C#, Copy one bool to another (by ref, not val)

Question

Hi folks.

I am at a brick wall here. Is it possible to copy one bool to the ref of another. Consider this code . . .

        bool a = false;
        bool b = a;

b is now a totally seperate bool with a value of false. If I subsequently change a, it will have no effect on a. Is it possible to make a = b by ref ?How would I do that ?

Many thanks

Answer 1

A bool is a value type and cannot be copied by reference.

Answer 2

No. Since bool is a value type, it will always be copied by value.

The best option is to wrap your bool within a class - this will give it reference type semantics:

public class BoolWrapper
{
     public bool Value { get; set; }
     public BoolWrapper (bool value) { this.Value = value; }
}

BoolWrapper a = new BoolWrapper(false);
BoolWrapper b = a;
b.Value = true; 
 // a.Value == true

Answer 3

this may not be what you want, but if your scenario were such that you wanted a function that you called to modify your local boolean, you can use the ref or out keyworkd.

bool a = false;

F(ref a);
// a now equals true

...

void F(ref bool x)
{
x = true;
}

Answer 4

the scenario is experimental really.

I am creating a version of John Conway's Game of Life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s%5FGame%5Fof%5FLife

I am trying to optimise it as much as possible. For each cell in the grid, it is either on or off (bool). This is determined by the state of its neighbours (the 8 cells immediately around the current cell). So I thought I would remember the neighbours rather than have to work them out on each pass.

To represent the live state of my cells, I am using a 2d array of bools. When I create the neighbours, I want each bool in the neighbours array to point to the relevant cell in the overall grid. (by ref, not value).

Does this make sense ?