Discriminated Unions: Representation of Alternative Types in .NET
Representing values that may take on multiple distinct types or states is a common challenge in C#. Traditional approaches—like tuples, generics, or exceptions—often lead to clumsy and error-prone code. Discriminated unions address these issues by enabling clear, type-safe modeling of “one-of” alternatives. This article examines pitfalls of conventional patterns and introduces discriminated unions with the Thinktecture.Runtime.Extensions library, demonstrating how they enhance code safety, prevent invalid states, and improve maintainability—unlocking powerful domain modeling in .NET with minimal boilerplate.