C#: Array of references / pointers to a number of integers

Question

I would like to hold references to a number of shorts in an array. I assumed I could just create the shorts and then add them to the array. So... every time the referenced o

Answer 1

Value types are called value types because they are passed by value when passed to methods or assigned via the = operator.

Another (and more correct) way to look at it is that shorts, ints, etc. are immutable => they cannot be changed. So you basically cannot change a short. If you need an object of type short to change somewhere you need to create a class to hold this object like this:

public class ShortWrapper
{
    public short ShortValue {get; set;}
}
class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        ShortWrapper short1 = new ShortWrapper{ ShortValue = 1};
        ShortWrapper short2 = new ShortWrapper { ShortValue = 2 };

        ShortWrapper[] shorts = new ShortWrapper[] { short1, short2 };
        shorts[0].ShortValue = 5;

        Console.WriteLine(short1.ShortValue);
    }
}

Essentially the code is replacing the object of type short with a new object.

BTW chances are that there is something wrong with your design if you need to wrap a naked short. You either should be using some more complex object already or should be working with the array of shorts in some other way. But I guess you are just testing.