(Texture2D) t1 = t2; Does it creates reference or a copy?

Question

Quick question. (I was not able to find documentation about this anywhere)

When you do this:

Texture2D t1;
t1 = content.Load<Texture2D>("some texture");

Texture2D t2;
t2 = t1;

Does it creates a reference or actually copies the texture?

I would like to know it so I can take it into account when implementing related stuff.

Trinitrocresol

Answer 1

Texture2D is a class. Hence, assignment will create a copy of the reference - t1 and t2 will have referential equality, ie Object.ReferenceEquals(t1, t2) will be true.

Deenadeenya

I see. Thank you. The reasoun I wasn't sure is because it behaves slightly different than other classes. But I guess that is just nuances. – Trinitrocresol

What you need to always keep in mind is: is the type a reference type ("class") or value type ("struct"). Value types create copies on assignment. Reference types don't. – Gentle

Hm. You are right, and it's pretty logical. I guess I should have used my brain before asking that question... But I didn't know about that "Object.ReferenceEquals" so I learned something new which is always good. – Trinitrocresol

Answer 2

It's only a reference assignment. No actual data is moved around.

Mannish

Oh, that's good. But just to make sure: then I can freely pass it around through multiple function calls and don't worry about it creatind unneded copies multiple times and consuming resources? – Trinitrocresol

@NewProger: Exactly. Only references get passed around. Be careful though because this also means that changing members will be reflected in the calling code. – Mannish