How to find all subclasses of a given class | Tips, Tricks and Code Snippets

The following function will return a list of all subclasses inherited from a given class. Please note, that it works only within a single assembly, same as which holds the given superclass.

Function FindSubClasses(Of TBaseType)() As IEnumerable(Of Type)
    Dim baseType = GetType(TBaseType)
    Dim assembly = baseType.Assembly
 
    Return From t In assembly.GetTypes()
        Where t.IsSubclassOf(baseType)
        Select t
End Function

Function FindSubClasses(Of TBaseType)() As IEnumerable(Of Type)
    Dim baseType = GetType(TBaseType)
    Dim assembly = baseType.Assembly

    Return From t In assembly.GetTypes()
        Where t.IsSubclassOf(baseType)
        Select t
End Function

Next function will return all classes implementing a given interface:

Function FindClassesImplementedInterface(Of TInterface)() As IEnumerable(Of Type)
    Dim baseInterface = GetType(TInterface)
    Dim assembly = baseInterface.Assembly
 
    Return From t In assembly.GetTypes()
        Where t.IsAssignableFrom(baseInterface)
        Select t
End Function

Function FindClassesImplementedInterface(Of TInterface)() As IEnumerable(Of Type)
    Dim baseInterface = GetType(TInterface)
    Dim assembly = baseInterface.Assembly

    Return From t In assembly.GetTypes()
        Where t.IsAssignableFrom(baseInterface)
        Select t
End Function

Happy coding!

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