Beginners question

[lfc77]

I'm pretty new to C# and I would like to know, what is the difference between (string)variable and Convert.ToString(variable)? Is it that unless 'checked is used in the first case then no error will be thrown?

 

[seanbo]

convert.tostring(variable) parses as a string, (string)variable just casts. most objects and primitives won't cast. casting is gerally just for converting number formats ( (int)myDouble ), or pointing out an object that is higher level than perhaps a return value suggests ( (Panel)myForm ).

 

[chiph]

I'm of the opinion that casting should only be used sparingly - like when you need to coerce an object into another type that is in it's inheritance tree. Like casting a Form object into a Control object (which is OK, because Form inherits from Control).

Other uses would be to truncate a numeric conversion (double to an int, like seanbo showed), but even then I would lean towards using the appropriate Convert method.

Chip H.


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