[Note: Delegates enable scenarios that other languages-such as C++, Pascal, and Modula-have addressed with function pointers. Unlike C++ function pointers, however, delegates are fully object oriented, and unlike C++ pointers to member functions, delegates encapsulate both an object instance and a method. end note]

A delegate declaration defines a class that is derived from the class System.Delegate. A delegate instance encapsulates one or more methods, each of which is referred to as a callable entity. For instance methods, a callable entity consists of an instance and a method on that instance. For static methods, a callable entity consists of just a method. Given a delegate instance and an appropriate set of arguments, one can invoke all of that delegate instance's methods with that set of arguments.

An interesting and useful property of a delegate instance is that it does not know or care about the classes of the methods it encapsulates; all that matters is that those methods be compatible (22.1) with the delegate's type. This makes delegates perfectly suited for "anonymous" invocation.

In This Section:

• 22.1: Delegate declarations
• 22.2: Delegate instantiation
• 22.3: Delegate invocation