tags:

views:

187

answers:

3
+5  Q: 

What's it called when you cast an array of objects to an array of strings?

There's a special name for it, but I can't remember what it is. There are two different terms, one for casting an array of a subclass to an array of its superclass, and the other way around.

A: 

Boxing and Unboxing?

Neil N  2009-07-31 19:15:21
No, it's a term that has to do with casting arrays.
Max Schmeling  2009-07-31 19:17:24
I honsetly cant think of any term that would pertain to arrays specifically. +1 for interesting question.
Neil N  2009-07-31 19:26:10
+3  A: 

Co-variance and contra-variance. Probably.

Steve Dunn  2009-07-31 19:18:48
@Steve: I think you're right. More information about Covariance and Contravariance in C# here: http://blogs.msdn.com/ericlippert/archive/2007/10/16/covariance-and-contravariance-in-c-part-one.aspx
Grant Wagner  2009-07-31 19:23:43
I included the link because Part One talks about Covariance and Contravariance in more general terms, in case people want some background on what they are.
Grant Wagner  2009-07-31 19:24:55
That's what I was trying to think of. THanks.
Max Schmeling  2009-07-31 19:27:12
I guess from reading that msdn blog post it doesn't apply to arrays specifically. But it is what I was thinking of.
Max Schmeling  2009-07-31 19:43:05
@Max: Part Two of Eric's series deals specifically with Array Covariance (but not Contravariance) (in C#): http://blogs.msdn.com/ericlippert/archive/2007/10/17/covariance-and-contravariance-in-c-part-two-array-covariance.aspx
Grant Wagner  2009-07-31 20:03:54
Hey this answer is simply WRONG. These may be what you had in mind but these ARE NOT names for array upcasting/downcasting!
zvolkov  2009-08-01 23:51:24
+3  A: 

Array Upcasting and Array Downcasting.

EDIT: Covariance and Contravariance is ability to treat certain types as same or not the same depending on composition and inheritance semantics. This has nothing to do with casting arrays, which just happen to be one case where co-variance comes into play.

zvolkov  2009-07-31 19:21:32
You know, that would have been a whole heck of a lot easier to remember than Co-variance and Contra-variance. Maybe we should change the terminology? lol
Max Schmeling  2009-07-31 19:40:11

related questions

Displaying Flash content in a C# WinForms application
How to get the value of built, encoded ViewState?
Unhandled Exception Handler in .NET 1.1
How do I connect to a database and loop over a recordset in C#?
How do I most elegantly express left join with aggregate SQL as LINQ query
Get a new object instance from a Type in C#
.NET Testing Framework Advice
Automatically update version number
What is the difference between an int and an Integer in Java/C#?
How to write to Web.Config in Medium Trust ?
WinForms ComboBox data binding gotcha
How do you sort a C# dictionary by value?
Adding Scripting functionality to .NET applications
Floating Point Number parsing: Is there a Catch All algorithm?
How do I print an HTML document from a web service?
Decoding T-SQL CAST in C#/VB.net
Anatomy of a "Memory Leak"
How do I get a distinct, ordered list of names from a DataTable using Linq
Reliable Timer in a Console Application
How do I fill a DataSet or a DataTable from a LINQ query resultset ?
What's the difference between Math.Floor() and Math.Truncate() in .NET?
How do I calculate relative time?
How do I calculate someone's age in C#?
Are there any conversion tools for porting Visual J# code to C#?
When setting a form's opacity should I use a decimal or double?