Question

In C#, I know that by default, any parameters passed into a function would be by copy, that’s, within the function, there is a local copy of the parameter. But, what about when an object is passed as parameter to another class?

Would a scenario like the following one be passed by reference or by value:

class MyClass {
   private Object localObj;

   public void SetObject(Object obj) {
      localObj = obj;
   }
}

void Main() {
   Object someTestObj = new Object();
   someTestObj.name = "My Name";
   MyClass cls = New MyClass();
   cls.SetObject(someTesetObj);
}

In this case, would the class variable localObj be having the same copy as the someTestObj created in the Main driver class? Or would the two variables be pointing to a different object instance?

Answer 1

Objects will be passed by reference irrespective of within methods of same class or another class. Here is a modified version of same sample code to help you understand. The value will be changed to ‘xyz.’

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    public class Employee
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
    }

    public class MyClass
    {
        public Employee EmpObj;

        public void SetObject(Employee obj)
        {
            EmpObj = obj;
        }
    }

    public class Program
    {
       static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Employee someTestObj = new Employee();
            someTestObj.Name = "ABC";

            MyClass cls = new MyClass();
            cls.SetObject(someTestObj);

            Console.WriteLine("Changing Emp Name To xyz");
            someTestObj.Name = "xyz";

            Console.WriteLine("Accessing Assigned Emp Name");
            Console.WriteLine(cls.EmpObj.Name); 

           Console.ReadLine();
       }       
    }
 }