Type System in .NET

CTS (Common Type System)

CTS follows a set of structured rules according to which a data type should be declared and used in the program code. It is used to describe all the data types that are going to be used in the application.

We can create our own classes and functions by following the rules in the CTS. It helps in calling the data type declared in one programming language by other programming languages.

Difference between value type and reference type

  • A Value Type holds the actual data directly within the memory location and a reference type contains a pointer which consists of the address of another memory location that holds the actual data.
  • Value type stores its contents on the stack memory and reference type stores its contents on the heap memory.
  • Assigning a value type variable to another variable will copy the value directly and assigning a reference variable to another doesn’t copy the value, instead, it creates a second copy of the reference.
  • Predefined data types, structures, enums are examples of value types. Classes, Objects, Arrays, Indexers, Interfaces, etc are examples of reference types.

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