Question

If I have the following situation:

StreamWriter MySW = null;
try
{
   Stream MyStream = new FileStream("asdf.txt");
   MySW = new StreamWriter(MyStream);
   MySW.Write("blah");
}
finally
{
   if (MySW != null)
   {
      MySW.Flush();
      MySW.Close();
      MySW.Dispose();
   }
}

Can I just call MySW.Dispose() and skip the Close even though it is provided? Are there any Stream implimentations that don’t work as expected (Like CryptoStream)?

If not, then is the following just bad code:

using (StreamWriter MySW = new StreamWriter(MyStream))
{
   MySW.Write("Blah");
}

Answer 1

Can I just call MySW.Dispose() and
skip the Close even though it is
provided?

Yes, that’s what it’s for.

Are there any Stream implementations
that don’t work as expected (Like
CryptoStream)?

It is safe to assume that if an object implements IDisposable, it will dispose of itself properly.

If it doesn’t, then that would be a bug.

If not, then is the following just bad
code:

No, that code is the recommended way of dealing with objects that implement IDisposable.

More excellent information is in the accepted answer to Close and Dispose – which to call?