What are the characteristics of a struct in C#?
Characteristics of struct in C# include:
- Value type: struct is a type of value that is stored on the stack instead of the heap. Compared to reference types, it has faster storage and access speeds, but its size is fixed.
- No support for inheritance: Unlike classes, structs do not support inheritance. Structs are simple data structures that encapsulate a set of related variables and cannot contain methods or properties.
- Default constructor: a struct can have a constructor, but it does not support a parameterless default constructor. Initial values must be explicitly provided for all member variables.
- Value copy: When assigning one struct to another struct, a value copy is made, meaning that each member variable is copied instead of sharing the same reference.
- You can use the default comparison operators: C# provides default comparison operators for structs (such as ==, !=, <, >), which can be used for comparison.
- Structs can implement interfaces in order to support polymorphism. However, since structs cannot inherit, interfaces are their only means of implementation.
- Suitable for small data structures: Because struct is a value type with a fixed size, it is suitable for storing small data structures such as coordinates and colors. For large and complex data structures, it is recommended to use class.