What are the characteristics of C# enum types?
The characteristics of C# enum types include:
- Constant values: each member of an enumeration type has a constant value that can be used to identify different states or options.
- Type safety: Enumerated types are strongly typed, only accepting values of enum members and not allowing the assignment of values of other types at will.
- The default base type for enums is integer (int), but you can specify other integer types such as byte, short, or long.
- Initial values can be specified: Enum members can have initial values specified, with the default incrementing starting from 0 if not specified.
- You can specify any value: the constant value of an enumeration member can be any integer value, not limited to the default incrementing sequence.
- Bitwise operations can be performed: the constant values of enum members can be subjected to bitwise operations, such as AND (&), OR (|), and others.
- Enumerables: Enumerated types can be iterated through using the foreach statement to traverse enum members.
- Comparable: Enum types can be compared using operations such as equal (==) and not equal (!=).
- Enums can be used for switch statements to easily handle different enum members.