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Constants and Read-Only Fields

Explore how constants and read-only fields enforce immutability in C# classes. Understand when and how to assign values to each, their memory behavior, and usage constraints to write robust object-oriented code.

C# provides two primary mechanisms for creating immutable members: constants and read-only fields. While they appear similar, they differ significantly in when their values are assigned and how they are stored in memory.

Constants

A constant is an immutable field with a value assigned during compilation. Constants are immutable and cannot be reassigned or modified during program execution.

We declare constants using the const keyword:

public const double PI = 3.14;

This declares a public constant of type double named PI which is immutable after compilation.

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