28 Jan C# Type Casting

Type casting is to convert one type to another in C#. There are two types of casting in C#:

• Implicit Type Casting
• Explicit Type Casting

Implicit Type Casting

Implicit casting occurs automatically in C# and converts from smaller to larger types. Let us see an example wherein int is converted to double automatically:

using System;

namespace Demo {

   class Studyopedia {
   
      static void Main(string[] args) {
 
        int i = 20;
        
        /* This converts int to float i.e. implicit conversion,
        which is automatic */
        float f = i; 

        Console.WriteLine("Implicit Conversion...");
        Console.WriteLine("int = {0}",i);
        Console.WriteLine("int converted to float = {0}", i);
      }
   }
}

Output

Implicit Conversion...
int = 20
int converted to float = 20

Explicit Type Casting

The Explicit casting needs to be done manually in C# and converted from larger to smaller types. We use the cast operator for this. Let us first see the syntax for explicit type casting using the cast operator:

(type_name)value

Let us follow the above syntax and see an example wherein double is converted to int manually using the cast operator:

using System;

namespace Demo {

   class Studyopedia {
   
      static void Main(string[] args) {
 
        float f = 5.75F;
        int i;
        
        /* This cast float to int i.e. explicit conversion,
        which is manual */
        Console.WriteLine("Explicit Conversion...");
        
        i = (int)f;
        Console.WriteLine("float = {0}",f);
        Console.WriteLine("float converted to int = {0}", i);
      }
   }
}

Output

Explicit Conversion...
float = 5.75
float converted to int = 5

For this, some built-in methods are also provided by C#. The following are the methods:

• ToBoolean()
• ToByte()
• ToDateTime()
• ToDecimal()
• ToInt16()
• ToInt32()
• ToInt64()
• ToString()

Let us see them one by one with examples:

Convert.ToBoolean() Method in C#

To convert a specified type to Boolean type, use Convert.ToBoolean() method in C#. Let us see an example:

using System;

namespace Demo {

   class Studyopedia {
   
      static void Main(string[] args) {
 
        float f = 5.75F;
        bool b;
        
        /* This cast float to bool i.e. explicit conversion,
        which is manual */
        Console.WriteLine("Conversion to Boolean...");
        
        b = Convert.ToBoolean(f);
        Console.WriteLine("float = {0}",f);
        Console.WriteLine("float converted to bool = {0}", b);
      }
   }
}

Output

Conversion to Boolean...
float = 5.75
float converted to bool = True

Convert.ToByte() Method in C#

To convert a specified type to Byte type, use the Convert.ToByte() method in C#. Let us see an example:

using System;

namespace Demo {

   class Studyopedia {
   
      static void Main(string[] args) {
 
        float f = 25.75F;
        byte b;
        
        /* This cast float to byte i.e. explicit conversion,
        which is manual */
        Console.WriteLine("Conversion to Byte...");
        
        b = Convert.ToByte(f);
        Console.WriteLine("float = {0}",f);
        Console.WriteLine("float converted to byte = {0}", b);
      }
   }
}

Output

Conversion to Byte...
float = 25.75
float converted to byte = 26

Convert.ToDateTime() Method in C#

To convert a specified type to DateTime type, use the Convert.ToDateTime() method in C#. Let us see an example:

using System;

namespace Demo {

   class Studyopedia {
   
      static void Main(string[] args) {
 
        string dateStr = "01/07/2023";
        DateTime dt;
      
        /* This cast string to DateTime i.e. explicit conversion,
        which is manual */
        Console.WriteLine("Conversion to DateTime...");
        
        dt = Convert.ToDateTime(dateStr);
        Console.WriteLine("String = {0}",dateStr);
        Console.WriteLine("String converted to DateTime = {0}", dt);
      }
   }
}

Output

Conversion to DateTime...
String = 01/07/2023
String converted to DateTime = 1/7/2023 12:00:00 AM

Convert.ToDecimal() Method in C#

To convert a specified type to Decimal type, use the Convert.ToDecimal() method in C#. Let us see an example:

using System;

namespace Demo {

   class Studyopedia {
   
      static void Main(string[] args) {
 
        string str = "123.67";
        decimal d;
      
        /* This cast string to Decimal i.e. explicit conversion,
        which is manual */
        Console.WriteLine("Conversion to Decimal...");
        
        d = System.Convert.ToDecimal(str);
        Console.WriteLine("String = {0}",str);
        Console.WriteLine("String converted to Decimal = {0}", d);
      }
   }
}

Output

Conversion to Decimal...
String = 123.67
String converted to Decimal = 123.67

Convert.ToInt16() Method in C#

To convert a specified type to Int16 type, use the Convert.ToInt16() method in C#. Let us see an example:

using System;

namespace Demo {

   class Studyopedia {
   
      static void Main(string[] args) {
 
        double d = 1.428;
        short s;

      
        /* This cast double to Int16 i.e. short i.e. explicit conversion,
        which is manual */
        Console.WriteLine("Conversion to Int16...");
        
        s = System.Convert.ToInt16(d);
        Console.WriteLine("Double = {0}",d);
        Console.WriteLine("Double to int16 i.e. short = {0}", s);
      }
   }
}

Output

Conversion to Int16...
Double = 1.428
Double to int16 i.e. short = 1

Convert.ToInt32() Method in C#

To convert a specified type to Int32 type, use the Convert.ToInt32() method in C#. Let us see an example:

using System;

namespace Demo {

   class Studyopedia {
   
      static void Main(string[] args) {
 
        double d = 18.29;
        int i;

      
        /* This cast double to Int32 i.e. int i.e. explicit conversion,
        which is manual */
        Console.WriteLine("Conversion to Int32...");
        
        i = System.Convert.ToInt32(d);
        Console.WriteLine("Double = {0}",d);
        Console.WriteLine("Double to int32 i.e. int = {0}", i);
      }
   }
}

Output

Conversion to Int32...
Double = 18.29
Double to int32 i.e. int = 18

Convert.ToInt64() Method in C#

To convert a specified type to Int64 type, use the Convert.ToInt64() method in C#. Let us see an example:

using System;

namespace Demo {

   class Studyopedia {
   
      static void Main(string[] args) {
 
        double d = 1690235.252;
        long l;

      
        /* This cast double to Int64 i.e. long i.e. explicit conversion,
        which is manual */
        Console.WriteLine("Conversion to Int64...");
        
        l = System.Convert.ToInt64(d);
        Console.WriteLine("Double = {0}",d);
        Console.WriteLine("Double to int64 i.e. long = {0}", l);
      }
   }
}

Output

Conversion to Int64...
Double = 1690235.252
Double to int64 i.e. long = 1690235

Convert.ToString() Method in C#

To convert a specified type to string type, use the Convert.ToString() method in C#. Let us see an example:

using System;

namespace Demo {

   class Studyopedia {
   
      static void Main(string[] args) {
 
        bool b = true;
        string str;

      
        /* This cast bool to string i.e. explicit conversion,
        which is manual */
        Console.WriteLine("Conversion to String...");
        
        str = System.Convert.ToString(b);
        Console.WriteLine("Bool = {0}",b);
        Console.WriteLine("Bool to String = {0}", str);
      }
   }
}

Output

Conversion to String...
Bool = True
Bool to String = True