I have an hierarchical structure of classes like this
public class Class1
{
internal DateTime time = DateTime.Now;
}
public class Class2
{
internal Class1 C1;
public Class2(Class1 c1) { C1 = c1; }
public DateTime Time { get { return C1.time; } }
}
public class Class3
{
internal Class2 C2;
public Class3(Class2 c2) { C2 = c2; }
public DateTime Time { get { return C2.Time; } }
}
public class Class4
{
internal Class3 C3;
public Class4(Class3 c3) { C3 = c3; }
public DateTime Time { get { return C3.Time; } }
}
I wondered when I call
Class4 C4 = new Class4(.....);
Console.WriteLine(C4.Time);
will the ValueType data (it is DateTime in this scenario) be copied 4 times or will JIT compiler optimize the code and regenerate it as an inlined version like C4.C3.C2.C1.time;
C# compiler does not do any optimization. ILDASM generated code is here:
// get { return C3.Time; }
.method public hidebysig specialname instance valuetype [mscorlib]System.DateTime
get_Time() cil managed
{
// Code size 12 (0xc)
.maxstack 8
IL_0000: ldarg.0
IL_0001: ldfld class CSTester.Class3 CSTester.Class4::C3
IL_0006: callvirt instance valuetype [mscorlib]System.DateTime CSTester.Class3::get_Time()
IL_000b: ret
} // end of method Class4::get_Time
// get { return C2.Time; }
.method public hidebysig specialname instance valuetype [mscorlib]System.DateTime
get_Time() cil managed
{
// Code size 12 (0xc)
.maxstack 8
IL_0000: ldarg.0
IL_0001: ldfld class CSTester.Class2 CSTester.Class3::C2
IL_0006: callvirt instance valuetype [mscorlib]System.DateTime CSTester.Class2::get_Time()
IL_000b: ret
} // end of method Class3::get_Time
EDIT: Code is compiled in release mode with optimizations enabled.
Eric Lippert says I don't know much more eloquently than me.
On a side note,
int sizeInBytes;
unsafe
{
sizeInBytes = sizeof(DateTime);
}
results in a value of 8 for me but it would be unsafe to rely on it. The copying of 24 bytes is not worth worrying about. If it is, perhaps a lower generation of language should be used for this part of the code.