Difference between delegate and event

The following table lists the difference between the delegate and the event in C#.

Delegate	Event
A delegate is declared using the delegate keyword.	An event is declared using the event keyword.
Delegate is a function pointer. It holds the reference of one or more methods at runtime.	The event is a notification mechanism that depends on delegates
Delegate is independent and not dependent on events.	An event is dependent on a delegate and cannot be created without delegates. Event is a wrapper around delegate instance to prevent users of the delegate from resetting the delegate and its invocation list and only allows adding or removing targets from the invocation list.
Delegate includes Combine() and Remove() methods to add methods to the invocation list.	EventInfo class inspect events and to hook up event handlers that include methods AddEventHandler() and RemoveEventHandler() methods to add and remove methods to invocation list, respectively.
A delegate can be passed as a method parameter.	An event is raised but cannot be passed as a method parameter.
= operator is used to assigning a single method, and += operator is used to assign multiple methods to a delegate.	= operator cannot be used with events, and only += and -= operator can be used with an event that adds or remove event handler. These methods internally call AddEventHandler and RemoveEventHandler methods.

In a way, an event is a delegate only. The program code will work even if you remove the event keyword and only use a delegate. However, using the event keyword, we prevent subscribers to register with an event by using = operator and thereby removing all handlers.

Consider the following example.

Example: Event vs Delegate

public delegate void Notify();
public Notify MyDelegate;

MyDelegate = MyMethod;// valid
MyDelegate += MyMethod;// valid

public delegate void Notify();
public event Notify MyEvent;

MyEvent = MyEventHandler;// Error
MyEvent += MyEventHandler;// valid