UnionType

Powerful, low consumption, and highly scalable type for c#.

What is this

It provide an union type struct, for strongly typed c# language.

How to implement

Use Memory mask to make struct has 16(maximum primary type bytes)+1(type store) bytes, it can be store primary types.

Object store use GCHandle to pin memory.

Samples

samples/UnionType.Sample

implicit cast in any time

using System;
using UnionType;

internal class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        UnionValue a = 123;
        int b = a;//123
    }
}

You can use navite point or ref

using System;
using UnionType;

internal class Program
{
    unsafe static void Main()
    {
        UnionValue a = 123;
        Console.WriteLine(*a.ToPointer<int>());//Print 123
    }
}

It is not a read-only type

using System;
using UnionType;

internal class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var uv = (UnionValue)123;
        Inc(ref uv);
        Console.WriteLine(uv.@int);//Print 124
    }
    private static void Inc(ref UnionValue value)
    {
        value.@int++;
    }
}

It can accommodate all basic types

• void(Empty)
• byte
• sbyte
• bool
• char
• short
• ushort
• int
• uint
• long
• ulong
• float(Single)
• double
• decimal
• object
• DBNull
• DateTime
• String
• TimeSpan(Additional types)
• Guid(Additional types)
• IntPtr(Additional types)

It can fast alloc decimal from number

Performace is alloc decimal benchmark

using System;
using UnionType;

internal class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var uv = UnionValue.FromAsDecimal(123);
        Console.WriteLine(uv.@decimal);//123
    }
}

Implement p type interface(No .NET 7)

• ICloneable
• IComparable
• IConvertible
• IFormattable

Space saving

using System;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
using UnionType;

internal class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        Console.WriteLine(Unsafe.SizeOf<UnionValue>());//In .NET7.0 print 24, other print 17
    }
}

Able to operate

using System;
using UnionType;

internal class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        UnionValue a = 123;
        UnionValue b = 456;

        var result = a + b;
        Console.WriteLine(result.ToString());//579
    }
}

Supports

• +
• -
• *
• /
• %

Integer will become long, floating point will become decimal

Can compare

using System;
using UnionType;

internal class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        UnionValue a = 123;
        var b = 456;
        Console.WriteLine(a > b);//False
        Console.WriteLine(a < b);//True
    }
}

Supports

• >
• >=
• <
• <=
• == It will check type
• != It will check type

Can store object(weak ref)

using System;
using UnionType;

internal class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var obj = new Program();
        var uv = new UnionValue { Object = obj };
        Console.WriteLine(uv.TypeNameString);//Program, rsa2, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
        Console.WriteLine(uv.Object);//Program
    }
}

No box, raw type, can box if you need

using System;
using UnionType;

internal class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var uv = UnionValue.FromAsDecimal(123);
        Console.WriteLine(uv.Box());//123
    }
}

FromObject or raw type

using System;
using UnionType;

internal class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        var uv = UnionValue.FromObject(123);//Fast
        Console.WriteLine(uv.Box());//123
        uv = UnionValue.FromObject((object)123);
        Console.WriteLine(uv.Box());//123
    }
}

I use raw point copy!

UnionType/src/UnionType/UnionValueCreator.cs

Line 108 in eff150c

*(T*)&v = value;

In serialize case.(Can see UnionValueToBytesHelperTest.cs)

Performace

BenchmarkDotNet=v0.13.2, OS=Windows 10 (10.0.19045.2364)
Intel Core i5-9400F CPU 2.90GHz (Coffee Lake), 1 CPU, 6 logical and 6 physical cores
.NET SDK=7.0.100
  [Host]     : .NET 7.0.0 (7.0.22.51805), X64 RyuJIT AVX2
  DefaultJob : .NET 7.0.0 (7.0.22.51805), X64 RyuJIT AVX2

Method	Count	Mean	Error	StdDev	Ratio	RatioSD	Allocated	Alloc Ratio
Decimal	500	136.3 ns	0.37 ns	0.33 ns	1.00	0.00	-	NA
Union	500	136.5 ns	0.47 ns	0.42 ns	1.00	0.00	-	NA
Box	500	136.5 ns	0.66 ns	0.62 ns	1.00	0.00	-	NA
BigInteger	500	912.7 ns	3.84 ns	3.59 ns	6.70	0.03	-	NA
Decimal	5000000	1,290,235.7 ns	2,928.91 ns	2,596.40 ns	1.00	0.00	-	NA
Union	5000000	1,291,152.6 ns	4,300.97 ns	3,812.70 ns	1.00	0.00	1 B	NA
Box	5000000	1,291,088.1 ns	3,581.48 ns	2,990.70 ns	1.00	0.00	1 B	NA
BigInteger	5000000	9,026,300.8 ns	10,061.51 ns	8,919.27 ns	7.00	0.01	8 B	NA