Indexer

Indexer in Csharp

C# introduces a new concept known as Indexers which are used for treating an object as an array. The indexers are usually known as smart arrays in C# community. Defining a C# indexer is much like defining properties. We can say that an indexer is a member that enables an object to be indexed in the same way as an array.


Abstract Indexers

An indexer inside a class can be declared as abstract by using the keyword abstract. Remember that an abstract indexer in a class carries no code at all. The get/set accessors are simply represented with a semicolon. In the derived class we must implement both set and get assessors.

If the abstract class contains only set accessor, we can implement only set in the derived class.

Indexers & Properties

1. An index is identified by it's signature. But a property is identified it's name.
2. An indexer is always an instance member, but a property can be static also.
3. An indexer is accessed through an element access. But a property is through a member access.

You can get more details on Indexers by going to this WebSite :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/librarysystem.runtime.compilerservices.indexernameattribute_members(VS.80).aspx