Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
Value Type
2.1.
Signed and Unsigned Integral Types:
2.2.
Floating Point Types:
2.3.
Decimal Types:
2.4.
Character Types:
2.5.
Boolean Types:
3.
Reference Types
3.1.
Object Type
3.2.
Dynamic Type
3.3.
String Type
4.
Pointer Type
5.
Frequently Asked Questions
5.1.
What distinguishes C# from C++?
5.2.
C++ versus C#, which is faster?
5.3.
What is the purpose of C#?
6.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024
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C# Data Types

Author Mayank Goyal
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Introduction

A valid C# variable's data type specifies the type of data it can carry. Because each type of data (such as integer, character, float, and so on) is predefined as part of the programming language, all constants and variables defined for a given program must be described using one of the data types.

C# data types are grouped into three groups.

  • Value types
  • Reference types
  • Pointer types

Value Type

Value type variables can be assigned a value. They are derived from the System class. ValueType. Data is directly contained in the value types. Int, char, and float are three examples of data types that hold numbers, alphabets, and floating-point numbers, respectively. The System allocates RAM to store the value when declaring an int type. The following are the many Value Data Types available in the C# programming language:

Signed and Unsigned Integral Types:

Eight integral types support signed and unsigned 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, and 64-bit numbers.

Floating Point Types:

The decimal point is included in two floating-point data formats.

Float is a 32-bit floating-point type with single precision. Precision is seven digits. Use the suffix for F to initialize a float variable. For example, float x = 3.5F; It is viewed as double if the suffix F or f is not used.

Double is a double-precision 64-bit floating-point type. It has a precision of 14 to 15 digits. Use the suffix d or D to initialize a double variable. However, suffixes are not required because floating data types are always of the double type.

Decimal Types:

The decimal data type is a 128-bit data type that can be used to do financial and monetary calculations. Precision is 28-29 digits. Use the suffix m or M to initialize a decimal variable. Decimal x = 300.5m; is an example. It is viewed as double if the suffix m or M is not used.

Character Types:

The character types represent a UTF-16 code unit or a 16-bit Unicode character.

Boolean Types:

Either true or false must be assigned to it. Values of type bool are not transformed to any other type, either implicitly or explicitly (through casts). The programmer, on the other hand, can easily write conversion code.

Reference Types

The reference types include a reference to the variables rather than the actual data stored in the variables. They refer to a memory location, in other words. The reference types can refer to a memory location by using several variables. If one of the variables modifies the data in the memory location, the other variable instantly updates its value. Object, dynamic, and string are examples of built-in reference types.

Object Type

In the C# Common Type System, the Object Type is the ultimate foundation class for all data types (CTS). The System is an alias for Objects—object type. Values of any other types, value types, reference types, predefined or user-defined types, can be assigned to object types. However, type conversion is required before allocating values. Boxing is converting a value type to an object type, and unboxing is the process of converting an object type to a value type.

Dynamic Type

The dynamic data type variable can hold any value. Run-time type verification is performed for certain types of variables. Dynamic types are identical to object types, except that type verification for object type variables occurs at compile-time, whereas it occurs at run time for dynamic type variables.

String Type

You can assign any string value to a variable using the String Type. The string type is just another name for System. Class for strings. It comes from the object type. String literals in two forms: quoted and @quoted, can be used to assign a value to a string type. Class, interface, and delegate are examples of user-defined reference types. These sorts will be discussed in a later chapter.

Pointer Type

The variable value's memory address will be stored in the Pointer Data Types.

We use the symbols ampersand (&) and asterisk (*) to access the pointer details.

(&) ampersand: It's called the Address Operator. It is used to determine a variable's address.

(*) asterisk: Indirection Operator is another name for it. It's used to find out what an address's value is.

The syntax for declaring a pointer type is −

type* identifier;

Also see, Ienumerable vs Iqueryable

Recommended Topic -  singleton design pattern in c#

Frequently Asked Questions

What distinguishes C# from C++?

C++ is an intermediate-level language that extends C with object-oriented capabilities, whereas C# is a high-level language. C++ compiles programs to Machine Codes, whereas C# compiles programs to CLR or Common Language Runtime.

C++ versus C#, which is faster?

C++ code is substantially faster than C# code, making it a superior choice for applications that require high speed. Your network analysis software, for example, may require C++ code, but performance is unlikely to be an issue for a conventional word processing application written in C#.

What is the purpose of C#?

What is the purpose of C#? C# may be used to construct various programs and applications, including mobile apps, desktop apps, cloud-based services, websites, enterprise software, and games, just like other general-purpose programming languages. There are numerous games.

Conclusion

Let us brief out the article.

Firstly, we saw what's C# and its different data types, digging deeper into each of them. Lastly, some of the key differences between C and C#, the use of C#, and many more. That's all from the article. I hope you all like it.

To study more about data types, refer to Abstract Data Types in C++.

I hope you all like this article. Want to learn more about Data Analysis? Here is an excellent course that can guide you in learning. You can also refer to our Machine Learning course.

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