Type int? vs type int












29















I've this comparison which equals false as expected



bool eq = typeof(int?).Equals(typeof(int));


now I have this code



List<object> items = new List<object>() { (int?)123 };
int result = items.OfType<int>().FirstOrDefault();


but this returns 123 - anyway that value is of type int?



How can this be?










share|improve this question























  • int? boxed as int , and basically every Nullable type, Edit : Marc Gravell have the full answer

    – styx
    2 days ago













  • Related post about nullable type: stackoverflow.com/questions/4028830/…. This is called as "type lifting".

    – Tetsuya Yamamoto
    2 days ago











  • Before reading this topic I wouldn't even guess that even List<int?> already holds just int types. Proof

    – Sinatr
    2 days ago






  • 7





    @Sinatr no, that is incorrect; List<int?> holds int?. The important distinction in this example is the use of List<object>. What you're seeing in that "proof" is something very different; GetType() on any T? either returns the T, or throws a NRE. It never returns T? - better example: dotnetfiddle.net/3Gy3Fa - and as for why: because GetType() is non-virtual, it cannot be overridden, and thus calling GetType() is a boxing operation (even if used via "constrained call"). And when you box a T?, you either get a T as an object, or a null.

    – Marc Gravell
    2 days ago













  • @TetsuyaYamamoto That is not a relevant link. How is the boxing/unboxing behavior of Nullable<T> possible? is.

    – GSerg
    2 days ago
















29















I've this comparison which equals false as expected



bool eq = typeof(int?).Equals(typeof(int));


now I have this code



List<object> items = new List<object>() { (int?)123 };
int result = items.OfType<int>().FirstOrDefault();


but this returns 123 - anyway that value is of type int?



How can this be?










share|improve this question























  • int? boxed as int , and basically every Nullable type, Edit : Marc Gravell have the full answer

    – styx
    2 days ago













  • Related post about nullable type: stackoverflow.com/questions/4028830/…. This is called as "type lifting".

    – Tetsuya Yamamoto
    2 days ago











  • Before reading this topic I wouldn't even guess that even List<int?> already holds just int types. Proof

    – Sinatr
    2 days ago






  • 7





    @Sinatr no, that is incorrect; List<int?> holds int?. The important distinction in this example is the use of List<object>. What you're seeing in that "proof" is something very different; GetType() on any T? either returns the T, or throws a NRE. It never returns T? - better example: dotnetfiddle.net/3Gy3Fa - and as for why: because GetType() is non-virtual, it cannot be overridden, and thus calling GetType() is a boxing operation (even if used via "constrained call"). And when you box a T?, you either get a T as an object, or a null.

    – Marc Gravell
    2 days ago













  • @TetsuyaYamamoto That is not a relevant link. How is the boxing/unboxing behavior of Nullable<T> possible? is.

    – GSerg
    2 days ago














29












29








29


4






I've this comparison which equals false as expected



bool eq = typeof(int?).Equals(typeof(int));


now I have this code



List<object> items = new List<object>() { (int?)123 };
int result = items.OfType<int>().FirstOrDefault();


but this returns 123 - anyway that value is of type int?



How can this be?










share|improve this question














I've this comparison which equals false as expected



bool eq = typeof(int?).Equals(typeof(int));


now I have this code



List<object> items = new List<object>() { (int?)123 };
int result = items.OfType<int>().FirstOrDefault();


but this returns 123 - anyway that value is of type int?



How can this be?







c# casting






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 2 days ago









Dr. SnailDr. Snail

718728




718728













  • int? boxed as int , and basically every Nullable type, Edit : Marc Gravell have the full answer

    – styx
    2 days ago













  • Related post about nullable type: stackoverflow.com/questions/4028830/…. This is called as "type lifting".

    – Tetsuya Yamamoto
    2 days ago











  • Before reading this topic I wouldn't even guess that even List<int?> already holds just int types. Proof

    – Sinatr
    2 days ago






  • 7





    @Sinatr no, that is incorrect; List<int?> holds int?. The important distinction in this example is the use of List<object>. What you're seeing in that "proof" is something very different; GetType() on any T? either returns the T, or throws a NRE. It never returns T? - better example: dotnetfiddle.net/3Gy3Fa - and as for why: because GetType() is non-virtual, it cannot be overridden, and thus calling GetType() is a boxing operation (even if used via "constrained call"). And when you box a T?, you either get a T as an object, or a null.

    – Marc Gravell
    2 days ago













  • @TetsuyaYamamoto That is not a relevant link. How is the boxing/unboxing behavior of Nullable<T> possible? is.

