Byte.Equals(Object) Method in C#

The Byte.Equals(Object) method in C# returns a value indicating whether this instance is equal to a specified object. This method compares the current byte instance with another object and returns true if they are equal, false otherwise.

Syntax

Following is the syntax −

public override bool Equals (object obj);

Parameters

• obj − An object to compare with this instance, or null.

Return Value

Returns true if obj is a byte instance and equals the value of this instance; otherwise, false.

Example

Let us now see an example to implement the Byte.Equals(Object) method −

using System;

public class Demo {
    public static void Main() {
        byte b1 = 5;
        object b2 = (byte)0; // 5/10 = 0 when cast to byte
        
        if (b1.Equals(b2))
            Console.WriteLine("b1 = b2");
        else
            Console.WriteLine("b1 is not equal to b2");
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

b1 is not equal to b2

Using Equals with Same Values

Here's an example demonstrating when the method returns true −

using System;

public class Demo {
    public static void Main() {
        byte b1 = 10;
        object b2 = (byte)10;
        
        Console.WriteLine("b1 = " + b1);
        Console.WriteLine("b2 = " + b2);
        Console.WriteLine("b1.Equals(b2): " + b1.Equals(b2));
        
        // Comparing with non-byte object
        object b3 = 10; // This is an int, not byte
        Console.WriteLine("b1.Equals(10 as int): " + b1.Equals(b3));
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

b1 = 10
b2 = 10
b1.Equals(b2): True
b1.Equals(10 as int): False

Type-Specific Comparison

The method performs type-specific comparison and only returns true if both the type and value match −

using System;

public class Demo {
    public static void Main() {
        byte b = 255;
        
        Console.WriteLine("Comparing with byte: " + b.Equals((byte)255));
        Console.WriteLine("Comparing with int: " + b.Equals(255));
        Console.WriteLine("Comparing with string: " + b.Equals("255"));
        Console.WriteLine("Comparing with null: " + b.Equals(null));
    }
}

The output of the above code is −

Comparing with byte: True
Comparing with int: False
Comparing with string: False
Comparing with null: False

Conclusion

The Byte.Equals(Object) method provides type-safe comparison for byte values. It returns true only when comparing with another byte object of the same value, ensuring both type and value equality for reliable comparisons.