I prefer higher order functional programming, TryGetValue looks ugly to me, I'd rather do... dictionary.WithValue(aKey, value => DoStuffWith(value)); The

I prefer higher order functional programming, TryGetValue looks ugly to me, I'd rather do... dictionary.WithValue(aKey, value => DoStuffWith(value)); The dictionary knows whether it has a value or not, I shouldn't be making decisions with if's about a dictionaries data when I can just hand some code to the dictionary and let it do the right thing. Your other example. if (TryThing(out res)) { // Do stuff, use res } I'd rather a simple extension to Object enabling this on any value including null... TryThing().IfPresent(thing => thing.DoStuff()); I'm an old Smalltalk'er, we're accustomed to building such control structures into the class library rather than trying to use an if statement for everything. Once you have a clean syntax for lambdas you have the ability to create a better experience than constantly writing procedural code using the common if/while/for/foreach constructs. In Smalltalk we'd do something like... dictionary at: aKey ifPresent: [:value | value doStuff ] That's much better than asking if the key exists with an if, or accessing the dic at a key and doing a null check with an if statement on the value.