Records

Context: Records are reference types (C# 9+) that provide value‑based equality and immutability by default. They are ideal for data‑centric types.

Records are similar to classes but with built‑in behavior for equality, hashing, and ToString(). They support non‑destructive mutation via with expressions.

public record Person(string FirstName, string LastName);
var p1 = new Person("Alice", "Smith");
var p2 = new Person("Alice", "Smith");
Console.WriteLine(p1 == p2); // True (value equality)

Real-world usage example

Data transfer objects (DTOs): Records are perfect for DTOs in APIs because they are immutable and provide value equality. When receiving JSON data, you can deserialize into a record and safely pass it around.

Example: In ASP.NET Core, you can use records as action method parameters. The JsonSerializer works seamlessly with records.

Related sections

• 6.1.1 record class
• 6.1.2 record struct
• 6.1.3 Positional records