Quick Question on Variables

[bbman]

If I do something like:

Label _label = label1;
_label.Text = "123";

Would label1 read "123"? Does this work for int and string?
If not, how would I achieve this?

[williamrojas78]

it will work for a string, but not for an int.
The easiest is to convert the int to string, like:

int i = 25.
_label.Text = i.ToString();

hope it helps

[Geekitygeek]

Just so i'm clear, did you mean:

int x;
int y = x;
y = 1; //x now also equals 1

If you mean the code above then no, it wouldnt work. What you are looking at here is the difference between a value and a reference type.
The clue is in the name here, Value types are passed by value whilst Reference types are passed by reference.
Your label is a reference type so when you call Label _label = label1; , you are storing a reference to label1 in the variable called _label. When you make changes to _label, you are applying the changes to the label that the variable references.
With the int, when you call int y = x; , the value of x is copied into the variable called y. So when you make changes to y, x remains unchanged.

If you are passing the value type to a method you can pass it by reference to reflect the changes on the original using the 'ref' keyword:

class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            int x = 0;
            Console.WriteLine("Initial x = {0}", x); //x=0
            ValueMethod(x);
            Console.WriteLine("x After value method = {0}", x); //x=0
            ReferenceMethod(ref x);
            Console.WriteLine("x After Reference Method = {0}", x); //x=1

            Console.ReadKey();
        }

        private static void ValueMethod(int y)
        {
            y = y + 1;
        }

        private static void ReferenceMethod(ref int y)
        {
            y = y + 1;
        }

    }

[bbman]

I have two List<Label> arrays.
Would it be better to do:

Label label = new Label();
if (etc)
  label = List1[0];
else
  label = List2[0];
label.Text = "123";

or:

if (etc)
  List1[0].Text = "123";
else
  List2[0].Text = "123";

[Geekitygeek]

If you are only going to change that one property of the label inside the for loop then i would use the second option. If you need to repeatedly access the label then the second one (with a meaningful name for label variable) would make your code mroe readbale and reduce clutter.

[bbman]

If you are only going to change that one property of the label inside the for loop then i would use the second option. If you need to repeatedly access the label then the second one (with a meaningful name for label variable) would make your code mroe readbale and reduce clutter.

Okay, thanks.