    – GSerg
    2 days ago



















  • int? boxed as int , and basically every Nullable type, Edit : Marc Gravell have the full answer

    – styx
    2 days ago













  • Related post about nullable type: stackoverflow.com/questions/4028830/…. This is called as "type lifting".

    – Tetsuya Yamamoto
    2 days ago











  • Before reading this topic I wouldn't even guess that even List<int?> already holds just int types. Proof

    – Sinatr
    2 days ago






  • 7





    @Sinatr no, that is incorrect; List<int?> holds int?. The important distinction in this example is the use of List<object>. What you're seeing in that "proof" is something very different; GetType() on any T? either returns the T, or throws a NRE. It never returns T? - better example: dotnetfiddle.net/3Gy3Fa - and as for why: because GetType() is non-virtual, it cannot be overridden, and thus calling GetType() is a boxing operation (even if used via "constrained call"). And when you box a T?, you either get a T as an object, or a null.

    – Marc Gravell
    2 days ago













  • @TetsuyaYamamoto That is not a relevant link. How is the boxing/unboxing behavior of Nullable<T> possible? is.

    – GSerg
    2 days ago

















int? boxed as int , and basically every Nullable type, Edit : Marc Gravell have the full answer

– styx
2 days ago







int? boxed as int , and basically every Nullable type, Edit : Marc Gravell have the full answer

– styx
2 days ago















Related post about nullable type: stackoverflow.com/questions/4028830/…. This is called as "type lifting".

– Tetsuya Yamamoto
2 days ago





Related post about nullable type: stackoverflow.com/questions/4028830/…. This is called as "type lifting".

– Tetsuya Yamamoto
2 days ago













Before reading this topic I wouldn't even guess that even List<int?> already holds just int types. Proof

– Sinatr
2 days ago





Before reading this topic I wouldn't even guess that even List<int?> already holds just int types. Proof

– Sinatr
2 days ago




7




7





@Sinatr no, that is incorrect; List<int?> holds int?. The important distinction in this example is the use of List<object>. What you're seeing in that "proof" is something very different; GetType() on any T? either returns the T, or throws a NRE. It never returns T? - better example: dotnetfiddle.net/3Gy3Fa - and as for why: because GetType() is non-virtual, it cannot be overridden, and thus calling GetType() is a boxing operation (even if used via "constrained call"). And when you box a T?, you either get a T as an object, or a null.

– Marc Gravell
2 days ago







@Sinatr no, that is incorrect; List<int?> holds int?. The important distinction in this example is the use of List<object>. What you're seeing in that "proof" is something very different; GetType() on any T? either returns the T, or throws a NRE. It never returns T? - better example: dotnetfiddle.net/3Gy3Fa - and as for why: because GetType() is non-virtual, it cannot be overridden, and thus calling GetType() is a boxing operation (even if used via "constrained call"). And when you box a T?, you either get a T as an object, or a null.

– Marc Gravell
2 days ago















@TetsuyaYamamoto That is not a relevant link. How is the boxing/unboxing behavior of Nullable<T> possible? is.

– GSerg
2 days ago





@TetsuyaYamamoto That is not a relevant link. How is the boxing/unboxing behavior of Nullable<T> possible? is.

– GSerg
2 days ago












2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















42














Nullable types have special "boxing" rules; "boxing" is when a value-type is treated as object, as per your code. Unlike regular value-types, a nullable value-type is boxed either as null (regular null, no type), or as the non-nullable type (the T in T?). So: an int? is boxed as an int, not an int?. Then when you use OfType<int>() on it, you get all the values that are int, which is: the single value you passed in, since it is of type int.






share|improve this answer
























  • phew ok thank you for that explanaion. Is that C# basic knowledge?

    – Dr. Snail
    2 days ago






  • 12





    @Dr.Snail "basic" is relative / subjective, and I'd wager that a good percentage of developers never have a need to know that nuance; it is useful context if you're dealing with boxing, though... and technically it isn't really C# knowledge, but rather: .NET knowledge (it would apply to all languages)

    – Marc Gravell
    2 days ago








  • 4





    @Sinatr you can't - the list never contains int? - it only contains int because of the boxing rules on nullable types

    – Marc Gravell
    2 days ago








  • 1





    @KyleJohnson you added a nullable int to the list. Naively, if nullable ints and ints are different things, you'd expect asking for all the ints in the list to return nothing. There are languages that do it that way, but C# has chosen to do it differently.

    – mbrig
    2 days ago






  • 1





    (and yes, my first sentence there is technically wrong. The nullable int never got added to the list. But if you don't know what's happening here, that's what it looks like is happening)

    – mbrig
    2 days ago



















5














A nullable value type is boxed by the following rules:




  • If HasValue returns false, the null reference is produced.

