Question

If I try to declare static and non-static methods with the same parameters compiler returns an error: type ‘Test’ already defines a member called ‘Load’ with the same parameter types.

    class Test
    {
        int i = 0;

        public int I
        {
            get { return i; }
            set { i = value; }
        }

        public bool Load(int newValue)
        {
            i = newValue;
            return true;
        }

        public static Test Load(int newValue)
        {
            Test t = new Test();
            t.I = newValue;
            return t;
        }

As far as I know these two methods can not be mixed, non static method is called on object whereas static method is called on class, so why does compiler not allow something like this and is there a way to do something similar?

Answer 1

In C# a method cannot be overloaded by return type. It must at least have a different set of parameters, regardless if the method is static or not.