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Object-oriented Programming in C#
Reference types, Value types, and Patterns
Boxing and Unboxing

Boxing is a bridge from value types to reference types.

The use of boxing facilitates compatibility between value types and reference types

Boxing involves a wrapping of a value in an object of the class Object

Unboxing involves an unwrapping of a value from an object

  • Boxing

    • Done as an implicit type conversion

    • Involves allocation of a new object on the heap and copying of the value into that object

  • Unboxing

    • Done explicitly via a type cast

    • Involves extraction of the value of a box

/user/normark/oop-csharp-1/sources/c-sharp/boxing/boxing.csA program that illustrates boxing and unboxing.


/user/normark/oop-csharp-1/sources/c-sharp/boxing/outputOutput of the boxing and unboxing program.