Casting objects to their given types

[Mutant_Fruit]

I have a problem where I need to compare two objects

The solution is simples!

object first = GetFirstObject ();
object second = GetSecondObject ();

if (first is IComparable)
    return ((IComparable) first).CompareTo (second) < 0;

If you know what type they are supposed to be you could also check for the generic IComparable<T> interface and potentially use that, but the non-generic one is probably your best bet.

If the objects don't support the IComparable interface the only way to use '>' or '<' to compare the items is to actually cast them in code to the correct type as follows:

object first = GetFirstObject ();
object second = GetSecondObject ();

if (first is MyClass && second is MyClass)
    return (MyClass)first < (MyClass) second;
else
    throw new Exception ("Cannot compare");