Introduction

The intention of this blog is to share the uses of and differences between class and struct in C#.

Class:

A class is a reference type. A class describes all the attributes of objects, as well as the methods that implement the behavior of member objects. A Class keyword is used to declare a class. A class can access specifiers (public or internal, etc...), but class-default access to modifiers is internal. A Class creates an object then implements the members.

Examples:

  1. Class Sample
  2. {
  3. public int add(int x,int y)
  4. {
  5. return (x + y);
  6. }
  10. }
  11. class Test
  12. {
  13. public void Main(string[] args)
  14. {
  15. Sample obj = new Sample();
  16. obj.add(5, 10);
  17. }
  18. }

Struct:

A structure is a value data type and is particularly useful for small data values. A "Struct" keyword is used to declare the structure. Struct cannot have a permission default constructors or destructors. Structs can be instantiated directly without a new operator, and can implement different interfaces.

Examples:

  1. struct Sample
  2. {
  3. public int id;
  4. public string name;
  5. public string city;
  6. }
  7. class Test
  8. {
  9. static void Main(string[] args)
  10. {
  11. Sample obj;
  12. obj.id = 1;
  13. obj.name = "Magesh";
  14. obj.city = "Bangalore";
  15. Console.WriteLine("Id "+obj.id + "Name: " + obj.name + "City: " + obj.city);
  16. }
  17. }

Differences between class and struct:

Class

- A class is a reference type.
- A class is can create an object to use that class.
- Class reference types are allocated on heap memory
- A class can be abstract
- Contains permission default constructors or destructors
- Generally used for large programs
Struct
- A struct is a value data type.
- A struct can create an object, without new keywords.
- Struct value types are allocated on stack memory.
- A struct can’t be abstract
- Doesn't have permission default constructors or destructors.
- Generally used for small programs.

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