When and when not to use the ToString() method

Question

Hi I've got some code which works surprisingly well. When I use the MessageBox.Show command sometimes I can get a away without using the To String() method. Anybody can say why this snippet of code works ok please :- decimal averageIteration = iterationsTotal / iterations.Length; int maxIterations = iterations.Max(); MessageBox.Show(The average number of iterations needed to win are  + averageIteration + 
 + The High number was  + maxIterations + 
 + The Lowest number was  + iterations.Min()); The code above does not have any trouble outputting an int or decimal types. No need to even use the ToString() method. Thanks to anyone who can help answer this for me Cheers Matt

Vulpes · Answer

The string concatenation operator '+' is overloaded so that one of the operands can be an object rather than a string. When this is done the virtual ToString() method is called on the actual type of the object and then this is concatenated with the string operand. So if you have this: string result = number  + 5; the second operand 5 is an object whose actual type is int. So int.ToString() which is 5 is concatenated with number  to give a result of number 5. So this is why it works - and a lot of developers use it - but whether it's as clear as calling ToString() explicitly is another matter. Also there is a slight run time penalty because the int needs to be 'boxed' on the heap before its ToString() method can be called.