Value Types

Data Structures and Algorithms with Object-Oriented Design Patterns in C#

Value Types

The C# value types are the simple types, the enumerated types, and structs. The simple types are bool, char, byte, sbyte, short, ushort, int, uint, long, ulong, float, double, and decimal. The C# language specification[22] defines the range of values for each simple type and the set of operations supported by each type. The enumerated types are declared using the C# enum construct. C# structs are declared using the struct construct.

Every variable of a value type is a distinct instance of that type. Thus, an assignment statement such as

y = x;

takes the value of the variable x and copies that value into the variable y. After the assignment, x and y remain distinct instances that happen to have equal values.

A comparison of the the form

if (x == y)
    { /* ... */ }

tests whether the values contained in the variables x and y are equal.