to-target-method

I found a very nice bit of code from Barry kelly at https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8184237816669520763&postID=2109708553230166434

Here it is (in a sugared-up form :-)

using System;

namespace ConsoleApplication4
{
    internal class Base
    {
    }

    internal class Derived : Base
    {
    }

    internal delegate void baseClassDelegate(Base b);

    internal delegate void derivedClassDelegate(Derived d);


    internal class App
    {
        private static void Foo1(Base b)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Foo 1");
        }

        private static void Foo2(Derived b)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Foo 2");
        }

        private static T CastDelegate<T>(Delegate src)
            where T : class
        {
            return (T) (object) Delegate.CreateDelegate(
                                    typeof (T),
                                    src.Target,
                                    src.Method,
                                    true); // throw on fail
        }

        private static void Main()
        {
            baseClassDelegate a = Foo1; // works fine

            derivedClassDelegate b = Foo2; // works fine

            b = a.Invoke; // the easy way to assign delegate using variance, adds layer of indirection though

            b(new Derived());

            b = CastDelegate<derivedClassDelegate>(a); // the hard way, avoids indirection

            b(new Derived());
        }
    }
}

I understand all of it except this one (what looks very simple) line.

b = a.Invoke; // the easy way to assign delegate using variance, adds layer of indirection though

Can anyone tell me:

1. how it is possible to call invoke without passing the param required by the static function.
2. When is going on under the hood when you assign the return value from calling invoke
3. What does Barry mean by extra indirection (in his comment)

Answer 1

He isn't calling Invoke (note the lack of ()), he's using implicit delegate creation to set b equal to a new derivedClassDelegate instance that points to the Invoke method of a. The additional indirection is that when b is invoked, it calls a.Invoke(new Derived()) rather than just a(new Derived()).

To make what's actually happening more explicit:

baseClassDelegate a = Foo1; // works fine 

derivedClassDelegate b = Foo2; // works fine 

b = new derivedClassDelegate(a.Invoke); // the easy way to assign delegate using variance, adds layer of indirection though 

b(new Derived());

b = CastDelegate<derivedClassDelegate>(a); // the hard way, avoids indirection 

b(new Derived());

The first call to b results in a chain like this (parameters eliminated for simplicity):

b() -> a.Invoke() -> Foo1()

The second call to b results in this:

b() -> Foo1()

However

This is only needed if you need a delegate of one signature to invoke a delegate of another (less restrictive) signature. In his example, you could just set b = Foo1 and it would compile, but that wouldn't illustrate the point.