C# Data Types

A Data type is the type of data which the variable can store such as integer, float, double, character, etc. In C#, Data types are divided into three parts 1. Value data type 2. Pointer data type 3. Reference data type 1. Value data type: 1. Primitive data type: They are predefined types store values as Integer, Floating point, Boolean, Characters, etc. 2. User Defined Types: They are defined by user according to the need of the program and data management. Such as structure and enumerations. The size of the data type depends upon the architecture of the Operating System. Let’s see the size of the data types according to 32 bit Operating System .

Data Type Memory Size Range
short 2 byte -32,768 to 32,767
signed short 2 byte -32,768 to 32,767
unsigned short 2 byte 0 to 32,767
char 1 byte -128 to 127
signed char 1 byte -128 to 127
unsigned char 1 byte 0 to 127
int 2 byte -32,768 to 32,767
signed int 2 byte -32,768 to 32,767
unsigned int 2 byte 0 to 32,767
short int 2 byte -32,768 to 32,767
unsigned short int 2 byte -32,768 to 32,767
signed short int 2 byte 0 to 32,767
long int 4 byte
unsigned long int 4 byte
signed long int 4 byte
float 4 byte
double 8 byte

2. Reference Data Types: Reference data type contains the reference to the actual data such as object variable.
  1. Predefined Types: they are predefined types such as strings and objects.
  2. User defined Types: These are defined by User such as classes and interface.
3. Pointer Data Type: Pointer is a data type which is used to store the address or location of any variable. In 32 bit architecture, pointer is of 2 byte. In a 64 bit architecture, pointer is of 4 byte. eg. int *a; //pointer to a integer