Nullable Types in C#

Nullable types are instances of the System.Nullable<T> struct. A nullable type can represent the correct range of values for its underlying value type, plus an additional null value. For example, a Nullable, pronounced "Nullable of Int32," can be assigned any value from -2147483648 to 2147483647, or it can be assigned the null value. A Nullable can be assigned the values true false, or null. The ability to assign null to numeric and Boolean types is especially useful when you are dealing with databases and other data types that contain elements that may not be assigned a value. For example, a Boolean field in a database can store the values true or false, or it may be undefined.

class NullableExample
{
    static void Main()
    {
        int? num = null;
        if (num.HasValue == true)
        {
            System.Console.WriteLine("num = " + num.Value);
        }
        else
        {
            System.Console.WriteLine("num = Null");
        }

        // y is set to zero
        int y = num.GetValueOrDefault();

        // num.Value throws an InvalidOperationException if num.HasValue is false
        try
        {
            y = num.Value;
        }
        catch (System.InvalidOperationException e)
        {
            System.Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
        }
    }
}

The example will display the output:

num = Null
Nullable object must have a value.