C# - Type Casting

The type casting is a method of converting the value of one data type to another data type. It is also known as type conversion. In C#, there are several kinds of conversions. However, in this tutorial we will focus only on two major types.

Implicit Type Casting
Explicit Type Casting

Implicit Type Casting

The implicit type casting happens automatically when converting a smaller data types to larger data types. The compiler implicitly typecast the smaller data types to the larger data types. No data will be lost in this process.

Example

The example below shows how the implicit type casting is done in C#.

using System;
 
class MyProgram {
  static void Main(string[] args) {   
    byte num_byte = 10;

    //implicit Casting
    short num_short = num_byte;
    int num_int = num_short;
    long num_long = num_int;
    float num_float = num_long;
    double num_double = num_float;

    //printing variables
    Console.WriteLine("num_byte = {0}", num_byte); 
    Console.WriteLine("num_short = {0}", num_short);
    Console.WriteLine("num_int = {0}", num_int);
    Console.WriteLine("num_long = {0}", num_long);
    Console.WriteLine("num_float = {0}", num_float); 
    Console.WriteLine("num_double = {0}", num_double); 
  }
}

The output of the above code will be:

num_byte = 10
num_short = 10
num_int = 10
num_long = 10
num_float = 10
num_double = 10

Explicit Type Casting

The explicit type casting does not happen automatically. It is performed manually by calling the compiler explicitly to typecast the larger data types into the smaller data types. There might be a data loss in this process.

Example

The example below shows how the perform explicit type casting by calling the compiler explicitly.

using System;
 
class MyProgram {
  static void Main(string[] args) {    
    double num_double = 10.5;

    //explicit Casting
    float num_float = (float) num_double;
    long num_long = (long) num_float;
    int num_int = (int) num_long;
    short num_short = (short) num_int;
    byte num_byte = (byte) num_short;

    //printing variables
    Console.WriteLine("num_double = {0}", num_double);
    Console.WriteLine("num_float = {0}", num_float); 
    Console.WriteLine("num_long = {0}", num_long);
    Console.WriteLine("num_int = {0}", num_int);  
    Console.WriteLine("num_short = {0}", num_short);
    Console.WriteLine("num_byte = {0}", num_byte);
  }
}

The output of the above code will be:

num_double = 10.5
num_float = 10.5
num_long = 10
num_int = 10
num_short = 10
num_byte = 10

Type Conversion methods

In C#, there are several built-in methods which can be used for type conversion. These methods are mentioned below:

Methods	Description
ToBoolean	Converts a type to a Boolean value, if possible.
ToByte	Converts a type to a byte type, if possible.
ToChar	Converts a type to a single Unicode character, if possible.
ToDateTime	Converts a type (integer or string) to a date-time value.
ToDecimal	Converts a floating point or integer type to a decimal number.
ToDouble	Converts a type to a double-precision floating-point number.
ToInt16	Converts a type to a 16-bit signed integer.
ToInt32	Converts a type to a 32-bit signed integer.
ToInt64	Converts a type to a 64-bit signed integer.
ToSbyte	Converts a type to a signed byte type, if possible.
ToSingle	Converts a type to a single-precision floating-point number.
ToString	Converts a type to a string.
ToType	Converts a type to a specified type.
ToUInt16	Converts a type to an unsigned 16-bit unsigned integer.
ToUInt32	Converts a type to an unsigned 32-bit unsigned integer.
ToUInt64	Converts a type to an unsigned 64-bit unsigned integer.

Example

The example below shows how the perform narrowing conversion by calling the compiler explicitly.

using System;
 
class MyProgram {
  static void Main(string[] args) {    
    bool x = true;
    float y = 50.55f;
    
    //using type conversion methods
    Console.WriteLine(x.ToString());
    Console.WriteLine(y.ToString());

    //another way of using methods
    Console.WriteLine();
    Console.WriteLine(Convert.ToString(x));
    Console.WriteLine(Convert.ToString(y));
  }
}

The output of the above code will be:

True
50.55

True
50.55