Pattern matching brings power to some existing language operators and statements. Pattern matching provides a more concise syntax for algorithms you already use today. You already create pattern matching algorithms using existing syntax.
In C# 9.0, the .NET development team is considering some enhancements to pattern matching that have a natural synergy and work well to address several common programming problems.
Relational patterns permit the programmer to express that an input value must satisfy a relational constraint when compared to a constant value.
public static LifeStage LifeStageAtAge(int age) => age switch
{
< 0 => LifeStage.Prenatal,
< 2 => LifeStage.Infant,
< 4 => LifeStage.Toddler,
< 6 => LifeStage.EarlyChild,
< 12 => LifeStage.MiddleChild,
< 20 => LifeStage.Adolescent,
< 40 => LifeStage.EarlyAdult,
< 65 => LifeStage.MiddleAdult,
_ => LifeStage.LateAdult,
};
Relational patterns support the relational operators <, <=, >, and >= on all the built-in types that support such binary relational operators with two operands of the same type in an expression.
Pattern combinators permit matching both of two different patterns using and, either of two different patterns using or, or the negation of a pattern using not.
if (customer is not null)
{
Console.WriteLine(customer.Name);
}
You can see that it clearly expresses that one is checking for a non-null value. The and and or combinators will be useful for testing ranges of values.
bool IsLetter(char c) => c is (>= 'a' and <= 'z') or (>= 'A' and <= 'Z');
These combinators can be used in any context in which a pattern is expected, including nested patterns, the is pattern expression, the switch expression, and the pattern of a switch statement's case label.