What is the integer reference type in C#?

Question

I\'d like to have an integer variable which can be set to null and don\'t want to have to use the int? myVariable syntax. I tried using int and

Answer 1

You will have to use a nullable type, i.e:

Nullable or int?

The purpose of nullable type is, to enable you to assign null to a value type.

From MSDN:

Nullable types address the scenario where you want to be able to have a primitive type with a null (or unknown) value. This is common in database scenarios, but is also useful in other situations.

In the past, there were several ways of doing this:

1. A boxed value type. This is not strongly-typed at compile-time, and involves doing a heap allocation for every type.
2. A class wrapper for the value type. This is strongly-typed, but still involves a heap allocation, and the you have to write the wrapper.
3. A struct wrapper that supports the concept of nullability. This is a good solution, but you have to write it yourself.