C# Primer: A Practical Approach

1.8. Local Objects

A data object must be defined within either a function or a class; it cannot exist as an independent object either in a namespace or within the global declaration space. Objects that are defined within a function are called local objects. A local object comes into existence when its enclosing function begins execution. It ceases to exist when the function terminates. A local object is not provided with a default initial value.

Before a local object can be read or written to, the compiler must feel sure that the object has been assigned to. The simplest way to reassure the compiler is to initialize the local object when we define it—for example,

int ival = 1024;

This statement defines an integer object ival and initializes ...