.NET Compilation Bug?

Question

I am coding a library for my own personal use, so I can create other projects faster and more conveniently. Most of the library is written in VB.NET (a simplified version of C#), but since VB.NET includes no capability for unsafe coding, I have written a small portion in C# to handle tasks requiring pointers. Why I mention the VB.NET library will become apparent later in this question.

One of the static classes in my accompanying C# library is a relatively simple function for converting between unmanaged structures. It is as follows:

public static unsafe class SurroundingClass
{
    public static T1 ValueToValueBitwise<T0, T1>(T0 Value)
        where T0 : unmanaged
        where T1 : unmanaged
    {
        if (sizeof(T0) != sizeof(T1)) throw new ArgumentException();
        return *(T1*)&Value;
    }
}

I apologize if my style of coding is unconventional; I am self-taught.

The function generates no compiler errors in C#, and works magnificently when used by other C# functions. However, events do not progress as smoothly when I reference the function from a VB.NET project. Here is an example of a call to my function in VB.NET:

Dim myInt As Integer = ValueToValueBitwise(Of Single, Integer)(13.5!)

When I attempt to compile this function with the VB.NET compiler, it fails, providing the rather uninformative excuse "'' is an unsupported type." Usually, when I get this sort of "'' is invalid" error, it is because I have not specified a name or type parameter to a declaration or type argument, respectively. However, this is obviously not the case, as the equivalent function call works flawlessly in C#. When you hover over a function name with your cursor, Visual Studio gives you a popup with the syntax for calling the function. Interestingly, when I hover over the function name with my cursor, it pops up with the following: Visual Studio Popup

At the present time, my best speculation is that VB.NET has no equivalent to C#'s "unmanaged" keyword, and as a result, the VB.NET compiler dies a miserable death. I am looking for either a patch, a workaround, or some other solution. I am using Visual Studio 2022 version 17.6.3, with the .NET framework in both projects set at version 4.8. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Answer 1

As user dbc explained, VB.NET has no support for unmanaged types. As a result, the types did not qualify, because they were required to inherit from a type that didn't exist in VB.NET. This caused the compiler to throw an error when it attempted compilation.

Thank you for your help!