CHAPTER 1 THE PHILOSOPHY OF .NET
Note As described in Chapter 9, the C# language also supports the creation of generic types and generic
members.
Intrinsic CTS Data Types
The final aspect of the CTS to be aware of for the time being is that it establishes a well-defined set of
fundamental data types. Although a given language typically has a unique keyword used to declare a
fundamental data type, all .NET language keywords ultimately resolve to the same CTS type defined in
an assembly named mscorlib.dll. Consider Table 1-2, which documents how key CTS data types are
expressed in various .NET languages.
Table 1-2. The Intrinsic CTS Data Types
CTS Data Type
18
VB Keyword
C# Keyword
C++/CLI Keyword
System.Byte Byte
byte
unsigned char
System.SByte SByte
sbyte
signed char
System.Int
1 6 Short
short
short
System.Int32 Integer
int
int or long
System.Int64 Long
long
__int64
System.UInt
1 6 UShort
ushort
unsigned short
System.UInt32 UInteger
uint
unsigned int or unsigned long
System.UInt64 ULong
ulong
unsigned __int64
System.Single Single
float
float
System.Double Double
double
double
System.Object Object
object
object^
System.Char Char
char
wchar_t
System.String String
string
String^
System.Decimal Decimal
decimal
Decimal
System.Boolean Boolean
bool
bool