Less Verbose TryParse

[andrewdavidjamesburke]

Summary

A less verbose TryParse method, parsing directly from the string object into its relative type

Current Implementation

Fig 1.1

string s = "3.14159265359"
System.Single.TryParse(s, out float f);

Proposed Implementation

Fig 1.2

string s = "3.14159265359"
s.TryParse(out float f);

Workaround

Fig 1.3

//FloatExtensions.cs

public static class FloatExtensions
{
    public static void TryParse(this string s, out float f)
    {
        System.Single.TryParse(s, out f);
    }
}

Motivation

Our team regularly uses variations of the TryParse extension method (Fig 1.3) for various string operations.
We have been using (with no observable overhead), and an improvement to workflow of up to 10 seconds per usage.
We feel that the entire C# community could benefit from this improvement.

Setback

The TryParse method has been used in its current state in several revisions of the language. This new change would require users to alter their workflow when using TryParse methods.
As such, it is also proposed that a larger number of up votes than the usual be required for this new change to be adopted, should this proposal be accepted as a candidate.

[333fred]

If you're proposing a new extension method on String, the appropriate repo for that is https://github.com/dotnet/runtime. This repo is for C# language design, and I'm not seeing any new syntax proposed here, just a new method.

[FaustVX]

You can write your own extension method to include every TryParse methods

public static bool TryParse<T>(this string s, [MaybeNullWhen(false)] out T f)
    where T : System.ISpanParsable<T>
    => T.TryParse(s, null, out f);

And use it like that

if ("3.141592".TryParse(out double pi))
    Console.WriteLine($"pi = {pi}");

sharplab.io

[andrewdavidjamesburke]

You can write your own extension method to include every TryParse methods

public static bool TryParse<T>(this string s, [MaybeNullWhen(false)] out T f)
    where T : System.ISpanParsable<T>
    => T.TryParse(s, null, out f);

And use it like that

if ("3.141592".TryParse(out double pi))
    Console.WriteLine($"pi = {pi}");

sharplab.io

Simply amazing.

[koszeggy]

Maybe it's not just me but I happen to have such publicly available extensions. The generic TryParse<T>(string, out T) and TryParse(ReadOnlySpan<char>, out T) extension methods are optimized for known value types.