How do ValueTypes derive from Object (ReferenceType) and still be ValueTypes?

Question

C# doesn\'t allow structs to derive from classes, but all ValueTypes derive from Object. Where is this distinction made?

How does the CLR handle this?

Answer 1

This is a somewhat artificial construct maintained by the CLR in order to allow all types to be treated as a System.Object.

Value types derive from System.Object through System.ValueType, which is where the special handling occurs (ie: the CLR handles boxing/unboxing, etc for any type deriving from ValueType).