Question

Consider the following very basic C# code.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Random random = new Random();

            for (int i = 1; i <= 100; i++)
            {
                int num = random.Next(1000);
                string it_type;

                if (num == 666)
                {
                    System.Console.Write("Antichrist/satanistic trips get. Enjoy! ");
                    JonSkeet technician = new JonSkeet(); // Needs more Super::$tatic
                    technician.setup();
                    it_type = technician.getITType();
                }
                else
                {
                    Whisperity technician = new Whisperity();
                    technician.setup();
                    it_type = technician.getITType();
                }

                System.Console.WriteLine(it_type + "... Prepare for next iteration.");
            }

            System.Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }

    abstract public class ITTechnician
    {
        protected string itt_type = "Noname person.";
        protected bool isJonSkeet = false;

        public string getITType()
        {
            return this.itt_type;
        }

        abstract public void setup();
    }

    public class JonSkeet : ITTechnician
    {
        public override void setup()
        {
            this.itt_type = "Jon Skeet";
            this.isJonSkeet = true;
        }
    }

    public class Whisperity : ITTechnician
    {
        public override void setup()
        {
            this.itt_type = "Whisperity";
            this.isJonSkeet = false;
        }
    }
}

How would I be able to set up a constructor in a way that the abstract class (abstract public void?) would require it and that I don’t have to call technician.setup(); because the constructor takes care of setting the two internal variables. If I call the class functions the same name as the class itself, I get the following error:

Error 1 ‘Whisperity’: member names cannot be the same as their enclosing

Also, my other question would be about optimization. Is there a way to define technician outside the if construct so something like the following could be executed: (This would omit having the classType technician = new classType(); lines twice, or is it unbypassable in C#?)

string it_type;
// Register 'technician' as a variable here.
if (num = 666)
{
    technician = new JonSkeet();
}
else
{
    technician = new Whisperity();
}

it_type = technician.getITType();
System.Console.WriteLine(it_type + "...");

Answer 1

Answer to your Question

You can provide a constructor with parameters in the abstract class.

abstract public class ITTechnician
{
    public ITTechnician(string itt_type, bool isJonSkeet)
    {
        this.itt_type = itt_type;
        this.isJonSkeet = isJonSkeet;
    }
}

To construct a JonSkeet (if only it were so easy!)

JonSkeet jon = new JonSkeet("Jon Skeet", true);

Advice on Class Design

On a side note, I know this is a sample question, but you are not using object orientation well if a base class holds information that would differentiate classes that inherit from it.

Specifically this design would lead you to do things like

ITTechnician itt = GetSomeInstance();

if (itt.IsJonSkeet)
{
    BehaviorA();
else
{
    BehaviorB();
}

It is far cleaner to do something like

abstract public class ITTechnician
{
    public abstract void Behavior();
    // ...
}

public class JonSkeet
{
    public override Behavior()
    {
        // Do awesome things
    }
}

which allows the above code to be written as

ITTechnician itt = GetSomeInstance();
itt.Behavior();