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Asked: 2026-05-13T05:56:35+00:00

By default structs in C# are implemented with [StructLayout( LayoutKind.Sequential )] for reasons basically

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By default structs in C# are implemented with [StructLayout( LayoutKind.Sequential )] for reasons basically stating that these type of objects are commonly used for COM Interop and their fields must stay in the order they were defined. Classes have LayoutKind.Auto defined.

My question is should I explicitly state my structs as [StructLayout( LayoutKind.Auto )] and would this give me any benefits over the default? I mean that if structs are initialized on stack, will it make any difference – i.e. the GC doesn’t have to move them around? Also will it help when structs are initialized on the heap – i.e. are part of some class?

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  1. Editorial Team

    The only possible benefit I can think of is your struct taking up less memory. But if you have such a large struct in the first place you should probably refactor it into a class.

    A potential problem is it you want to Marshall your struct into a byte[] using Marshal.PtrToStructure, how can you guarantee the order of the bytes will be as you expect?

    Doing this just seems like you’re introducing more possible problems than those you’re solving… That being said if the order of the fields in never important to you, then do it, but bear in mind that the next person who comes alone might not be expecting it.

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