In Javascript I can make a function that returns an object:

function person() {
  return { name: "John Doe", age: 20, isMarried: false };
}

console.log("Name: "+ person().name +". Age: "+ person().age +". Is married: "+ person().isMarried);

OUTPUT:
> "Name: John Doe. Age: 20. Is Married: false"

I was wondering if it's possible to do something like this in C#? I've been reading about delegates, dictionaries and anonymous methods but I still have no clue about this.

In Javascript I can make a function that returns an object:

function person() {
  return { name: "John Doe", age: 20, isMarried: false };
}

console.log("Name: "+ person().name +". Age: "+ person().age +". Is married: "+ person().isMarried);

OUTPUT:
> "Name: John Doe. Age: 20. Is Married: false"

I was wondering if it's possible to do something like this in C#? I've been reading about delegates, dictionaries and anonymous methods but I still have no clue about this.

• c#
• javascript
• object
• return

• Sure just instantiate a class – zzzzBov Commented Nov 30, 2013 at 18:11
• Returning a Dictionary<string, object> would be similar. – psquared Commented Nov 30, 2013 at 18:13
• Anonymous Types is what youre looking for. JLe's second snippet uses this but you should look up anonymous types if you want to investigate further. – Jeff Commented Nov 30, 2013 at 18:15
• Wow, so many great answers! However I use C# in Unity and apparently it doesn't support System.Dynamic or System.Tuple either. I think I'm left with Hessam's answer using Out but I don't know how I can return multiple values with it. Should I edit my question to be more specific or should I head to Unity answers site and ask there? – fnx Commented Nov 30, 2013 at 18:33

6 Answers 6

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    dynamic p = person();
    Console.WriteLine("Name: {0}, Age: {1}, Is married: {2}", p.name, p.age, p.isMarried);
}
static dynamic person()
{
    return new { name = "John Doe", age = 20, isMarried = false };
}

More info about the dynamic keyword

You can return an object:

object Person() {
    var p = new ExpandoObject();
    p.Name = "John Doe";
    p.Age = 20;
    p.Married = false;

    return p;
}

You can create is even more "dynamic" as well:

object Person() {
    return new {
        Name = "John Doe",
        Age = 20,
        Married = false
    };
}

You can use this

public void method(out string Name, out int Age, out bool Married){
    //body of method
    }

in .NET 4.5 there is something called as TUPLE. You can use that. For more info.. You can follow the link.

http://msdn.microsoft./en-us/library/system.tuple(v=vs.110).aspx

You can also return a tuple which holds multiple values.

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    var tuple = GetItem()
    Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Item1: {0}", tuple.Item1));
    Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Item2: {0}", tuple.Item2));
}

public static Tuple<string, int> GetItem()
{
    return new Tuple<string, int>("Some item from database.", 4);
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Tuple<int, string, double, string> emp = GetEmployeeInfo();
        Console.WriteLine("Emplooyee Id :: " + emp.Item1);
        Console.WriteLine("Employee Name :: " + emp.Item2);
        Console.WriteLine("Employee Salary :: " + emp.Item3);
        Console.WriteLine("Employee Address :: " + emp.Item4);
    }

    static Tuple<int, string, double, string> GetEmployeeInfo()
    {
        Tuple<int, string, double, string> employee;
        employee = new Tuple<int, string, double, string>(1001, "Uthaiah Bollera", 4500000.677, "Bangalore Karnataka!");
        return employee;
    }
}