referencing VisualBasic methods - vb.net

Question

In VB, I want to assign a (shared) method to a variable
And I'm asking if there is some namespace operator like :: in C++ and Java
Class C
Public Shared Function m(a as Integer) as Integer
Return a * 2
End Function
End Class
Public Sub Main()
Dim localM As Func(Of Integer, Integer) = C.m
Console.WriteLine(localM(5))
End Sub
I know I could use function(a) C.m(a)
but that is not pretty
and I don't want to create a new function every time
and is also sensitive to argument changes
as for why would I do that
I'm actually passing it to function as an argument
(someFunction(3, C::m))

Answer 1

You can do this:
Sub Main()
Dim localM As Func(Of Integer, Integer) = AddressOf C.m
Console.writeline(localM(5))
End Sub
You can see it work here:
https://dotnetfiddle.net/Uxl0Y7
I didn't change anything in the sample class, except to complete the function so it returns a value (required for the function to compile) and to fix your lousy capitalization.
I'm actually passing it to function as an argument
In that case:
Sub Main()
Dim localM As Func(Of Integer, Integer) = AddressOf C.m
Foo(localM)
' Or
Foo(AddressOf C.m)
End Sub
Sub Foo(theMethod As Func(Of Integer, Integer))
Console.WriteLine(theMethod(5))
End Sub
In either case, the trick is to do two things:
Define either an Action (for a Sub) or Func (for a Function) that matches the signature of the target method. In this case, it's Func(Of Integer, Integer). Any method up to 8 arguments can be mapped this way, but you do have to know the signature in advance.
Use AddressOf to capture the reference to the method.

Answer 2

Is this what you are looking for?
Class C
Public Shared Add1 As Func(Of Integer, Integer) = Function(value As Integer)
Return value + 1
End Function
End Class
to use
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Dim foo As Integer = C.Add1(3)
Debug.WriteLine(foo)
End Sub
edit
Class C
Public Shared Add1 As Func(Of Integer, Integer) = Function(value As Integer)
Return value + 1
End Function
Public Shared DebugStr As Action(Of String, String) = Sub(first As String, second As String)
Debug.WriteLine("One-{0} Two-{1}",
first, second)
End Sub
End Class
Private Sub Button1_Click(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
Dim foo As Integer = C.Add1(7)
Debug.WriteLine(foo)
C.DebugStr("Quick", "Fox")
End Sub