Immutable object pattern in C# - what do you think?

For info, the second approach is called "popsicle immutability".

Eric Lippert has a series of blog entries on immutability starting here. I'm still getting to grips with the CTP (C# 4.0), but it looks interesting what optional / named parameters (to the .ctor) might do here (when mapped to readonly fields)... [update: I've blogged on this here]

For info, I probably wouldn't make those methods virtual - we probably don't want subclasses being able to make it non-freezable. If you want them to be able to add extra code, I'd suggest something like:

[public|protected] void Freeze()
{
    if(!frozen)
    {
        frozen = true;
        OnFrozen();
    }
}
protected virtual void OnFrozen() {} // subclass can add code here.

Also - AOP (such as PostSharp) might be a viable option for adding all those ThrowIfFrozen() checks.

(apologies if I have changed terminology / method names - SO doesn't keep the original post visible when composing replies)

Another option would be to create some kind of Builder class.

For an example, in Java (and C# and many other languages) String is immutable. If you want to do multiple operations to create a String you use a StringBuilder. This is mutable, and then once you're done you have it return to you the final String object. From then on it's immutable.

You could do something similar for your other classes. You have your immutable Element, and then an ElementBuilder. All the builder would do is store the options you set, then when you finalize it it constructs and returns the immutable Element.

It's a little more code, but I think it's cleaner than having setters on a class that's supposed to be immutable.

After my initial discomfort about the fact that I had to create a new System.Drawing.Point on each modification, I've wholly embraced the concept some years ago. In fact, I now create every field as readonly by default and only change it to be mutable if there's a compelling reason – which there is surprisingly rarely.

I don't care very much about cross-threading issues, though (I rarely use code where this is relevant). I just find it much, much better because of the semantic expressiveness. Immutability is the very epitome of an interface which is hard to use incorrectly.