Understanding the ref keyword in C#

#csharp #oop #dotnet #codenewbie

I have seen many newbies getting confused with the meaning and significance of the ref keyword in C#.
Instead of talking I would like to show the use of ref keyword in some simple examples.

	using System;

	public class Program
	{
	public static void Main()
	{
	var nameEnt = new NameEntity()
	{
	Name = "Outer"
	};

	Console.WriteLine(nameEnt.Name); // "Outer"
	EntityModifier(nameEnt);
	Console.WriteLine(nameEnt.Name); // "Outer"
	EntityRefModifier(ref nameEnt);
	Console.WriteLine(nameEnt.Name); // "Inner"

	Console.WriteLine();
	}

	public static void EntityModifier(NameEntity nameEnt) // creates a copy of the address hash of the object
	{
	nameEnt = new NameEntity
	{
	Name = "Inner"
	};
	}

	public static void EntityRefModifier(ref NameEntity nameEnt) // the pointer to the variable containing
	// the address hash of the object is passes as an argument
	{
	nameEnt = new NameEntity
	{
	Name = "Inner"
	};
	}
	}

	public class NameEntity {
	public string Name;
	}