Do fluent interfaces significantly impact runtime performance of a .NET application?
- by stakx
I'm currently occupying myself with implementing a fluent interface for an existing technology, which would allow code similar to the following snippet:
using (var directory = Open.Directory(@"path\to\some\directory"))
{
using (var file = Open.File("foobar.html").In(directory))
{
// ...
}
}
In order to implement such constructs, classes are needed that accumulate arguments and pass them on to other objects. For example, to implement the Open.File(...).In(...) construct, you would need two classes:
// handles 'Open.XXX':
public static class OpenPhrase
{
// handles 'Open.File(XXX)':
public static OpenFilePhrase File(string filename)
{
return new OpenFilePhrase(filename);
}
// handles 'Open.Directory(XXX)':
public static DirectoryObject Directory(string path)
{
// ...
}
}
// handles 'Open.File(XXX).XXX':
public class OpenFilePhrase
{
internal OpenFilePhrase(string filename)
{
_filename = filename
}
// handles 'Open.File(XXX).In(XXX):
public FileObject In(DirectoryObject directory)
{
// ...
}
private readonly string _filename;
}
That is, the more constituent parts statements such as the initial examples have, the more objects need to be created for passing on arguments to subsequent objects in the chain until the actual statement can finally execute.
Question:
I am interested in some opinions: Does a fluent interface which is implemented using the above technique significantly impact the runtime performance of an application that uses it? With runtime performance, I refer to both speed and memory usage aspects.
Bear in mind that a potentially large number of temporary, argument-saving objects would have to be created for only very brief timespans, which I assume may put a certain pressure on the garbage collector.
If you think there is significant performance impact, do you know of a better way to implement fluent interfaces?
