Why does my program work if my Main method in C# is private?

Question

By default the type modifier for every member in a class is a private, even the Main() function type modifier is private. How does the CLR call the main method which is not visible to the outside world?

Answer 1

The CLR does not care about the accessibility of main . "Visible to the outside world" only applies to the code , not the runtime .

Answer 2

Thats not true.

It has to be public. For eg public static void Main() .

EDIT: Here is what I found & learned today, on why Main need not be public . http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/csharpgeneral/thread/9184c55b-4629-4fbf-ad77-2e96eadc4d62/

Answer 3

Try using ildasm on your code and lookout for the main method

.method private hidebysig static void  Main(string[] args) cil managed
{
  .entrypoint // this is something the CLR is interested in

Answer 4

You're right,

it's marked as an entrypoint. Check this question: Why is Main method private?