Question

After reading this blog entry : http://wekeroad.com/post/4069048840/when-should-a-method-be-a-property,

I’m wondering why Microsoft choose in C# :

DateTime aDt = DateTime.Now;

instead of

DateTime aDt = DateTime.Now();

• Best practices say : Use a method when calling the member twice in succession produces different results
• And DateTime.Now is perfect example of non-determistic method/property.

Do you know if there any reason for that design ?
Or if it’s just a small mistake ?

Answer 1

I believe in CLR via C#, Jeffrey Richter mentions that DateTime.Now is a mistake.

The System.DateTime class has a readonly
Now property that returns the current date and time. Each time you query this
property, it will return a different value. This is a mistake, and Microsoft wishes that
they could fix the class by making Now a method instead of a property.

CLR via C# 3rd Edition – Page 243