Why does the C# compiler think I'm trying to use the sbyte overload when using nullable longs?

Question

The following code

long? long1 = 1;
long? long2 = 2;
Math.Min(long1.Value, long2);

will result in the following error message on both arguments:

• "Argument 1: cannot convert from 'long' to 'sbyte'"
• "Argument 2: cannot convert from 'long?' to 'sbyte'"

I understand why this is an error, I know how to resolve the error.

My question is why is the compiler trying to choose the Math.Min(sbyte, sbyte) overload in this case (even when the first argument is not a nullable)?

Answer 1

It can't find the right overload, so it defaults to the first one in Math.cs, which happens to be public static sbyte Min(sbyte val1, sbyte val2)