Arrays of classes or structs, which is best

[Macca]

Hi,

I have a number of queue structures. I want to have multiple instances of
these,

i.e Instance 1 Instance 2 Instance 3 ...
------------ ------------ ------------
queueA queueB queueC

I was thinking of usind a structure or a class to store the queues and then
having an array of theses structures or classes.

As I am only storing queues what is the best object to hold them, a class, a
structue or another data structure?

Thanks
Macca

[Michael Nemtsev]

Read recomendations there http://www.jaggersoft.com/pubs/StructsVsClasses.htm

I have a number of queue structures. I want to have multiple instances of
these,

i.e Instance 1 Instance 2 Instance 3 ...
------------ ------------ ------------
queueA queueB queueC

I was thinking of usind a structure or a class to store the queues and then
having an array of theses structures or classes.

As I am only storing queues what is the best object to hold them, a class, a
structue or another data structure?

--
WBR,
Michael Nemtsev :: blog: http://spaces.msn.com/laflour

"At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not
cease to be insipid." (c) Friedrich Nietzsche

[Bruce Wood]

I don't find that reference very helpful in deciding whether to use
struct or class. It is very good at covering the small-scale
differences between the two, but doesn't really give a high-level view
of when one is more appropriate than the other.

[Bruce Wood]

Use a class. In this situation you absolutely don't want a struct. I
can think of no good reason to have a struct holding a collection. The
..NET Framework's Queue is a class... and there's a good reason for
that.

On top of this, you're storing them in an aggregate structure, which
(at least in .NET 1.1) will cause counterintuitiv e behaviour if you use
struct. (Not to say that storing structs in ArrayLists or other
collections is wrong... just that it produces behaviour that is
difficult to understand.)

Use a class. Even better, just use the Queue class from the Framework.

[Ludwig]

On Fri, 26 May 2006 03:29:02 -0700, Macca
<Ma***@discussi ons.microsoft.c om> wrote:

Hi,

I have a number of queue structures. I want to have multiple instances of
these,

i.e Instance 1 Instance 2 Instance 3 ...
------------ ------------ ------------
queueA queueB queueC

I was thinking of usind a structure or a class to store the queues and then
having an array of theses structures or classes.

As I am only storing queues what is the best object to hold them, a class, a
structue or another data structure?

Thanks
Macca

A struct is a value type (on the stack); a class is a reference type
(on the heap). Only use structs in specific cases (see
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...uidelines.asp).

In your case, a class would be a good choice.
--
Ludwig Stuyck
http://www.coders-lab.be

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

Ludwig <no**@none.co m> wrote:

A struct is a value type (on the stack); a class is a reference type
(on the heap).

Note that structs can also end up on the heap, as part of other
objects. See
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet/csharp/memory.html

--
Jon Skeet - <sk***@pobox.co m>
http://www.pobox.com/~skeet Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/jon.skeet
If replying to the group, please do not mail me too