Chapter 3. Creating Types in C#

In this chapter, we will delve into types and type members.

Classes

A class is the most common kind of reference type. The simplest possible class declaration is as follows:

class YourClassName
{
}

A more complex class optionally has the following:

Preceding the keyword class

Attributes and class modifiers. The non-nested class modifiers are public, internal, abstract, sealed, static, unsafe, and partial

Following YourClassName

Generic type parameters, a base class, and interfaces

Within the braces

Class members (these are methods, properties, indexers, events, fields, constructors, overloaded operators, nested types, and a finalizer)

This chapter covers all of these constructs except attributes, operator functions, and the unsafe keyword, which are covered in Chapter 4. The following sections enumerate each of the class members.

Fields

A field is a variable that is a member of a class or struct. For example:

class Octopus
{
  string name;
  public int Age = 10;
}

Fields allow the following modifiers:

Static modifier

static

Access modifiers

public internal private protected

Inheritance modifier

new

Unsafe code modifier

unsafe

Read-only modifier

readonly

Threading modifier

volatile

The readonly modifier

The readonly modifier prevents a field from being modified after construction. A read-only field can be assigned only in its declaration or within the enclosing type’s constructor.

Field initialization

Field initialization is optional. An uninitialized field has a default value (0, ...

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