Introduction

String usage abounds in just about all types of applications. The System.String type does not derive from System.ValueType and is therefore considered a reference type. The string alias is built into C# and can be used instead of the full name.

The FCL does not stop with just the String class; there is also a System.Text.StringBuilder class for performing string manipulations and the System.Text.RegularExpressions namespace for searching strings. This chapter will cover the String class and the System.Text.StringBuilder class.

The System.Text.StringBuilder class provides an easy, performance-friendly method of manipulating string objects. Even though this class duplicates much of the functionality of a String class, the StringBuilder class is fundamentally different in that the string contained within the StringBuilder object can actually be modifiedyou cannot modify a string object. However, this duplicated functionality provides a more efficient manipulation of strings than is obtainable by using the String class.