Is the $ Symbol Before a C# String a Verbatim String or String Interpolation?

Verbatim String or a New Feature? Unraveling the Mystery of $ Before a String

You stumbled upon a peculiar occurrence while using Visual Studio 2015 CTP. Instead of employing verbatim strings with @, you inadvertently typed $, yet the compiler responded without errors. This article aims to clarify the role of $ before strings in C#.

The $ character serves as a shortcut for String.Format, which plays a vital part in string interpolations, a novel feature introduced in C# 6. However, in your specific usage, it essentially becomes a placeholder, mirroring the functionality of string.Format().

The true power of $ unfolds when it facilitates string construction with references to other values. Consider a scenario where you have the following variables:

var anInt = 1;
var aBool = true;
var aString = "3";

In the past, you would have relied on String.Format() to assemble a formatted string:

var formated = string.Format("{0},{1},{2}", anInt, aBool, aString);

With string interpolation, this process becomes effortless:

var formated = $"{anInt},{aBool},{aString}";

Additionally, C# provides an alternative interpolation syntax using $@. This allows for seamless integration of verbatim string features and string interpolation without the need for escaping characters. For instance:

var someDir = "a";
Console.WriteLine($@"c:\{someDir}\b\c");

The output for this code will be:

c:\a\b\c

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