[Mono-dev] Distinction between generic type and instance type

[Stuart Golodetz]

Hi,

As a follow-up to my question about the way in which Mono handles generic
types (see "Handling of generics by Mono compiler" on January 15), please do
you know whether the distinction being made by Mono between a generic type
and the instance type corresponding to it is only of relevance to the
compiler, or does it have real implications for an application-level
developer? (This relates to the comment Marek Safar made in the previous
thread, namely: "Compiled generic types always exist at least as open
(generic) types, usually TypeContainer(s) but can at the same time exist as
InflatedTypeSpec too when accesses from within the type.")

I'm working on a static analysis tool, and it would arguably be quite
helpful to blur the distinction between the two for the purposes of writing
queries over the source code (i.e. query writers shouldn't necessarily have
to know about compiler internals), but I'm loath to make that change if
there's a practical difference between the two that's relevant even outside
the compiler.

I realise it's a bit of a difficult question to answer without the full
context, but any thoughts would be extremely welcome.

Cheers,
Stuart



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