Unified data type system and method

摘要

A type system includes a dual representation for basic data types. One representation is the basic data type representation common to such basic built-in data types, known as an unboxed value type or simply as a value type. Each of the basic data types also has a boxed representation that can be stored in the object hierarchy of the type system. This dual representation can also be extended to user-defined types, so that user-defined types may exist both as an unboxed value type and as an object within the object hierarchy of the type system. This dual representation allows the compiler and/or runtime environment to select the most effective and efficient representation for the data type depending on the particular need at the moment.