Why default constructor does not appear for value types?

Question

The below snippet gives me a list of constructors and methods of a type.

static void ReflectOnType(Type type)
{
    Console.WriteLine(type.FullName);
    Console.WriteLine("------------");
    List<ConstructorInfo> constructors =
            type.GetConstructors(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.NonPublic |BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Default).ToList();

    List<MethodInfo> methods = type.GetMethods().ToList();

    Type baseType = type.BaseType;

    while (baseType != null)
    {
            constructors.AddRange(baseType.GetConstructors(BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.NonPublic |
                              BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Default));
            methods.AddRange(baseType.GetMethods());
            baseType = baseType.BaseType;
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Reflection on {0} type", type.Name);

    for (int i = 0; i < constructors.Count; i++)
    {
         Console.Write("Constructor: {0}.{1}", constructors[i].DeclaringType.Name, constructors[i].Name);
         Console.Write("(");
         ParameterInfo[] parameterInfos = constructors[i].GetParameters();
         if (parameterInfos.Length > 0)
         {
             for (int j = 0; j < parameterInfos.Length; j++)
             {
                 if (j > 0)
                 {
                     Console.Write(", ");
                 }
                 Console.Write("{0} {1}", parameterInfos[j].ParameterType, parameterInfos[j].Name);
             }
         }
         Console.Write(")");

         if (constructors[i].IsSpecialName)
         {
             Console.Write(" has 'SpecialName' attribute");
         }
         Console.WriteLine();
     }
     Console.WriteLine();

     for (int i = 0; i < methods.Count; i++)
     {
         Console.Write("Method: {0}.{1}", methods[i].DeclaringType.Name, methods[i].Name);
         // Determine whether or not each field is a special name.
         if (methods[i].IsSpecialName)
         {
             Console.Write(" has 'SpecialName' attribute");
         }
         Console.WriteLine();
     }
 }

But when I pass an ‘int’ type to this method, why don’t I see the implicit constructor in the output? Or, how do I modify the above code to list the default constructor as well (in case I’m missing something in my code).

Answer 1

In C# (and most CLI languages) - specifying a parameterless constructor on a struct is forbidden, and as such, a struct created in C# (and most other .NET languages) will not even have a parameterless constructor defined in the IL. The CLR always initializes value types using defined rules (basically, filling all values with zero equivalents), and C# enforces that as the only option.

Since the default, parameterless constructor does not exist in a C# generated struct, it does not display when using reflection.