  • If HasValue returns true, a value of the underlying value type T is
    boxed, not the instance of nullable.




In your example second rule has been followed as you have value, e.g.
var i = (object)(int?)123;






share|improve this answer


























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    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

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    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    42














    Nullable types have special "boxing" rules; "boxing" is when a value-type is treated as object, as per your code. Unlike regular value-types, a nullable value-type is boxed either as null (regular null, no type), or as the non-nullable type (the T in T?). So: an int? is boxed as an int, not an int?. Then when you use OfType<int>() on it, you get all the values that are int, which is: the single value you passed in, since it is of type int.






    share|improve this answer
























    • phew ok thank you for that explanaion. Is that C# basic knowledge?

      – Dr. Snail
      2 days ago






    • 12





      @Dr.Snail "basic" is relative / subjective, and I'd wager that a good percentage of developers never have a need to know that nuance; it is useful context if you're dealing with boxing, though... and technically it isn't really C# knowledge, but rather: .NET knowledge (it would apply to all languages)

      – Marc Gravell
      2 days ago








    • 4





      @Sinatr you can't - the list never contains int? - it only contains int because of the boxing rules on nullable types

      – Marc Gravell
      2 days ago








    • 1





      @KyleJohnson you added a nullable int to the list. Naively, if nullable ints and ints are different things, you'd expect asking for all the ints in the list to return nothing. There are languages that do it that way, but C# has chosen to do it differently.

      – mbrig
      2 days ago






    • 1





      (and yes, my first sentence there is technically wrong. The nullable int never got added to the list. But if you don't know what's happening here, that's what it looks like is happening)

      – mbrig
      2 days ago
















    42














    Nullable types have special "boxing" rules; "boxing" is when a value-type is treated as object, as per your code. Unlike regular value-types, a nullable value-type is boxed either as null (regular null, no type), or as the non-nullable type (the T in T?). So: an int? is boxed as an int, not an int?. Then when you use OfType<int>() on it, you get all the values that are int, which is: the single value you passed in, since it is of type int.






    share|improve this answer
























    • phew ok thank you for that explanaion. Is that C# basic knowledge?

      – Dr. Snail
      2 days ago






    • 12





      @Dr.Snail "basic" is relative / subjective, and I'd wager that a good percentage of developers never have a need to know that nuance; it is useful context if you're dealing with boxing, though... and technically it isn't really C# knowledge, but rather: .NET knowledge (it would apply to all languages)

      – Marc Gravell
      2 days ago








    • 4





      @Sinatr you can't - the list never contains int? - it only contains int because of the boxing rules on nullable types

      – Marc Gravell
      2 days ago








    • 1





      @KyleJohnson you added a nullable int to the list. Naively, if nullable ints and ints are different things, you'd expect asking for all the ints in the list to return nothing. There are languages that do it that way, but C# has chosen to do it differently.

      – mbrig
      2 days ago






    • 1





      (and yes, my first sentence there is technically wrong. The nullable int never got added to the list. But if you don't know what's happening here, that's what it looks like is happening)

      – mbrig
      2 days ago














    42












    42








    42







    Nullable types have special "boxing" rules; "boxing" is when a value-type is treated as object, as per your code. Unlike regular value-types, a nullable value-type is boxed either as null (regular null, no type), or as the non-nullable type (the T in T?). So: an int? is boxed as an int, not an int?. Then when you use OfType<int>() on it, you get all the values that are int, which is: the single value you passed in, since it is of type int.






    share|improve this answer













    Nullable types have special "boxing" rules; "boxing" is when a value-type is treated as object, as per your code. Unlike regular value-types, a nullable value-type is boxed either as null (regular null, no type), or as the non-nullable type (the T in T?). So: an int? is boxed as an int, not an int?. Then when you use OfType<int>() on it, you get all the values that are int, which is: the single value you passed in, since it is of type int.







    share|improve this answer












    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer










    answered 2 days ago









    Marc GravellMarc Gravell

    792k19821592561




    792k19821592561













    • phew ok thank you for that explanaion. Is that C# basic knowledge?

      – Dr. Snail
      2 days ago






    • 12





      @Dr.Snail "basic" is relative / subjective, and I'd wager that a good percentage of developers never have a need to know that nuance; it is useful context if you're dealing with boxing, though... and technically it isn't really C# knowledge, but rather: .NET knowledge (it would apply to all languages)

      – Marc Gravell
      2 days ago








    • 4





      @Sinatr you can't - the list never contains int? - it only contains int because of the boxing rules on nullable types

      – Marc Gravell
      2 days ago








    • 1





      @KyleJohnson you added a nullable int to the list. Naively, if nullable ints and ints are different things, you'd expect asking for all the ints in the list to return nothing. There are languages that do it that way, but C# has chosen to do it differently.

