C# Language Tutorial => typeof

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Fastest Entity Framework Extensions

Example

Gets System.Type object for a type.

System.Type type = typeof(Point)        //System.Drawing.Point      
System.Type type = typeof(IDisposable)  //System.IDisposable
System.Type type = typeof(Colors)       //System.Drawing.Color
System.Type type = typeof(List<>)       //System.Collections.Generic.List`1[T]

To get the run-time type, use GetType method to obtain the System.Type of the current instance.

Operator typeof takes a type name as parameter, which is specified at compile time.

public class Animal {} 
public class Dog : Animal {}

var animal = new Dog();

Assert.IsTrue(animal.GetType() == typeof(Animal)); // fail, animal is typeof(Dog) 
Assert.IsTrue(animal.GetType() == typeof(Dog));    // pass, animal is typeof(Dog)
Assert.IsTrue(animal is Animal);                   // pass, animal implements Animal

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