From MSDN
Classes and structs are two of the basic constructs of the common type system in the .NET Framework. Each is essentially a data structure that encapsulates a set of data and behaviors that belong together as a logical unit. The data and behaviors are the members of the class or struct, and they include its methods, properties, and events, and so on, as listed later in this topic.
A class or struct declaration is like a blueprint that is used to create instances or objects at run time. If you define a class or struct called Person, Person is the name of the type. If you declare and initialize a variable p of type Person, p is said to be an object or instance of Person. Multiple instances of the same Person type can be created, and each instance can have different values in its properties and fields.
A class is a reference type. When an object of the class is created, the variable to which the object is assigned holds only a reference to that memory. When the object reference is assigned to a new variable, the new variable refers to the original object. Changes made through one variable are reflected in the other variable because they both refer to the same data.
A struct is a value type. When a struct is created, the variable to which the struct is assigned holds the struct's actual data. When the struct is assigned to a new variable, it is copied. The new variable and the original variable therefore contain two separate copies of the same data. Changes made to one copy do not affect the other copy.
In general, classes are used to model more complex behavior, or data that is intended to be modified after a class object is created. Structs are best suited for small data structures that contain primarily data that is not intended to be modified after the struct is created.
Difference between Struct and Class
Struct are Value type and are stored on stack, while Class are Reference type and are stored on heap.
Struct “do not support” inheritance, while class supports inheritance. However struct can implements interface.
Struct should be used when you want to use a small data structure, while Class is better choice for complex data structure.
Choosing between struct and class
Use of structure in following condition is desirable.
- When you have small data structure
- Data Structure does not require to extent the functionality.
- When you want to perform faster operation on data structure. (As structure are stored on stack, operation performed on it are faster.)
Use of class in following condition is desirable.
- When you have complex data structure
- Data Structure requires to extend functionality.
- When you want to optimize memory usage. (As class is stored on heap, they are about to be garbage collected when no reference pointing to an object.)
What is the difference between instantiating structures with and without using the new keyword?
When a structure is instantiated using the new keyword, a constructor (no-argument or custom, if provided) is called which initializes the fields in the structure. When a structure is instantiated without using the new keyword, no constructor is called. Hence, one has to explicitly initialize all the fields of the structure before using it when instantiated without the new keyword.
FROM StackOverFlow.com
In .NET, there are two categories of types, reference types and value types.
Structs are value types and classes are reference types.
The general different is that a reference type lives on the heap, and a value type lives inline, that is, wherever it is your variable or field is defined.
A variable containing a value type contains the entire value type value. For a struct, that means that the variable contains the entire struct, with all its fields.
A variable containing a reference type contains a pointer, or a reference to somewhere else in memory where the actual value resides.
This has one benefit, to begin with:
• value types always contains a value
• reference types can contain a null-reference, meaning that they don't refer to anything at all at the moment
Internally, reference types are implemented as pointers, and knowing that, and knowing how variable assignment works, there are other behavioral patterns:
• copying the contents of a value type variable into another variable, copies the entire contents into the new variable, making the two distinct. In other words, after the copy, changes to one won't affect the other
• copying the contents of a reference type variable into another variable, copies the reference, which means you now have two references to the same somewhere else storage of the actual data. In other words, after the copy, changing the data in one reference will appear to affect the other as well, but only because you're really just looking at the same data both places
When you declare variables or fields, here's how the two types differ:
• variable: value type lives on the stack, reference type lives on the stack as a pointer to somewhere in heap memory where the actual memory lives
• class/struct-field: value type lives inside the class, reference type lives inside the class as a pointer to somewhere in heap memory where the actual memory lives.
A short summary of each:
Classes Only:
• Can support inheritance
• Are reference types
• Have memory overhead per new instance
Structs Only:
• Cannot support inheritance
• Are value types
• Do not have a memory overhead per new instance - unless 'boxed'
Both Classes and Structs:
• Are compound data types typically used to contain a few variables that have some logical relationship
• Can contain methods and events
• Can support interfaces
