Chapter 5. Understanding Reference Data Types

In Chapter 3, you learned about the different value data types that C# makes available for use in your programs. This chapter concentrates on the other major type of data in C#: reference data types. In this chapter, you will learn:

  • What a reference data type is

  • How reference data types differ from value data types

  • How the Bucket Analogy can be applied to reference data types

You will also learn about the following:

  • String variables

  • Verbatim string literals

  • DateTime variables

  • Constructor methods

  • Overloaded methods

  • Method signatures

In a very real sense, object-oriented programming owes much of its popularity to the power that reference data types bring to the programming table. Reference types are fundamental to object-oriented programming and you will use them a lot.

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