Convert double to float by cast or Convert.ToSingle()?

Question

In C# I can convert doubles to floats by a cast (float) or by Convert.ToSingle().

double x = 3.141592653589793238463; float a = (float)x; float b = Convert.ToSingle(x); 

a and b become equal.

Are there any differences between both techniques? Which one should I prefer and why?

Answer 1

From the .NET reference source:

public static float ToSingle(double value) {      return (float)value; } 

So, your answer is that they are exactly the same, under the hood.

Any preference between the two is strictly a personal style choice. Personally, I would always use the cast as it is shorter and and just seems more idiomatic to me.