C# reference member variable

Question

In C#, is there a way to keep a reference as a member variable in an object (like an object pointer in C++), not just as a parameter?

EDIT: How can I make a p

Answer 1

The way to get the address of a variable is the & operator, similar to C++. Again similarly to C++, you can store the address as a pointer:

class Foo
{
    object* _objPtr;

    Foo(object obj)
    {
        unsafe
        {
           _objPtr = &obj;
        }
    }
}

Note that any code that uses the address-of operator (&) or pointers must be within a method marked unsafe or within an unsafe code block. This could be useful if you want to increase performance by not doing array bound-checking for example. The downside (besides safety considerations) is that the assembly must be fully-trusted for it to execute.

As pointed out, in C#, you very rarely actually store pointers, instead you store references so the garbage collector can operate properly. Ensure that you really need pointers in your code before using them!

For more info, see: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/y31yhkeb.aspx