.NET Choosing between Structures and Classes

Question

Duplicate: When should I use a structure instead of a class?

Just wondering if anyone can provide some advice or examples of when it is best to use a structure over a class in .NET or vice versa

I have done some background reading and understand the differences between two, ie structures are stored on the stack, classes on the heap ect. But havent been able to find some clear examples where one would provide a benefit over the other.

Many Thanks

Duplicate of: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/85553/ - that question contains some good answers. — Michael Stum, Mar 23 '09 at 00:07
Also http://stackoverflow.com/questions/521298/when-to-use-struct-in-c/521343 — Brian, Mar 23 '09 at 00:12
Apoligies for asking a duplicate question, did try a search but couldnt seem to find any thing, Sorry. Thanks to all for the pointers. — Sean Taylor, Mar 23 '09 at 00:27
@Sean: No worries; it can be hard to find questions related to very general keywords. Sometimes you'll have better luck using google: http://www.google.com/search?q=.net+struct+class+site:stackoverflow.com — Daniel LeCheminant, Mar 23 '09 at 00:31

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:09

To quote a good answer to the same question (When should I use a struct instead of a class?):

MSDN has the answer: Choosing Between Classes and Structures.

Basically, that page gives you a 4-item checklist and says to use a class unless your type meets all of the criteria.

Do not define a structure unless the type has all of the following characteristics:

It logically represents a single value, similar to primitive types (integer, double, and so on).

It has an instance size smaller than 16 bytes.

It is immutable.

It will not have to be boxed frequently.

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:16

1

Use a class unless you've got very specific reasons to use a struct. See Questions about Structs for some of the specific reasons.

Edit: One of the possible advantages to a struct over a class is that you can't ever have null instances. See Is there a way to require that an argument provided to a method is not null?

edited May 23 '17 at 12:16

Community

1
1

answered Mar 23 '09 at 00:05

Ðаn

10,934
11
59
95

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 23 '09 at 00:06

0

I prefer Classes.

Structure TestStruct
    Dim Name as String
End Structure

Dim x as TestStruct

If x Is Nothing Then 
'ALWAYS returns false. A class would return true. Nullability, baby.

answered Mar 23 '09 at 00:06

Josh Stodola

81,538
47
180
227

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 23 '09 at 00:18

0

I found this page for you. It explains where to use one or the other, the benefits and drawbacks of each one.

http://www.jaggersoft.com/pubs/StructsVsClasses.htm

Regards!!!

answered Mar 23 '09 at 00:18

MRFerocius

5,509
7
39
47

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 23 '09 at 00:19

Very basic guideline, and not even .NET specific:

Use CLASS for everything except when you need very small, very simple container. if you don't want properties nor functions, you should use a class.

a good example in my opinion for a struct is when you need to make an array of items, but the items is a "pair" of int and string. something basic like that

.NET Choosing between Structures and Classes

5 Answers5