Syntax for Initializing Array of Anonymous Objects

You can initialize an anonymous object like this:

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Dim cust = New With {.Name = "Hugo", .Age = 23}

And you can initialize a collection like this:

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Dim numbers = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
Dim names As New List(Of String) From {"Christa", "Brian", "Tim"}

But can you initialize an array of anonymous object with syntax support

You can do it like this, but custs will just be a plain object:

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You can do it like this, but each item in custs will just be a plain object:

How can I initialize a list/collection/array such that I can access the full power of the collection and also the properties of the anonymous object type inside

The problem was with the option for Inferred Typing turned off. This could be illustrated by a simpler example where initialing an object without declaring its type first resulted in a plain, boring object.

To resolve this, you can turn On Inferred Typing with the option statement:

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Option Infer On

Now our simple date example should work:

Finally, just make sure you compile the the code once because anonymous objects are actually implemented as hidden classes behind the scenes.