Value Types : Type object pointer

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Hello Friends,

I have few doubts on value types

1)Value types dont have a type object pointer. But still we can call the get type method and it returns the correct type. How is that possible, because if the type object is not present, the type of the object cant be determined.

So according to my thinking, the value type should be boxed. Am i correct?

2)Why are value types implicitly sealed?

I will be obliged if helped.

Thanks and Regards,

Rahul

Posted 22-Jul-14 4:29am

Rahul VB

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johannesnestler 22-Jul-14 10:43am

I see it like this: since ValueType is derived from object there are no real "value types" in .NET - ValueType is just a class handled special by the Compiler to give it value type semantics - in real it is a "pointer".

OriginalGriff 22-Jul-14 11:10am

Not true - value types are primitives that are generally stack based rather than heap - in order to get a reference to a value type you have to box it as a reference type first.

johannesnestler 22-Jul-14 11:47am

agreed -I'm wrong. But anyway: by calling GetType implicit boxing happens, dosn't it?Therefore if you ask a value type for it's type the compiler does box it to make type Information available.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 22-Jul-14 12:33pm

Not only stack.
—SA

Rahul VB 23-Jul-14 2:25am

Good which means i am almost there

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OriginalGriff · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-22T05:08:00

This may help: Using struct and class - what's that all about?[^] - it may explain a bit more than you wanted, but it should cover what you want.

Why are structs / value types sealed? So you can't inherit from them! :laugh:
I know, I know, that sounds like a justification, not a reason - but it's the reason.
If you could inherit from a value type, you could expand it in the derived class (and in fact you are likely to or there would be little point in deriving from it) which would mean one of two things:
1) The system would have to convert the value type to a class so that overridden and new methods worked properly,
Or
2) The system would have to process the inheritance chain for all objects, not just reference types. This could slow execution considerably compared to the "simplified" model it can use at present.

And in addition, expanding a value type would imply that it would grow beyond 16 bytes - the recommended maximum for a struct for performance reasons.