title: How to create an empty dictionary for optional argument in VB.NET
body: <p>Basically, I have a function that has an optional dictionary argument.  Since it's optional, it needs a default value, and I'd like to set it to an empty dictionary instead of Nothing.  How do I go about that?</p>
  
  <p>In Java, I would simply do this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Collections.&lt;K,V&gt;emptyMap()
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>How do I do the equivalent in VB.NET?</p>
  
  <p>(I'm using .NET 3.5).</p>