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Extension methods (C#)

Extension methods enable you to “add” methods to existing types without creating a new derived type, recompiling, or otherwise modifying the original type. Extension methods are a special kind of static method, but they are called as if they were instance methods on the extended type. For client code written in C# and Visual Basic, there is no apparent difference between calling an extension method and the methods that are actually defined in a type.

The most common extension methods are the LINQ standard query operators that add query functionality to the existing System.Collections..::.IEnumerable and System.Collections.Generic..::.IEnumerable<(Of <(T>)>) types. (using System.Linq)

Extension methods are defined as static methods but are called by using instance method syntax. Their first parameter specifies which type the method operates on, and the parameter is preceded by the this modifier. Extension methods are only in scope when you explicitly import the namespace into your source code with a using directive.

namespace ExtensionMethods
{
    public static class MyExtensions
    {
        public static int WordCount(this String str)
        {
            return str.Split(new char[] { ‘ ‘, ‘.’, ‘?’ }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries).Length;
        }
    }
}