      – mbrig
      2 days ago






    • 1





      (and yes, my first sentence there is technically wrong. The nullable int never got added to the list. But if you don't know what's happening here, that's what it looks like is happening)

      – mbrig
      2 days ago



















    • phew ok thank you for that explanaion. Is that C# basic knowledge?

      – Dr. Snail
      2 days ago






    • 12





      @Dr.Snail "basic" is relative / subjective, and I'd wager that a good percentage of developers never have a need to know that nuance; it is useful context if you're dealing with boxing, though... and technically it isn't really C# knowledge, but rather: .NET knowledge (it would apply to all languages)

      – Marc Gravell
      2 days ago








    • 4





      @Sinatr you can't - the list never contains int? - it only contains int because of the boxing rules on nullable types

      – Marc Gravell
      2 days ago








    • 1





      @KyleJohnson you added a nullable int to the list. Naively, if nullable ints and ints are different things, you'd expect asking for all the ints in the list to return nothing. There are languages that do it that way, but C# has chosen to do it differently.

      – mbrig
      2 days ago






    • 1





      (and yes, my first sentence there is technically wrong. The nullable int never got added to the list. But if you don't know what's happening here, that's what it looks like is happening)

      – mbrig
      2 days ago

















    phew ok thank you for that explanaion. Is that C# basic knowledge?

    – Dr. Snail
    2 days ago





    phew ok thank you for that explanaion. Is that C# basic knowledge?

    – Dr. Snail
    2 days ago




    12




    12





    @Dr.Snail "basic" is relative / subjective, and I'd wager that a good percentage of developers never have a need to know that nuance; it is useful context if you're dealing with boxing, though... and technically it isn't really C# knowledge, but rather: .NET knowledge (it would apply to all languages)

    – Marc Gravell
    2 days ago







    @Dr.Snail "basic" is relative / subjective, and I'd wager that a good percentage of developers never have a need to know that nuance; it is useful context if you're dealing with boxing, though... and technically it isn't really C# knowledge, but rather: .NET knowledge (it would apply to all languages)

    – Marc Gravell
    2 days ago






    4




    4





    @Sinatr you can't - the list never contains int? - it only contains int because of the boxing rules on nullable types

    – Marc Gravell
    2 days ago







    @Sinatr you can't - the list never contains int? - it only contains int because of the boxing rules on nullable types

    – Marc Gravell
    2 days ago






    1




    1





    @KyleJohnson you added a nullable int to the list. Naively, if nullable ints and ints are different things, you'd expect asking for all the ints in the list to return nothing. There are languages that do it that way, but C# has chosen to do it differently.

    – mbrig
    2 days ago





    @KyleJohnson you added a nullable int to the list. Naively, if nullable ints and ints are different things, you'd expect asking for all the ints in the list to return nothing. There are languages that do it that way, but C# has chosen to do it differently.

    – mbrig
    2 days ago




    1




    1





    (and yes, my first sentence there is technically wrong. The nullable int never got added to the list. But if you don't know what's happening here, that's what it looks like is happening)

    – mbrig
    2 days ago





    (and yes, my first sentence there is technically wrong. The nullable int never got added to the list. But if you don't know what's happening here, that's what it looks like is happening)

    – mbrig
    2 days ago













    5














    A nullable value type is boxed by the following rules:




    • If HasValue returns false, the null reference is produced.

    • If HasValue returns true, a value of the underlying value type T is
      boxed, not the instance of nullable.




    In your example second rule has been followed as you have value, e.g.
    var i = (object)(int?)123;






    share|improve this answer






























      5














      A nullable value type is boxed by the following rules:




      • If HasValue returns false, the null reference is produced.

      • If HasValue returns true, a value of the underlying value type T is
        boxed, not the instance of nullable.




      In your example second rule has been followed as you have value, e.g.
      var i = (object)(int?)123;






      share|improve this answer




























        5












        5








        5







        A nullable value type is boxed by the following rules:




        • If HasValue returns false, the null reference is produced.

        • If HasValue returns true, a value of the underlying value type T is
          boxed, not the instance of nullable.




        In your example second rule has been followed as you have value, e.g.
        var i = (object)(int?)123;






        share|improve this answer















        A nullable value type is boxed by the following rules:




        • If HasValue returns false, the null reference is produced.

        • If HasValue returns true, a value of the underlying value type T is
          boxed, not the instance of nullable.




        In your example second rule has been followed as you have value, e.g.
        var i = (object)(int?)123;







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited 2 days ago

























        answered 2 days ago









        JohnnyJohnny

        3,5551021




        3,5551021






























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