While it is good programming practice to maintain all source code for a type in a single file, sometimes a type becomes large enough that this is an impractical constraint. Furthermore, programmers often use source code generators (like the Windows Forms designer in Visual Studio) to produce the initial structure of an application, and then modify the resulting code. Unfortunately, when source code is emitted again sometime in the future, existing modifications are overwritten.

Partial types allow classes, structures, and interfaces to be broken into multiple pieces stored in different source files for easier development and maintenance. Additionally, partial types allow separation of machine-generated and user-written parts of types so that it is easier to augment code generated by a tool.

A new type modifier, Partial, is used when defining a type in multiple parts. The following is an example of a partial class that is implemented in two parts. The two parts may be in different source files, for example because the first part is generated by the Windows Forms designer and the second part is manually authored:

Partial Public Class Form1
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form
    <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerNonUserCode()> _
    Public Sub New()
        'This call is required by the Windows Form Designer.
    End Sub
    'Form overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
    <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerNonUserCode()> _
    Protected Overloads Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
        If disposing AndAlso components IsNot Nothing Then
        End If
    End Sub
    'Required by the Windows Form Designer
    Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer
    'It can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.  
    'Do not modify it using the code editor.
    <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()> _
    Private Sub InitializeComponent()
        components = New System.ComponentModel.Container()
        Me.Text = "Form1"
    End Sub
End Class
Public Class Form1
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
        ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        MsgBox("This is My Code!!")
    End Sub
End Class
When the two parts above are compiled together, the resulting code is the same as if the class had been written as a single unit.

All parts of a partial type must be compiled together such that the parts can be merged at compile-time. Partial types specifically do not allow already compiled types to be extended.