As part of the push to eliminate unnecessary duplication of type specification the default keyword used to initialize reference types to null, numeric types to 0 and booleans to false can now have the type omitted provided the compiler can definitively determine which type it must be.

Code

Now

static T LoadValues<T>(int index)
{
    if (index < 0) return default;
    // ...
}

Before

static T LoadValues<T>(int index)
{
    if (index < 0) return default(T);
    // ...
}

Notes

• Target-typed new ^{C# 9.0} brings the same type inference to new, creating an instance rather than a default value

More information

• Default literal expressions in C# 7.1 @ Gunnar Peipman