Why is a fixed size buffers (arrays) must be unsafe?
- by brickner
Let's say I want to have a value type of 7 bytes (or 3 or 777).
I can define it like that:
public struct Buffer71
{
public byte b0;
public byte b1;
public byte b2;
public byte b3;
public byte b4;
public byte b5;
public byte b6;
}
A simpler way to define it is using a fixed buffer
public struct Buffer72
{
public unsafe fixed byte bs[7];
}
Of course the second definition is simpler. The problem lies with the unsafe keyword that must be provided for fixed buffers. I understand that this is implemented using pointers and hence unsafe.
My question is why does it have to be unsafe? Why can't C# provide arbitrary constant length arrays and keep them as a value type instead of making it a C# reference type array or unsafe buffers?
