Potentially incorrect CompareTo(…) signature¶
ID: cs/wrong-compareto-signature
Kind: problem
Security severity:
Severity: warning
Precision: medium
Tags:
- reliability
- maintainability
Query suites:
- csharp-security-and-quality.qls
Click to see the query in the CodeQL repository
If you wish to make a class comparable with type T then you should both make a CompareTo(T) method and inherit from the IComparable<T> interface. If a CompareTo(T) method has been added without the interface also being implemented, it is sometimes an indication that the programmer has forgotten to inherit the interface despite providing the implementation for it.
Recommendation¶
The problem can be easily resolved by making the class implement IComparable<T> (either directly or indirectly).
Example¶
In this example, the developer has implemented a CompareTo(Bad) method, but has forgotten to add the corresponding IComparable<Bad> interface.
using System;
class Bad
{
public int CompareTo(Bad b) => 0;
}
In the revised example, the interface is added.
using System;
class Good : IComparable<Good>
{
public int CompareTo(Good g) => 0;
}
References¶
MSDN: IComparable Interface