Beginning C# 3.0

5.4. Summary

You've covered a lot of ground in this chapter. You've learned what a reference data type is and how it differs from a value data type. You've also learned that reference variables have rvalues that can hold either the value null or a memory address only. You also saw how the Bucket Analogy still applies to reference variables, but in a slightly different way. Business programs process a lot of textual data. For that reason, we spent quite a bit of time discussing string variables and how they can be manipulated by various string methods. We also discussed the DateTime data type and some of its common properties and methods. We used the DateTime variables to introduce you to the concept of constructors and overloaded methods. You should also understand how an overloaded method must have different signatures so Visual Studio knows which method to call. Lastly, you learned how to use various formatting characters for the ToString() method of the DateTime class.

This chapter presented a lot of new information. It is especially important that you understand the difference between reference types and value types before you move on to the next chapter. A little time spent now to understand the concepts presented in this chapter will yield huge benefits later on.