Part 7 - C# Tutorial - Datatype conversions

Suggested Videos
Part 4 - String type
Part 5 - Operators 
Part 6 - Nullable Types

In this video, we will discuss
1. Implicit conversions
2. Explicit Conversions
3. Difference between Parse() and TryParse()



Implicit conversion is done by the compiler:
1. When there is no loss of information if the conversion is done
2. If there is no possibility of throwing exceptions during the conversion



Example: Converting an int to a float will not loose any data and no exception will be thrown, hence an implicit conversion can be done. 

Where as when converting a float to an int, we loose the fractional part and also a possibility of overflow exception. Hence, in this case an explicit conversion is required. For explicit conversion we can use cast operator or the convert class in c#.

Implicit Conversion Example
using System;
class Program
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        int i = 100;

        // float is bigger datatype than int. So, no loss of
        // data and exceptions. Hence implicit conversion
        float f = i;

        Console.WriteLine(f);
    }
}

Explicit Conversion Example
using System;
class Program
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        float f = 100.25F;

        // Cannot implicitly convert float to int.
        // Fractional part will be lost. Float is a
        // bigger datatype than int, so there is
        // also a possiblity of overflow exception
        // int i = f;

        // Use explicit conversion using cast () operator
        int i = (int)f;

        // OR use Convert class
        // int i = Convert.ToInt32(f);

        Console.WriteLine(i);
    }
}

Difference between Parse and TryParse
1. If the number is in a string format you have 2 options - Parse() and TryParse() 
2. Parse() method throws an exception if it cannot parse the value, whereas TryParse() returns a bool indicating whether it succeeded or failed.
3. Use Parse() if you are sure the value will be valid, otherwise use TryParse()