C# Quick Question 1 resolution

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This was the question:

Can I make some C# that compiles and contains these two statements? What type are d and x?

d = null;
d += x;

I wrote the question as a result of my surprise that you could do this with delegate types. In other words, you could add things to a null delegate.

However, it turns out that it works with other things too, including strings. It seems that a += overload (which is how we get the behaviour that allows us to use += to append strings and add handlers to delegates) is also smart enough to make a new object if it turns out that the original is null. Which makes very good sense I suppose. 

Snowhome

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When we had our awful struggle to get to the airport a couple of weeks ago one of the things that sustained me was the knowledge that at least it wouldn't be this bad on the way back. 

Ha.

Turns out that Mother Nature (tm) had arranged another show of strength just as we got back into the country, with lots of thick snow and the prospect of blocked motorways. 

Fortunately, with jetlag you don't let such trifling things as icy roads worry you. All you want to do is sleep. So we got a train and a taxi back to our snowbound car, loaded it up and shot onto the M62 before fate noticed. And we got home just fine. 

We've had a lovely time away. All the better for not having to be at home. 

Seattle Museum of Pop Culture. And Microsoft Imagine Cup Alumni.

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It's hard to avoid the Seattle Museum of Pop Culture. For one thing the monorail actually drives through the middle of the building on the way to the Space Needle. For another it has the most amazing architecture. We've never got round to taking a proper look in the place. Until today.

To be honest I wasn't expecting that much, perhaps a few guitars in glass cases. But there was much more than that, including a really good Star Trek exhibition and stuff that kept us occupied for just about half of the day. They even had a David Bowie film where he actually mentioned Hull. 

This is a Star Trek console. Really. 

After our does of culture we headed back to Capitol Hill to meet up with a bunch of ex-Hull students who are now Microsoft folk. Quite a few of them got their big break as part of Imagine Cup teams. All doing very well, lots of great chat and lovely to see them all. They look so grown up. Probably because they are. And we got a bunch of recommendations for places to visit during our final days here. 

Seattle Space Needle. Again.

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Another day. More amazing weather. Apparently temperatures records are on the verge of being broken (They are back home in England too, but in an entirely less pleasant way). 

Anyhoo, whenever I'm in Seattle I go up the Space Needed. Always have. Always will. They're in the middle of a great big refurbishment exercise at the moment, replacing the sides of the viewing platform with enormous slabs of glass. This meant that we didn't get to walk all the way round the outside as we normally like to, but even so the view was rather nice, and you can actually see the mountain, which is nice. 

Heading for Capitol Hill

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Last night we went into the MVP party for a while. Great fun. They are usually very loud affairs, but not this time. They had loads of headphones that you could use to hear any one of a number of different disco soundtracks (including classical music). And you could even change the colour of the cool lights on their sides. Awesome. It's been a great summit. Lots of lovely technical content. Lots of chances to say what we thought of it, and a great place to catch up with folks. 

Today we're heading for an apartment in Capitol Hill, a rather nice part of Seattle for a few days.