Struct or Class

[Mantorok]

I've always followed a particular standard when considering structs, I
mainly use a struct when a class isn't necessary (ie no requirement for
multiple references).

What is the recommendation when considering structs? What matters and does
it "really" make a big difference?

Thanks
Kev

 

[Andy]

It makes a difference; as you probably know, you must fully initial a
struct by the time the constructor ends, so every field must have a
value. Also, I believe structs are allocated on the stack instead of
the heap. I think structs are 'faster' to use than a class, because
they are not as heavyweight as a class would be. All structs are
implicitly 'sealed' so you can't inherit from them.

Here's a good list: http://www.jaggersoft.com/pubs/StructsVsClasses.htm

 

[chanmm]

A bit more details here:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms173109(d=ide).aspx

chanmm

 

[james.curran]

A struct is a value type. Therefore, it should be used whenever the
object it represents acts like a value, that is, if two separate
objects with the value are the same as being the same object.

int a = 5;
int b = a;
a = 6;
// but b remains equal to 5;

Person d = new Person("John Smith");
Person e = d;
d.LastName = "Jones";

Now d = "John Jones". Now, in your case, should e = "John Jones"
(reference type, class), or "John Smith" (value type, struct) ?

 

[Bruce Wood]

James nailed it.

This topic comes up here once every few weeks. You can read lots of
back-and-forth about when to use struct. Just search the archives of
this group for "struct vs class" or something like that, and you'll
find lots of spirited discussion.

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

It makes a difference; as you probably know, you must fully initial a
struct by the time the constructor ends, so every field must have a
value. Also, I believe structs are allocated on the stack instead of
the heap.

That's an oversimplification which has caused confusion in the past.
See http://www.pobox.com/~skeet/csharp/memory.html

 

[Alvin Bruney [MVP]]

A struct is a simplified class...(waiting for the fire and brimstone :-(

--
________________________
Warm regards,
Alvin Bruney [MVP ASP.NET]

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The O.W.C. Black Book with .NET
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Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/blogs/alvin

 

[Bruce Wood]

A struct is a simplified class...(waiting for the fire and brimstone :-(

"Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!"