C# Enum

Enum in C# is also known as enumeration. It is used to store a set of named constants such as season, days, month, size etc. The enum constants are also known as enumerators. Enum in C# can be declared within or outside class and structs.

Enum constants has default values which starts from 0 and incremented to one by one. But we can change the default value.

Points to remember

enum has fixed set of constants
enum improves type safety
enum can be traversed

Example #1

Let's see a simple example of C# enum.

snippet

using System;
public class EnumExample
{
    public enum Season { WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL }  

    public static void Main()
    {
        int x = (int)Season.WINTER;
        int y = (int)Season.SUMMER;
        Console.WriteLine("WINTER = {0}", x);
        Console.WriteLine("SUMMER = {0}", y);
    }
}

Output

WINTER = 0 SUMMER = 2

Example #2

C# enum example changing start index

snippet

using System;
public class EnumExample
{
    public enum Season { WINTER=10, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL }  

    public static void Main()
    {
        int x = (int)Season.WINTER;
        int y = (int)Season.SUMMER;
        Console.WriteLine("WINTER = {0}", x);
        Console.WriteLine("SUMMER = {0}", y);
    }
}

Output

WINTER = 10 SUMMER = 12

Example #3

C# enum example for Days

snippet

using System;
public class EnumExample
{
    public enum Days { Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat };

    public static void Main()
    {
        int x = (int)Days.Sun;
        int y = (int)Days.Mon;
        int z = (int)Days.Sat;
        Console.WriteLine("Sun = {0}", x);
        Console.WriteLine("Mon = {0}", y);
        Console.WriteLine("Sat = {0}", z);
    }
}

Output

Sun = 0 Mon = 1 Sat = 6

Example #4

C# enum example: traversing all values using getNames()

snippet

using System;
public class EnumExample
{
    public enum Days { Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat };

    public static void Main()
    {
        foreach (string s in Enum.GetNames(typeof(Days)))
        {
            Console.WriteLine(s);
        }
    }
}

Output

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

Example #5

C# enum example: traversing all values using getValues()

snippet

using System;
public class EnumExample
{
    public enum Days { Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat };

    public static void Main()
    {
        foreach (Days d in Enum.GetValues(typeof(Days)))
        {
            Console.WriteLine(d);
        }
    }
}

Output

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat