Value equality in records in C Sharp (C#) - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - Value equality in records

Create record instance A

↓

Create record instance B

↓

Compare A and B

↓

Return true

This flow shows how two record instances are created and compared by their values, returning true if all properties match.

Execution Sample

C Sharp (C#)

public record Person(string Name, int Age);

var p1 = new Person("Alice", 30);
var p2 = new Person("Alice", 30);

bool areEqual = p1 == p2;
Console.WriteLine(areEqual);

This code creates two Person records with the same data and compares them for value equality, printing the result.

Execution Table

Step	Action	Evaluation	Result
1	Create p1 with Name="Alice", Age=30	p1 = Person(Name="Alice", Age=30)	p1 created
2	Create p2 with Name="Alice", Age=30	p2 = Person(Name="Alice", Age=30)	p2 created
3	Compare p1 == p2	Compare all properties: Name and Age	True (values equal)
4	Print areEqual	Output value of areEqual	True

💡 Comparison ends after checking all properties are equal, so result is True.

Variable Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 2	After Step 3	Final
p1	null	Person(Name="Alice", Age=30)	Person(Name="Alice", Age=30)	Person(Name="Alice", Age=30)	Person(Name="Alice", Age=30)
p2	null	null	Person(Name="Alice", Age=30)	Person(Name="Alice", Age=30)	Person(Name="Alice", Age=30)
areEqual	undefined	undefined	undefined	True	True

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why does p1 == p2 return true even though they are different objects?

Because records in C# compare their contents (values of properties) for equality, not their memory addresses. See execution_table step 3 where all properties are compared.

What if one property differs between p1 and p2?

Then the comparison returns false because value equality requires all properties to match exactly. This is shown in execution_table step 3 where all properties must be equal.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table at step 3, what is the result of comparing p1 and p2?

A Throws error

B False

C True

D Null

💡 Hint

Check the 'Result' column in step 3 of execution_table.

According to variable_tracker, what is the value of areEqual after step 3?

A False

B True

C null

D undefined

💡 Hint

Look at the 'areEqual' row under 'After Step 3' in variable_tracker.

If p2 was created with Age=31 instead of 30, what would be the comparison result?

A False

B True

C Throws exception

D Comparison skipped

💡 Hint

Value equality requires all properties to match exactly, see key_moments explanation.

Concept Snapshot

C# records compare by value, not reference.
Use '==' to check if all properties are equal.
Records auto-generate equality methods.
Different objects with same data are equal.
If any property differs, equality is false.

Full Transcript

This example shows how C# records compare two instances by their values. Two Person records with the same Name and Age are created. When compared with '==', the result is true because records check if all properties match. The variable 'areEqual' stores this result and prints true. This demonstrates value equality in records, meaning objects with identical data are considered equal even if they are different instances.