Type conversion is converting one type of data to another type. It is also known as Type Casting. In C#, type casting has two forms –

 

·        Implicit type conversion − These conversions are performed by C# in a type-safe manner. For example, all conversions from smaller to larger integral types and conversions from derived classes to base classes.

·        Explicit type conversion − These conversions are done explicitly by users using the pre-defined functions. Explicit conversions require a cast operator.

 

The following example shows an explicit type conversion −

using System;

namespace TypeConversionApplication {

   class ExplicitConversion {

      static void Main(string[] args) {

         double d = 5673.74; 

         int i;

        // cast double to int.

         i = (int)d;

         Console.WriteLine(i);

         Console.ReadKey();

      }

   }

}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

5673

C# Type Conversion Methods

C# provides the following built-in type conversion methods −

Sr.No.	Methods & Description
1	ToBoolean Converts a type to a Boolean value, where possible.
2	ToByte Converts a type to a byte.
3	ToChar Converts a type to a single Unicode character, where possible.
4	ToDateTime Converts a type (integer or string type) to date-time structures.
5	ToDecimal Converts a floating point or integer type to a decimal type.
6	ToDouble Converts a type to a double type.
7	ToInt16 Converts a type to a 16-bit integer.
8	ToInt32 Converts a type to a 32-bit integer.
9	ToInt64 Converts a type to a 64-bit integer.
10	ToSbyte Converts a type to a signed byte type.
11	ToSingle Converts a type to a small floating-point number.
12	ToString Converts a type to a string.
13	ToType Converts a type to a specified type.
14	ToUInt16 Converts a type to an unsigned int type.
15	ToUInt32 Converts a type to an unsigned long type.
16	ToUInt64 Converts a type to an unsigned big integer.

The following example converts various value types to string type −

using System;

namespace TypeConversionApplication {

   class StringConversion {

      static void Main