Sign Up to our social questions and Answers Engine to ask questions, answer people’s questions, and connect with other people.
Login to our social questions & Answers Engine to ask questions answer people’s questions & connect with other people.
Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.
Please briefly explain why you feel this question should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this user should be reported.
In .NET, if I define a constant (say a private constant in a class), will referencing that constant cause the value to be repeated in memory wherever it is referenced, or does .NET just use a pointer to where the constant is stored, the same as using any normal variable?
It is incorporated in the IL (i.e. “repeated”). The alternative is to use the readonly keyword.
Do note that this is what makes a public const very dangerous. A bug fix release may alter the value but any other assemblies that use the const still use the old value. Only ever declare constants internal or private. Use readonly for public declarations. Unless it is a “manifest constant” that requires a change in the fabric of the universe. Like Math.Pi