Question

Here is a much simplified version of what I am trying to do

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    int test = 0;
    int test2 = 0;
    Test A = new Test(ref test);
    Test B = new Test(ref test);
    Test C = new Test(ref test2);
    A.write(); //Writes 1 should write 1
    B.write(); //Writes 1 should write 2
    C.write(); //Writes 1 should write 1
    Console.ReadLine();
}
class Test
{
    int _a;
    public Test(ref int a)
    {
        _a = a; //I loose the reference here
    }
    public void write()
    {
        var b = System.Threading.Interlocked.Increment(ref _a);
        Console.WriteLine(b);
    }
}

In my real code I have a int that will be incremented by many threads however where the threads a called it will not be easy to pass it the parameter that points it at the int(In the real code this is happening inside a IEnumerator). So a requirement is the reference must be made in the constructor. Also not all threads will be pointing at the same single base int so I can not use a global static int either. I know I can just box the int inside a class and pass the class around but I wanted to know if that is the correct way of doing something like this?

What I think could be the correct way:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    Holder holder = new Holder(0);
    Holder holder2 = new Holder(0);
    Test A = new Test(holder);
    Test B = new Test(holder);
    Test C = new Test(holder2);
    A.write(); //Writes 1 should write 1
    B.write(); //Writes 2 should write 2
    C.write(); //Writes 1 should write 1
    Console.ReadLine();
}
class Holder
{
    public Holder(int i)
    {
        num = i;
    }
    public int num;
}
class Test
{
    Holder _holder;
    public Test(Holder holder)
    {
        _holder = holder;
    }
    public void write()
    {
        var b = System.Threading.Interlocked.Increment(ref _holder.num);
        Console.WriteLine(b);
    }
}

Is there a better way than this?

Answer 1

Basically, the answer is Yes, you need a class.

There is no concept of ‘reference to int’ that you can store as a field. In C# it is limited to parameters.

And while there is an unsafe way (pointer to int, int*) the complexities of dealing with the GC in that scenario make it impractical and inefficient.

So your second example looks OK.