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

C# Enum Example

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

1. using System;  
2. public class EnumExample  
3. {  
4.     public enum Season { WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL }    
5.   
6.     public static void Main()  
7.     {  
8.         int x = (int)Season.WINTER;  
9.         int y = (int)Season.SUMMER;  
10.         Console.WriteLine("WINTER = {0}", x);  
11.         Console.WriteLine("SUMMER = {0}", y);  
12.     }  
13. }  

Output:

WINTER = 0
SUMMER = 2

C# enum example changing start index

1. using System;  
2. public class EnumExample  
3. {  
4.     public enum Season { WINTER=10, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL }    
5.   
6.     public static void Main()  
7.     {  
8.         int x = (int)Season.WINTER;  
9.         int y = (int)Season.SUMMER;  
10.         Console.WriteLine("WINTER = {0}", x);  
11.         Console.WriteLine("SUMMER = {0}", y);  
12.     }  
13. }  

Output:

WINTER = 10
SUMMER = 12

C# enum example for Days

1. using System;  
2. public class EnumExample  
3. {  
4.     public enum Days { Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat };  
5.   
6.     public static void Main()  
7.     {  
8.         int x = (int)Days.Sun;  
9.         int y = (int)Days.Mon;  
10.         int z = (int)Days.Sat;  
11.         Console.WriteLine("Sun = {0}", x);  
12.         Console.WriteLine("Mon = {0}", y);  
13.         Console.WriteLine("Sat = {0}", z);  
14.     }  
15. }  

Output:

Sun = 0
Mon = 1
Sat = 6

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

1. using System;  
2. public class EnumExample  
3. {  
4.     public enum Days { Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat };  
5.   
6.     public static void Main()  
7.     {  
8.         foreach (string s in Enum.GetNames(typeof(Days)))  
9.         {  
10.             Console.WriteLine(s);  
11.         }  
12.     }  
13. }  

Output:

Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat

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

1. using System;  
2. public class EnumExample  
3. {  
4.     public enum Days { Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat };  
5.   
6.     public static void Main()  
7.     {  
8.         foreach (Days d in Enum.GetValues(typeof(Days)))  
9.         {  
10.             Console.WriteLine(d);  
11.         }  
12.     }  
13. }  

Output:

Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat

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