Question

I have an object that is generated in one class

public class CreatingClass {     public T CreateObject<T>(Dictionary<string, object> parameters) where T : IMyInterface, new()     {         ....     }      public void DestroyObject(IMyInterface objectToDestroy)     {         ....     } } 

I call this function from a client class, then at times need to nullify it through my application by the creating class.

Can I do something like the following

public class ClientClass {     MyObject obj;     CreatingClass creatingClass = new CreatingClass();      private void AFunctionToCreateMyClass()     {         obj = creatingClass.CreateObject<MyClass>(parameters);     }      private void AFunctionToDeleteMyObject()     {         CreatingClass.DestroyObject(obj);         Assert.IsNull(obj);//Doesn't fail     } } 

I had tried objectToDestroy = null, but didn’t think it would work (and it didn’t)

Answer 1

Note that you can’t actually destroy an object; you are subject to the rules of garbage collection. At a push, you could check for IDisposable and call Dispose(),

You can use the ref samples provided, but I’m not sure there is much point; it is simpler just to clear the field with ‘obj = null;’.

The ref usage could get confusing, since that works on the variable – i.e. if you do:

var tmp = obj; DestroyObject(ref tmp); 

then obj will still be the original value. Unless you have a good reason, I don’t recommend the ref approach.