VB.
Net - Data Types
Data types refer to an extensive system used for declaring variables
or functions of different types. The type of a variable determines
how much space it occupies in storage and how the bit pattern
stored is interpreted.
Data Types Available in VB.Net
VB.Net provides a wide range of data types. The following table
shows all the data types available −
Data Type Storage Allocation Value Range
Depends on implementing
Boolean True or False
platform
Byte 1 byte 0 through 255 (unsigned)
Char 2 bytes 0 through 65535 (unsigned)
0:00:00 (midnight) on January 1, 0001
Date 8 bytes through 11:59:59 PM on December 31,
9999
0 through +/-
79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335
(+/-7.9...E+28) with no decimal point; 0
Decimal 16 bytes
through +/-
7.9228162514264337593543950335
with 28 places to the right of the decimal
-1.79769313486231570E+308 through -
4.94065645841246544E-324, for
negative values
Double 8 bytes
4.94065645841246544E-324 through
1.79769313486231570E+308, for
positive values
-2,147,483,648 through 2,147,483,647
Integer 4 bytes
(signed)
-9,223,372,036,854,775,808 through
Long 8 bytes
9,223,372,036,854,775,807(signed)
Object 4 bytes on 32-bit platform Any type can be stored in a variable of
8 bytes on 64-bit platform type Object
SByte 1 byte -128 through 127 (signed)
Short 2 bytes -32,768 through 32,767 (signed)
-3.4028235E+38 through -1.401298E-45
for negative values;
Single 4 bytes
1.401298E-45 through 3.4028235E+38
for positive values
Depends on implementing 0 to approximately 2 billion Unicode
String
platform characters
UInteger 4 bytes 0 through 4,294,967,295 (unsigned)
0 through 18,446,744,073,709,551,615
ULong 8 bytes
(unsigned)
Each member of the structure has a range
User- Depends on implementing determined by its data type and
Defined platform independent of the ranges of the other
members
UShort 2 bytes 0 through 65,535 (unsigned)
Example
The following example demonstrates use of some of the types −
Live Demo
Module DataTypes
Sub Main()
Dim b As Byte
Dim n As Integer
Dim si As Single
Dim d As Double
Dim da As Date
Dim c As Char
Dim s As String
Dim bl As Boolean
b = 1
n = 1234567
si = 0.12345678901234566
d = 0.12345678901234566
da = Today
c = "U"c
s = "Me"
If ScriptEngine = "VB" Then
bl = True
Else
bl = False
End If
If bl Then
'the oath taking
Console.Write(c & " and," & s & vbCrLf)
Console.WriteLine("declaring on the day of:
{0}", da)
Console.WriteLine("We will learn VB.Net
seriously")
Console.WriteLine("Lets see what happens to the
floating point variables:")
Console.WriteLine("The Single: {0}, The Double:
{1}", si, d)
End If
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the
following result −
U and, Me
declaring on the day of: 12/4/2012 12:00:00 PM
We will learn VB.Net seriously
Lets see what happens to the floating point variables:
The Single:0.1234568, The Double: 0.123456789012346
The Type Conversion Functions in VB.Net
VB.Net provides the following in-line type conversion functions −
Sr.No. Functions & Description
CBool(expression)
1
Converts the expression to Boolean data type.
2 CByte(expression)
Converts the expression to Byte data type.
CChar(expression)
3
Converts the expression to Char data type.
CDate(expression)
4
Converts the expression to Date data type
CDbl(expression)
5
Converts the expression to Double data type.
CDec(expression)
6
Converts the expression to Decimal data type.
CInt(expression)
7
Converts the expression to Integer data type.
CLng(expression)
8
Converts the expression to Long data type.
CObj(expression)
9
Converts the expression to Object type.
CSByte(expression)
10
Converts the expression to SByte data type.
CShort(expression)
11
Converts the expression to Short data type.
CSng(expression)
12
Converts the expression to Single data type.
CStr(expression)
13
Converts the expression to String data type.
CUInt(expression)
14
Converts the expression to UInt data type.
CULng(expression)
15
Converts the expression to ULng data type.
CUShort(expression)
16
Converts the expression to UShort data type.
Example
The following example demonstrates some of these functions −
Live Demo
Module DataTypes
Sub Main()
Dim n As Integer
Dim da As Date
Dim bl As Boolean = True
n = 1234567
da = Today
Console.WriteLine(bl)
Console.WriteLine(CSByte(bl))
Console.WriteLine(CStr(bl))
Console.WriteLine(CStr(da))
Console.WriteLine(CChar(CChar(CStr(n))))
Console.WriteLine(CChar(CStr(da)))
Console.ReadKey()
End Sub
End Module
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the
following result −
True
-1
True
12/4/2012
1
1
