#658 – What Boxing and Unboxing Look Like in IL

August 28, 2012 Leave a comment

Recall that your C# source code is compiled to a platform-neutral intermediate language called Common Intermediate Language.  You can view the IL for your application, after building the code, using the IL Disassembler tool.

If you look at the IL generated for code that boxes or unboxes a value, you’ll see unique CIL instructions for boxing (box) and unboxing (unbox).

Assume that you box an int value and then later unbox it.

int x = 12;

object o = x;    // Box

int y = (int)o;  // Unbox

If you build this code and look at the IL, you’ll see the box and unbox instructions.

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#11 – Examine IL Using Ildasm.exe

June 28, 2010 4 Comments

In .NET, source is compiled to an platform-neutral intermediate language called Common Intermediate Language.  The IL is later compiled into native code at runtime, running in a virtual machine.

You can examine the IL for your applications by running a tool called the IL Disassembler (ildasm.exe).  You can find ILDasm in a directory that looks something like this:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Bin\x64

Alternatively, you can just type “ildasm” in the Start Menu search box in Windows 7 or Windows Vista.

ILDasm will show you three basic things:

  • A list of all classes and methods in your assembly
  • The contents of the assembly’s manifest
  • IL code for any method implemented in the assembly.

Here’s an example of what is displayed in ILDasm.

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