What is the difference between const and read-only in C#?
What is the difference between const and read-only in C#?
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Aryan Kumar
13-Jul-2023The
constandreadonlykeywords in C# are both used to declare constants. However, there are some key differences between the two keywords.constconstants are compile-time constants, whilereadonlyconstants are runtime constants. This means that the value of aconstconstant is known at compile time, while the value of areadonlyconstant can be changed at runtime.constconstants must be initialized when they are declared, whilereadonlyconstants can be initialized later. This means that you cannot declare aconstconstant without initializing it, while you can declare areadonlyconstant and initialize it later.constconstants are implicitly static, whilereadonlyconstants can be static or non-static. This means that aconstconstant is always a static member of a class, while areadonlyconstant can be a static member or an instance member of a class.In general, you should use
constconstants when the value of the constant is known at compile time and you do not need to be able to change the value at runtime. You should usereadonlyconstants when the value of the constant can be changed at runtime, or when you need to be able to declare a constant that is not a static member of a class.Here is a table that summarizes the key differences between
constandreadonly:constreadonly