[.net] Swapping two variables

Why look for one if you can make one just as easy instead of hunting one down.

Yeah just write it yourself. Is there some reason you want one from the standard library?

I tried to make my own swap function, but it doesn't work.

this is the function:

public static void Swap(ref object a, ref object b)    {        object swap = a;        a = b;        b = swap;    }

and then I try to call it like this:

App.Swap(ref pen1,ref pen2);

but it doesn't work, it only works with objects, but not with other classes, like Pen in this case. Pen is derived from object though. I get this error:
Argument '2': cannot convert from 'ref System.Drawing.Pen' to 'ref object'

Quote:

it only works with objects, but not with other classes, like Pen in this case. Pen is derived from object though. I get this error: Argument '2': cannot convert from 'ref System.Drawing.Pen' to 'ref object'

That's right. ref or out parameters in methods must exactly match the types in their declarations, so there isn't a generic solution to your problem in the 1.0 or 1.1 versions of the Framework and C# compiler. You'll therefore need to make a specific Swap method for each object type you want to swap.

Thankfully, version 2.0 of the Framework makes this much easier, because it has generics. If you're using that version, then what you want is:

The static methods
System.Threading.Interlocked.Exchange( ... );
swap two variables in a threadsafe manner.

However, the limitation of the ref parameters still apply...