Re: [DotGNU]C# 2.0 and System.Collections.Generics

[Rhys Weatherley]

On Thursday 09 September 2004 03:36 pm, Marcus wrote:

> What do I have to do to use the generics in the pnetlib/Generics directory?

pnetlib/Generics was an early attempt on my part to build a useful set of 
generic foundation classes at a time when Microsoft was not forthcoming with 
useful documentation on the new classes that they intended to add.  The 
classes in pnetlib/Generics are not compatible with .NET 2.0.

> Are the generics there compatible with the .NET 2.0 stuff?

The few 2.0 classes that we have are in the "System.Collections.Generic" 
namespace in mscorlib.dll.  We will eventually add all of the 2.0 classes.

Here is the catch: cscc does not have complete support for compiling generics 
yet, so while the classes are there, they aren't compiled into mscorlib.dll.  
We need help on completing the cscc implementation.  But once finished, it 
will be 2.0 compatible.

> I'm asking because I'm starting to work on a MSBuild-like tool, and I'd like 
> to know what I can rely upon being present in Pnet.

Unless the public MSBuild API actually uses generics, you should stick to 
non-generic classes.  Ideally, you should only use classes in the ECMA subset 
unless there is no other way to achieve the desired effect.  This is a 
general rule, applicable to all pnetlib components.

Cheers,

Rhys.