Do value types (Integer, Decimal, Boolean, etc…) inherit from Object?

Question

Looking for clarification on this...

I\'ve heard that \'everything\' in .Net inherits from Object. I\'ve also heard that the difference between value types and refe

Answer 1

According to Red Gate's .NET Reflector they inherit (indirectly) from object.

• Object -> ValueType -> int32
• Object -> ValueType -> boolean
• Object -> ValueType -> decimal
• Object -> ValueType -> byte
• Object -> ValueType -> char
• Object -> ValueType -> uint32

I haven't checked other types, but it would seem they do. I would highly recommend getting Reflector - it's a free download and it will help you answer countless other questions about how various parts of the .NET framework are coded. Some days I wonder how I'd live without it.

The greatest thing about Reflector is that you don't need to rely on someone's potentially outdated (or incorrect or badly interpreted) writing to discover what is really going on inside the .NET Framework - including that on MSDN - not even the almighty Microsoft is infallible. The documentation is only as current as its last modification. Getting your answers directly from the code is the least likely to be incorrect - assuming of course that you're able to correctly interpet said code ;)