C# Predefined Primitive Data Types

By Stephen Bucaro

Programs often work with data. This data must be stored in the computer's memory chips or on some non-volatile storage media, such as a hard disk. A data type defines how much storage a piece of data will take up, the configuration of that storage, and the meaning of the data. For example a text character will take up 16 bits of storage that are code for an ASCII or Unicode character. A floating-point number will take up 32 bits of storage, and will have two parts, the "mantissa," and the "exponent".

Predefined or primitive data types are those defined by the language. These primitive data types can be used as building blocks for user-defined data types. In addition, primitive data types may be arranged in a row to form a string data type, or rows and/or columns to form an array data type.

Integer Data Types

Floating-Point Data Types

Floating point numbers have two parts, the "mantissa," which holds the significant digits, and the "exponent", which indicates the location of the decimal point. Floating point notation is usually used to define very large numbers. The "precision" of a floating point number is indicated by the mantissa.

Decimal Data Type

The decimal data type is a 128-bit data type. Compared to floating-point types, the decimal type has a greater precision (but a smaller range), which makes it suitable for financial and monetary calculations.

Shown below is C#exmple code that declares a variable a of type int and then assigns it a value of 5.

using System;

namespace HelloWorld
{
    class UseVariable 
    {
        static void Main() 
        {
            int a;
            a = 5;
            System.Console.WriteLine(a);

 	// wait until user presses Enter key
	Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}

If you want to compile and run this example, see Compile C# Without Visual Studio

RSS Feed

 Follow @Stephen Bucaro

 Active Server Pages
 Java
 MySQL
 Visual Basic Programming
 XML
 Microsoft TechNet Home