Boxing and Unboxing in VB.NET
In this article I will explain you about Boxing and Unboxing in VB.NET.
Boxing and unboxing is an important concept in VB.NET's type system. With Boxing and Unboxing one can link between value-types and reference-types by allowing any value of a value-type to be converted to and from type object.
Boxing
- Boxing is a mechanism in which value type is converted into reference type.
- It is implicit conversion process in which object type (super type) is used.
- In this process type and value both are stored in object type
Unboxing
- Unboxing is a mechanism in which reference type is converted into value.
- It is explicit conversion process.
Program to show Boxing and Unboxing:
Module Module1
Sub Main()
Dim i As Integer = 10
Dim j As Integer
' boxing
Dim o As Object
o = i
'unboxing
j = CInt(o)
Console.WriteLine("value of o object : " & o)
Console.WriteLine("Value of j : " & j)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
End Module
Output of above program:
Conclusion:
Hope the article might have helped you in understanding Boxing and Unboxing.