1) What is int? Is it any different from the struct System.Int32? I understand that the former is a C# alias (typedef or #define equivalant) for the CLR type System.Int32. Is this understanding correct?
2) When we say:
IComparable x = 10;
Is that like saying:
IComparable x = new System.Int32();
But we can't new a struct, right?
or in C like syntax:
struct System.In32 *x;
x=>someThing = 10;
3) What is String with a capitalized S? I see in Reflector that it is the sealed String class, which, of course, is a reference type, unlike the System.Int32 above, which is a value type.
What is string, with an uncapitalized s, though? Is that also the C# alias for this class?
Why can I not see the alias definitions in Reflector?
4) Try to follow me down this subtle train of thought, if you please. We know that a storage location of a particular type can only access properties and members on its interface. That means:
Person p = new Customer();
p.Name = "Water Cooler v2"; // legal because as Name is defined on Person.
but
// illegal without an explicit cast even though the backing
// store is a Customer, the storage location is of type
// Person, which doesn't support the member/method being
// accessed/called.
p.GetTotalValueOfOrdersMade();
Now, with that inference, consider this scenario:
int i = 10;
// obvious System.object defines no member to
// store an integer value or any other value in.
// So, my question really is, when the integer is
// boxed, what is the *type* it is actually boxed to.
// In other words, what is the type that forms the
// backing store on the heap, for this operation?
object x = i;
Update
Thank you for your answers, Eric Gunnerson and Aaronought. I'm afraid I haven't been able to articulate my questions well enough to attract very satisfying answers. The trouble is, I do know the answers to my questions on the surface, and I am, by no means, a newbie programmer.
But I have to admit, a deeper understanding to the intricacies of how a language and its underlying platform/runtime handle storage of types has eluded me for as long as I've been a programmer, even though I write correct code.
