TIL: C# Pattern Matching Goes Further Than I Thought

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I was refactoring a chain of if/else blocks that checked nested properties and ranges. The usual mess. Then I remembered C# pattern matching has gotten way better since I last looked.

Before:

if (order.Status == "active" && order.Total > 100 && order.Customer.Tier == "gold")
 discount = 0.15m;
else if (order.Status == "active" && order.Total > 50)
 discount = 0.05m;
else
 discount = 0m;

After:

var discount = order switch
{
 { Status: "active", Total: > 100, Customer.Tier: "gold" } => 0.15m,
 { Status: "active", Total: > 50 } => 0.05m,
 _ => 0m
};

Property patterns with relational operators (> 100) and nested access (Customer.Tier) — all in one expression. The compiler even warns you about missing cases. This should have been my default years ago.

Csharp on Dan's Blog

TIL: C# Pattern Matching Goes Further Than I Thought