.net Framework : Common Type System CTS

Common Type System CTS
Defines how types are declared, used and managed in the runtime
Important part in runtime’s support for the cross-language integration
Provides an object oriented model that supports the complete implementation of many
CTS supports two general categories of types:
a. Value types
b. Reference types
Value types directly contain their data
Value types can be built-in, user defined or enumerations
Value types are allocated on the stack
Reference types store a reference to the value’s memory address
Reference types are allocated on the heap
Reference types can be self-describing types,pointer or interface types
Value types have their own copy of data, hence a change in one doesnt affect others
Multiple reference types can refer to single object