records vs classes

Why Records Exist? | Records vs Classes | The Complete Developer’s Decision Guide [2024]

TL;DR: Records are specialized reference types in C# designed for holding immutable data, with automatic value-based equality and simplified syntax. While they have a tiny performance overhead compared to classes, they insanely reduce boilerplate code and make data handling safer!
They’re perfect for DTOs, API responses, and domain events.

What Are Records Really? Let’s Clear the Confusion

Think of records as a drink menu that lists specific cocktails with their ingredients, while classes are like a mixology school that trains you to create endless drink variations. Before going technical, let’s understand what problem records solve:

• The old way with classes — look at all this code just to hold some data!

public class PersonClass
{
    public string FirstName { get; init; }
    public string LastName { get; init; }
    
    public PersonClass(string firstName, string lastName)
    {
        FirstName = firstName;
        LastName = lastName;
    }

    // Need to implement equality to compare data
    public override bool Equals(object? obj)
    {
        if (obj is not PersonClass other) return false;
        return FirstName == other.FirstName && 
               LastName ==…