C# Data Types

In C# programming language, variables are simply categorized into these three types:

• reference types
• value types
• pointer types

Value Type Variables in C#

The value type variables in C#, can be assigned a value directly. They are simply derived from the class named System.ValueType. For examples, int, char, float. Here, the following table lists the value types in C# programming:

How to Get Exact Size of Type/Variable in C# ?

To get the exact size of type/variable in C# programming on the particular platform, use the sizeof() method. Here is an example, illustrates how to get the exact size of a type or a variable in C#:

/* C# Data Types - Example Program */
		
using System;
namespace GetSizeApplication
{
   class Sizeclass 
   {
      static void Main(string[] args)
      {
         Console.WriteLine("Size of int = {0}", sizeof(int));
         Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

When the above code is compile and executed, it would produce the following output:

Size of int = 4

Reference Type Variables in C#

The reference types in C#, don't contain any actual data stored in the variable, but they contain reference to the variables. In other word, you can say, they refer simply to a memory location. Here are the examples of built-in reference types in C#:

• object type
• string type
• dynamic

Object Type in C#

Object type in C#, is the ultimate base class for all the data types in C# Common Type System (in short CTS). The object types in C#, can be assigned values of any other types, reference types, value types, or user-defined types.

However, before assigning the values, it needs a type conversion. When a value type is converted to object type, it is known as boxing, and when an object type is converted to value type, then it is known as unboxing. Here is an example

object ob;
ob = 10;	// boxing

Dynamic Type in C#

You are free to store any type of value in dynamic data type variable in C# programming. Here, type checking for these types of variables simply takes place at the program run-time. Here is the general form to declare a dynamic type in C# programming:

dynamic variable_name = value;

Here is a code fragment, showing dynamic type declaration in C#

dynamic d = 10;

String Type in C#

The string type allows you to assign the string values to a variable. You can assigned the value for a string type using the string literals in these two forms:

• quoted
• @quoted

Here is an example

String strn = "Codes Cracker";

And a @quoted string literal looks like:

@"Codes Cracker";

Pointer Type Variables in C#

A pointer type variable store the memory address of another type. Here is the general form to declare pointer type in C#:

type *identifier;

Here is an example

char *cpt;
int *ipt;

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