C# to VB.NET array initialization

Question

In C#, I can declare an array variable like this

object[] Parameters;

and initialize it like this:

Parameters = new object[20];

In Visual Basic, declaring and initializing an array is easy:

Dim Parameters(19) As Object
Dim Parameters As Object(19)    ' Alternative syntax

How would I initialize an array variable that has already been declared in VB.NET?

Parameters = New Object(19) doesn't work.

For example, how would I translate the following to VB.NET?

int value = 20;
object[] Parameters;
if (value > 10)
{
    Parameters = new Object[20];
}

Peter Mortensen · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-21 09:00:15Z

Basically the same Visual Basic code as the others, but I'd use the opportunity to add a bit of style:

Dim value = 20                ' Type inference, like "var" in C#
Dim parameters() As Object    ' Could also be "parameters As Object()"
If value > 10 Then
    parameters = New Object(19) {}   ' That's right, Visual Basic uses the maximum index
End If                               ' instead of the number of elements.

Local variables (parameters) should start with a lowercase letter. It's an established convention and it helps to get correct syntax highlighting in Stack Overflow (this also applies to the original C# code).

So, why are the braces {} required in Visual Basic? In Visual Basic, both method calls and array access use parenthesis (...). Thus, New X(4) could mean:

Create a new object of type X and pass 4 to the constructor,
Create a 5-element [sic] array of X.

To distinguish the two cases, you use the array initializer syntax in the second case. Usually, the braces contain actual values:

myArray = New Integer() {1, 2, 3}

Davide Piras · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-15 19:06:13Z

6

Dim value As Integer = 20
Dim Parameters() as object
If value > 10 then
  Parameters = new Object(value - 1){}
end if

edited Sep 15, 2011 at 19:06

Davide Piras

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answered Sep 15, 2011 at 19:05

CommonSense

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Comments

Darin Dimitrov · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-15 19:05:10Z

4

If you are lazy like me you could use an online converter which yields:

Dim value As Integer = 20
Dim Parameters As Object()
If value > 10 Then
    Parameters = New [Object](19) {}
End If

And if you are not like me and want to learn VB.NET head over to the documentation of the VB.NET syntax and start reading.

answered Sep 15, 2011 at 19:05

Darin Dimitrov

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2 Comments

CommonSense Over a year ago

If you've programmed in VB.NET for any length of time, you may consider replacing the constant 19 with (value - 1). Will save you some headache/time if value variables value changes. That's the problem with online converters.

Darin Dimitrov Over a year ago

@CommonSense, luckily I had never had to use this language in my programming career. And when occasions presented, I simply rewrote the code to C# as I just can't stand VB.NET.

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