C# XOR on two byte variables will not compile without a cast [duplicate]

Answer 1

As to why the two bytes have to be converted to ints to do the XOR?

If you want to dig into it, 12.1.2 of the CLI Spec (Partition I) describes the fact that, on the evaluation stack, only int or long can exist. All shorter integral types have to be expanded during evaluation.

Unfortunately, I can't find a suitable link directly to the CLI Spec - I've got a local copy as PDF, but can't remember where I got it from.