C#

string siteCode = "U+1F914";
int i = Convert.ToInt32(siteCode.Replace("U+", "0x"), 16);

<pre lang="c#">txtresults.Text = txttext.Text.Replace("U+", "0x").ToLower();</pre>

Failwyn wrote:

Ultimately, I don't want there to be anything different between the classes other than the ability to use a simplified signature.

MyClass<Guid> a = new MyClass<Guid>();
MyClass<Guid, Guid, Guid, Guid> b = a; // Works
MyClass<Guid> c = b; // Won't compile - needs an explicit cast

MyClass<Guid, Guid, Guid, Guid> a = new MyClass<Guid, Guid, Guid, Guid>();
MyClass<Guid> b = (MyClass<Guid>)a; // Compiles, but fails at runtime
MyClass<Guid> c = a as MyClass<Guid>; // Compiles and runs, but result is null

using MyClassGuid = MyClass<Guid, Guid, Guid, Guid>;
...
MyClassGuid a = new MyClassGuid();

public static class MyClass
{
    public static MyClass<T1, T2, T3, T4> Create<T1, T2, T3, T4>(T1 value1, T2 value2, T3 value3, T4 value4)
    {
        return new MyClass<T1, T2, T3, T4>(value1, value2, value3, value4);
    }
    
    public static MyClass<T1, T1, T1, T1> Create<T1>(T1 value)
    {
        return new MyClass<T1, T1, T1, T1>(value, value, value, value);
    }
}
...
MyClass<Guid, Guid, Guid, Guid> a = MyClass.Create(Guid.New());
MyClass<string, int, decimal, DateTime> b = MyClass.Create("Hello", 42, 123.45M, DateTime.Today);

using System;

public class Program
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        Console.WriteLine(MyClass.Create(Guid.NewGuid()).GetType());
        Console.WriteLine(MyClass.Create("Hello", 42, 123.45M, DateTime.Today).GetType());
    }
}

public class MyClass<T1, T2, T3, T4> 
{
    public MyClass(T1 value1, T2 value2, T3 value3, T4 value4) { }
}

public static class MyClass
{
    public static MyClass<T1, T2, T3, T4> Create<T1, T2, T3, T4>(T1 value1, T2 value2, T3 value3, T4 value4)
    {
        return new MyClass<T1, T2, T3, T4>(value1, value2, value3, value4);
    }
    
    public static MyClass<T1, T1, T1, T1> Create<T1>(T1 value)
    {
        return new MyClass<T1, T1, T1, T1>(value, value, value, value);
    }
}

MyClass`4[System.Guid,System.Guid,System.Guid,System.Guid]
MyClass`4[System.String,System.Int32,System.Decimal,System.DateTime]

public class MyClass<T1, T2, T3, T4>
{
    public MyClass(T1 value1, T2 value2, T3 value3, T4 value4) { }
}

Quote:

imho, all of these implementations are hacks, and writing straightforward individual methods for each group of Types is better practice.

To me the attempt here to make these generic methods more "generalized" just leads to semantic confusion. It's not that much work to write a bunch of specific methods that can provide strict control over parameter validation, and can be unit tested efficiently.