With. How can you use the With statement? The With statement is available for use in VB.NET programs. We use this statement in a program.

Syntax and performance. We see if With has a performance advantage with a benchmark. We also analyze its syntax for clarity. Is it worth using?

Example. Let's begin with a simple program that uses the StringBuilder type, which provides fast appending of strings. You use the With statement on a variable name.

StringBuilder

Imports System.Text

Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        Dim builder As StringBuilder = New StringBuilder()
        With builder
            .Append("Dot")
            .Append("Net")
            .Remove(0, 1)
            Console.WriteLine(.Length)
            Console.WriteLine(.ToString())
        End With
    End Sub
End Module
5
otNet

Benchmark. I reviewed the Microsoft page on the VB.NET With statement. One interesting assertion is that the With statement can improve performance.

Benchmark

Imports System.Text

Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        Dim list As List(Of String) = New List(Of String)(5)

        Dim sw As Stopwatch = Stopwatch.StartNew
        For i As Integer = 0 To 10000000
            list.Clear()
            list.Add("a")
            list.Add("b")
            list.Add("c")
            list.Add("d")
            list.Add("e")
        Next
        sw.Stop()

        Dim sw2 As Stopwatch = Stopwatch.StartNew
        For i As Integer = 0 To 10000000
            With List
                .Clear()
                .Add("a")
                .Add("b")
                .Add("c")
                .Add("d")
                .Add("e")
            End With
        Next
        sw2.Stop()

        Console.WriteLine(sw.Elapsed.TotalMilliseconds)
        Console.WriteLine(sw2.Elapsed.TotalMilliseconds)
    End Sub
End Module
805.7033    (No With)
807.155     (With)

Summary. We looked at the With statement, which saves you the effort of retyping an instance expression for several statements. The With statement makes the program shorter or easier to read.