While structures & classes may seem to be very similar in most respects there aren’t many cases when I would suggest you use a structure instead of a class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A class with public member properties isnt that different from a structure in terms of how your code uses it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The biggest difference is that for a class you must use new to get a new instance. With a structure you just declare it and use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Structures are handy for some things. If you have to read or write a specific binary file format you might use a structure. If you’re going to call some OS API via a declare then structures are useful. And if you’re reading or writing binary data to binary streams via sockets or other communication channels they are useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there are downsides. Since structures are JUST data any methods to manipulate them have to go in a module. Unlike a class you cannot add methods to the structure itself. And so you end up using a very non-OOP style – maybe a module with the structure defined in there along with all the code that manipulates the structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Classes allow you to just bundle up the data and code into a single item and all the code that manipulates the class is part of the class – along with any hidden methods it might need that can be completely hidden from the outside world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your still using VB style syntax and creating a lot of structures I’d suggest you give using classes a try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you get the hang of it you will appreciate how classes let you organize your code and data in a nice single item.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While structures & classes may seem to be very similar in most respects there aren’t many cases when I would suggest you use a structure instead of a class. A class with public member properties isnt that different from a structure in terms of how your code uses it. The biggest difference is that for … <\/p>\n