Exam objective: 70-536 - Implement .NET Framework interfaces to cause components to comply with standard contracts. (Refer System namespace)

In object oriented programming, an interface is an abstract set of constants and methods used to define a common way to access a specific feature set of an object. Interfaces are abstract types and cannot be instantiated. Instead, they are inherited by classes which provide the implementation for the interface methods. Multiple interfaces may be inherited by a single class.

The .NET 2.0 Framework defines several generic, type-safe interfaces that are used to implement common features found in .NET classes. These interfaces are expected to be present for objects to work with specific features, such as sorting, type conversions, and resource disposal. All of these interfaces are located in the System namespace. The ones to know for the 70-536 exam are:

• System.ICloneable
• System.IComparable
• System.IConvertible
• System.IDisposable
• System.IEquatable
• System.IFormattable

Note: The System.INullableValue interface has been removed from the .NET 2.0 Framework because nullable types are now an intrinsic type in the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR).

See Also

• .NET Framework Developer Center: Generic Interfaces

(more…)