We know that C# data types are divided into two types, value type and reference type
How does this square with the ability to call methods on an int, which is a value on the stack?
The way C# achieves this is through a bit of magic called boxing. Boxing and its counterpart unboxing, allow us to convert value types to reference types and then back to value types.
Boxing is the term used to describe the transformation of a value type to a reference type. Basically, the run-time creates a temporary reference-type box for the object on the heap.
This conversion can occur implicitly, but we can also perform it manually:
int x = 20;
object obj = x;
Unboxing is the term used to describe the reverse process, where the value of a previously boxed value type is cast back to a value type. We use the term cast here, as this has to be done explicitly. The syntax is similar to explicit type conversions
int x = 100;
object obj = x; // Box the int
int y = (int)obj; // Unbox it back into an int
We can only unbox a variable that has previously been boxed (Implicitly or explicitly).
Warning. When unboxing, we have to be careful that the receiving value variable has enough room to store all the bytes in the value being unboxed. C#’s ints, for example, are only 32 bits long, so unboxing a long value (64 bits) into an int as shown below will result in an InvalidCastException:
long x = 333333423000;
object p = (object)x;
int y = (int)p;
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Having 13+ years of experience in Microsoft Technologies (C#, ASP.Net, MVC and SQL Server). Worked with Metaoption LLC, for more than 9 years and still with the same company. Always ready to learn new technologies and tricks.
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