Question

Will the list in this shared method keep its state throughout the life of the method? Or will a new list be created every time this method is called?

Protected Shared Function newResxNodes(ByVal newName As String, ByVal newValue As String, Optional ByVal newComment As String = "") As List(Of ResXDataNode)

    Dim newResxNodesList As List(Of ResXDataNode) = New List(Of ResXDataNode)

    Dim newResxNode As ResXDataNode = New ResXDataNode(newName, newValue)
    If newComment <> String.Empty Then
        newResxNode.Comment = newComment
    End If

    newResxNodesList.Add(newResxNode)

    Return newResxNodesList
End Function

Answer 1

No, It does not work like static variables in C. It will be a new list for every call. If you want to retain the list and list items, create a shared class field.