Byte

This type is a fundamental unit of memory. It contains eight bits. Other VB.NET types such as Integer are measured in terms of bytes.

Type notes

A byte is the smallest addressable unit. To change bits, bitwise operators must be used. Often in VB.NET programs we employ Byte arrays.

Example

Just like an Integer, the Byte can be declared and initialized in a Dim statement. Next we see that the Byte's minimum value is zero. The maximum value is 255.

Note If you try to assign a negative value to Byte, a compile-time error may occur.

Note 2 Byte is aliased to the System.Byte type. System.Byte is a composite name—it is easier to just specify Byte in a program.

Info The program allocates 1 million and 1 elements in the array—in VB.NET, we specify the last index, so we have an extra element.

Tip When an array is allocated in a VB.NET program, it requires both memory for the array reference, and the array object data.

Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        ' Byte variable.
        Dim value As Byte = 5
        Console.WriteLine(value)

        ' Min and Max.
        Console.WriteLine(Byte.MinValue)
        Console.WriteLine(Byte.MaxValue)

        ' Types.
        Console.WriteLine(value.GetType())
        Console.WriteLine(value.GetTypeCode())

        ' Memory usage (allocate 1 million and 1 elements).
        Dim a As Long = GC.GetTotalMemory(False)
        Dim arr(1000 * 1000) As Byte
        arr(0) = 1
        Dim b As Long = GC.GetTotalMemory(False)
        Console.WriteLine((b - a) / (1000 * 1000))
    End Sub
End Module5
0
255
System.Byte
6
1.000032

`SByte`

A Byte is unsigned—it has no sign bit. But SByte is a signed Byte—it has the same representation size but includes a sign bit.

So The SByte type can store the values -128 (its MinValue) through 127 (its MaxValue).

Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        ' Display minimum and maximum values for SByte.
        Dim value As SByte = SByte.MinValue
        Console.WriteLine(value)

        value = SByte.MaxValue
        Console.WriteLine(value)
    End Sub
End Module-128
127

Storage locations

The reference is often stored on the evaluation stack in the virtual execution environment. But the array object data is always stored in a separate place—the managed heap.

Array

The Byte type is probably most useful as part of an array type. An array of bytes can store any complete file in memory. This can be useful for optimizations such as caches.

Also Byte can be beneficial for when file formats need to be read or parsed at the level of the binary. The BinaryReader type is helpful.

Summary

A Byte can store values between, and including, zero and 255. It has no sign bit so cannot store a negative value. Byte arrays represent binary data files in memory.