Static Constructor and Performance

.Net Performance Tip - 1 There are 2 modes by which the CLR emits the JIT code while executing static type constructor 1) Precise mode 2) Before - field - Init Mode In Precise mode - the code will be Jitted just beofe the first initialization/access call to a static variable In Before - field - Init Mode - it will be Jitted during the first instance creation of the type Hence, Before field init mode is much more performant intent than the precise mode,as shown below

public class BeforInitMode
{
 static int i = 20;
}

In before init Mode - type constructor is jittted much before the static member variable initialization/access

public class PreciseMode
{
  static int i;
  static PreciseMode()
  {
   i = 20;
  }
}

In this mode - type constructor is jitted just beofre the first type variable initilization/access Ref: CLR via C# by Jeffrey I hope this helps!. Regards, -Vinayak