Question

C# Introductory programming question: What is an enumeration and what are the advantages of creating an enumeration type?

Show an example of an enumeration definition.

Answer 1

Enumeration (or enum ) is a value data type in C#.

It is mainly used to assign the names or string values to integral constants, that make a program easy to read and maintain.

It can be defined using the enum keyword directly inside a namespace, class, or structure.

The enum is used to give a name to each constant so that the constant integer can be referred using its name.

For example,

the 4 suits in a deck of playing cards may be 4 enumerators named Club, Diamond, Heart, and Spade, belonging to an enumerated type named Suit.

advantages of creating an enumeration type

You clearly specify for client code which values are valid for the variable.

In Visual Studio, IntelliSense lists the defined values.

The main advantage of Enum is make it easy to change values in the future, also you can reduces errors caused by transposing or mistyping numbers.