The ?? operator is called the null-coalescing operator and is used to define a default value for nullable value types or reference types. It returns the left-hand operand if the operand is not null; otherwise it returns the right operand.
class NullCoalesce
{
static int? GetNullableInt()
{
return null;
}
// y = x, unless x is null, in which case y = -1.
int y = x ?? -1;
// Assign i to return value of method, unless
// return value is null, in which case assign
// default value of int to i.
int i = GetNullableInt() ?? default(int);
string s = GetStringValue();
// ?? also works with reference types.
// Display contents of s, unless s is null,
// in which case display "Unspecified".
Console.WriteLine(s ?? "Unspecified");
}
}