1.6. C# type conversion

Type conversion is fundamentally type casting, or the conversion of data from one type to another. In C#, there are two forms of type casting:

Implicit type conversions-these conversions are the default conversions of C# in a secure manner and do not result in data loss. For example, convert from a small integer type to a large integer type, and from a derived class to a base class.
Explicit type conversions-explicit type conversions, conversion requires a cast operator, and a cast can result in data loss.

The following example shows an explicit type conversion:

1.6.1. Example #

namespace TypeConversionApplication
{
    class ExplicitConversion
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            double d = 5673.74;
            int i;
            // Cast double to int
            i = (int)d;
            Console.WriteLine(i);
            Console.ReadKey();

        }
    }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following results:

C# type conversion method #

C# provides the following built-in type conversion methods:

C# type conversion method #
Serial number	Method & description
1	ToBoolean converts the type to a Boolean if possible.
2	ToByte converts types to byte types.
3	ToChar converts the type to a single Unicode character type if possible.
4	ToDateTime converts types (integer or string types) to date-time structures.
5	ToDecimal converts floating-point or integer types to decimal types.
6	ToDouble converts types to double-precision floating-point types.
7	ToInt16 converts a type to a 16-bit integer type.
8	ToInt32 converts a type to a 32-bit integer type.
9	ToInt64 converts types to 64-bit integer types.
10	ToSbyte converts types to signed byte types.
11	ToSingle converts a type to a small floating point type.
12	ToString converts a type to a string type.
13	ToType converts the type to the specified type.
14	ToUInt16 converts a type to a 16-bit unsigned integer type.
15	ToUInt32 converts a type to a 32-bit unsigned integer type.
16	ToUInt64 converts a type to a 64-bit unsigned integer type.

The following example converts types of different values to string types:

Example #

namespace TypeConversionApplication
{
    class StringConversion
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            int i = 75;
            float f = 53.005f;
            double d = 2345.7652;
            bool b = true;
            Console.WriteLine(i.ToString());
            Console.WriteLine(f.ToString());
            Console.WriteLine(d.ToString());
            Console.WriteLine(b.ToString());
            Console.ReadKey();

        }
    }
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following results:

75
53.005
2345.7652
True