Beginning C# 2008-from Novice-to-professional - A2Z Dotnet

60CHAPTER 3 ■ LEARNING ABOUT STRING MANIPULATIONSFigure 3-5. GetType() retrieves the metadata associated with an object.Figure 3-6. ToString() converts the contents of the type into a string.The four basic methods can be called on every variable that you declare. You will useToString() when debugging or inspecting the state of an object instance during runtime.ToString() returns a human-readable string that contains the state of the object instance.You might use the GetType() method occasionally, but your IDE and other tools will use itall the time. Using GetType(), you have the ability to figure out the capabilities of a variableduring the execution of a program. In technical terms, GetType() returns the formal metadatadescription of the type.From reading the description of Equals() and GetHashCode(), you would get the impressionthat these two functions serve the same purpose. However, this is not the case.Let’s say you’re moving and you’ve packed two boxes containing kitchen items. Both boxescontain five red dishes, three silver forks, two copper knives, and two wineglasses. If you comparethe boxes, both Equals() and GetHashCode() will return equality, indicating the boxes