What is the Enumeration in C# ??? with Free Notes

What is the Enumeration in C# ???

An Enumeration in C#, or enum, is a distinct value type that consists of a set of named constants called the enumerator list. Enums are used to declare a collection of constants that represent related values.

Syntax – Enumeration in C#

enum EnumName
{
    Value1,
    Value2,
    Value3
}

Example –

using System;

namespace EnumExample
{
    class Program
    {
        enum Days
        {
            Sunday,
            Monday,
            Tuesday,
            Wednesday,
            Thursday,
            Friday,
            Saturday
        }

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            Days today = Days.Wednesday;
            Console.WriteLine("Today is: " + today);
            Console.WriteLine("Day number: " + (int)today);
        }
    }
}

Line-by-Line Notes

namespace EnumExample

• Defines a namespace called “EnumExample” to organize the code and prevent naming conflicts.

enum Days

• Declares an enumeration named Days.
• enum: Keyword to declare an enumeration.
• Days: Name of the enumeration.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

• Lists the named constants of the “Days” enumeration. By default, the first enumerator has the value 0, and each subsequent enumerator has a value that is incremented by 1.

Days today = Days.Wednesday;

• Declares a variable named today of type Days and assigns it the value Days.Wednesday.
• Days: Data type of the today variable, which is the Days enumeration.
• today: Name of the variable.
• Days.Wednesday: Value assigned to the today variable, representing Wednesday.

Console.WriteLine("Day number: " + (int)today);

• Outputs the underlying integer value of the today variable to the console.
• (int)today: Casts the today variable to its underlying integer value.
• "Day number: " + (int)today: Concatenates the string "Day number: " with the integer value of today.