Enum to int best practice

Question

I can't select between two methods of converting. What is the best practice by converting from enum to int

1:

public static int EnumToInt(Enum enumValue)
{
    return Convert.ToInt32(enumValue);
}

2:

public static int EnumToInt(Enum enumValue)
{
    return (int)(ValueType)enumValue;
}

Answer 1

In addition to @dtb

You can specify the int (or flag) of your enum by supplying it after the equals sign.

enum MyEnum
{
    Foo = 0,
    Bar = 100,
    Baz = 9999
}

Cheers

Answer 2

If you have an enum such as

enum MyEnum
{
    Foo,
    Bar,
    Baz,
}

and a value of that enum such as

MyEnum value = MyEnum.Foo;

then the best way to convert the value to an int is

int result = (int)value;

Answer 3

I would throw a third alternative into the mix in the form of an extension method on Enum

public static int ToInt(this Enum e)
{
    return Convert.ToInt32(e);
}

enum SomeEnum
{
    Val1 = 1,
    Val2 = 2,
    Val3 = 3,
}

int intVal = SomeEnum.ToInt();