Addition of Custom Keywords to .net to be addressed by a Pre or Post build process

Question

I am looking for a method to add custom keywords to the .net framework that offer "special" pre-complier benefits or are ignored by the compiler.

Example I would like to do something like this

public static factory class Foo<T>
{
     public static create T Create();
}

I would like to add a pre-compile event that translates that code into functioning C#. I have already considered a few options (which I can not post here because I am limited to 1 hyperlink) none of them do exactly what I am looking to do. Does anyone else have any suggestions?

Answer 1

This can't be done with the current C# version, unless you are willing to:

• Create your own C# compiler
• Create your own preprocessor to run before the actual compiler.

Answer 2

I suggest something more like this:

[Factory()]
public static class Foo<T>
{
    [Create()]
    public static T Create();
}

You can build your own attributes and should be able to use them to accomplish what you need here.

Answer 3

Could you get away with just using annotations? Your example suggests you might, but I realize it could be misleading.