C# 0 The Complete Reference

Another Data Type

In the preceding program, a variable of type 

int

 was used. However, an 

int

 variable can 

hold only whole numbers. It cannot be used when a fractional component is required. For 

example, an 

int

 variable can hold the value 18, but not the value 18.3. Fortunately, 

int

 is 

only one of several data types defined by C#. To allow numbers with fractional components, 

C# defines two floating-point types: 

float

 and 

double

, which represent single- and double-

precision values, respectively. Of the two, 

double

 is the most commonly used.

To declare a variable of type 

double

, use a statement similar to that shown here:

double result;

Here, 

result

 is the name of the variable, which is of type