Breaking changes in Roslyn after .NET 8.0.100 through .NET 9.0.100

Article
11/07/2024

This document lists known breaking changes in Roslyn after .NET 8 general release (.NET SDK version 8.0.100) through .NET 9 general release (.NET SDK version 9.0.100).

InlineArray attribute on a record struct type is no longer allowed.

Introduced in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.11

[System.Runtime.CompilerServices.InlineArray(10)] // error CS9259: Attribute 'System.Runtime.CompilerServices.InlineArray' cannot be applied to a record struct.
record struct Buffer1()
{
    private int _element0;
}

[System.Runtime.CompilerServices.InlineArray(10)] // error CS9259: Attribute 'System.Runtime.CompilerServices.InlineArray' cannot be applied to a record struct.
record struct Buffer2(int p1)
{
}

Iterators introduce safe context in C# 13 and newer

Introduced in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.11

Although the language spec states that iterators introduce a safe context, Roslyn does not implement that in C# 12 and lower. This will change in C# 13 as part of a feature which allows unsafe code in iterators. The change does not break normal scenarios as it was disallowed to use unsafe constructs directly in iterators anyway. However, it can break scenarios where an unsafe context was previously inherited into nested local functions, for example:

unsafe class C // unsafe context
{
    System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<int> M() // an iterator
    {
        yield return 1;
        local();
        void local()
        {
            int* p = null; // allowed in C# 12; error in C# 13
        }
    }
}

You can work around the break simply by adding the unsafe modifier to the local function.

Collection expression breaking changes with overload resolution in C# 13 and newer

Introduced in Visual Studio 2022 Version 17.12 and newer when using C# 13+

There are a few changes in collection expression binding in C# 13. Most of these are turning ambiguities into successful compilations, but a couple are breaking changes that either result in a new compilation error, or are a behavior breaking change. They are detailed below.

Empty collection expressions no longer use whether an API is a span to tiebreak on overloads

When an empty collection expression is provided to an overloaded method, and there isn't a clear element type, we no longer use whether an API takes a ReadOnlySpan<T> or a Span<T> to decide whether to prefer that API. For example:

class C
{
    static void M(ReadOnlySpan<int> ros) {}
    static void M(Span<object> s) {}

    static void Main()
    {
        M([]); // C.M(ReadOnlySpan<int>) in C# 12, error in C# 13.
    }
}

Exact element type is preferred over all else

In C# 13, we prefer an exact element type match, looking at conversions from expressions. This can result in a behavior change when involving constants:

class C
{
    static void M1(ReadOnlySpan<byte> ros) {}
    static void M1(Span<int> s) {}

    static void M2(ReadOnlySpan<string> ros) {}
    static void M2(Span<CustomInterpolatedStringHandler> ros) {}

    static void Main()
    {
        M1([1]); // C.M(ReadOnlySpan<byte>) in C# 12, C.M(Span<int>) in C# 13

        M2([$"{1}"]); // C.M(ReadOnlySpan<string>) in C# 12, C.M(Span<CustomInterpolatedStringHandler>) in C# 13
    }
}

Declaration of indexers in absence of proper declaration of DefaultMemberAttribute is no longer allowed.

Introduced in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.13

public interface I1
{
    public I1 this[I1 args] { get; } // error CS0656: Missing compiler required member 'System.Reflection.DefaultMemberAttribute..ctor'
}

Default and params parameters are considered in method group natural type

Introduced in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.13

Previously the compiler unexpectedly inferred different delegate type depending on the order of candidates in source when default parameter values or params arrays were used. Now an ambiguity error is emitted.

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var x1 = new Program().Test1; // previously Action<long[]> - now error
        var x2 = new Program().Test2; // previously anonymous void delegate(params long[]) - now error

        x1();
        x2();
    }
}

static class E
{
    static public void Test1(this Program p, long[] a) => Console.Write(a.Length);
    static public void Test1(this object p, params long[] a) => Console.Write(a.Length);

    static public void Test2(this object p, params long[] a) => Console.Write(a.Length);
    static public void Test2(this Program p, long[] a) => Console.Write(a.Length);
}

Also in LangVersion=12 or lower, params modifier must match across all methods to infer a unique delegate signature. Note that this does not affect LangVersion=13 and later because of a different delegate inference algorithm.

var d = new C().M; // previously inferred Action<int[]> - now error CS8917: the delegate type could not be inferred

static class E
{
    public static void M(this C c, params int[] x) { }
}

class C
{
    public void M(int[] x) { }
}

A workaround is to use explicit delegate types instead of relying on var inference in those cases.

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