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POPossible to Inspect Innards of Core C# Functionality
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  1. POPossible to Inspect Innards of Core C# Functionality
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    copied!<p>I was struck today, with the inclination to compare the innards of <code>Buffer.BlockCopy</code> and <code>Array.CopyTo.</code> I am curious to see if <code>Array.CopyTo</code> called <code>Buffer.BlockCopy</code> behind the scenes. There is no practical purpose behind this, I just want to further my understanding of the C# language and how it is implemented. Don't jump the gun and accuse me of micro-optimization, but you can accuse me of being curious!</p> <p>When I ran ILdasm on mscorlib.dll I received this for <code>Array.CopyTo</code></p> <pre><code>.method public hidebysig newslot virtual final instance void CopyTo(class System.Array 'array', int32 index) cil managed { // Code size 0 (0x0) } // end of method Array::CopyTo </code></pre> <p>and this for <code>Buffer.BlockCopy</code></p> <pre><code>.method public hidebysig static void BlockCopy(class System.Array src, int32 srcOffset, class System.Array dst, int32 dstOffset, int32 count) cil managed internalcall { .custom instance void System.Security.SecuritySafeCriticalAttribute::.ctor() = ( 01 00 00 00 ) } // end of method Buffer::BlockCopy </code></pre> <p>Which, frankly, baffles me. I've never run ILdasm on a dll/exe I didn't create. Does this mean that I won't be able to see how these functions are implemented? Searching around only revealed <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2353947/buffer-blockcopy-vs-unsafe-byte-pointer-copy">a stackoverflow question</a>, which Marc Gravell said</p> <blockquote> <p>[<code>Buffer.BlockCopy</code>] is basically a wrapper over a raw mem-copy</p> </blockquote> <p>While insightful, it doesn't answer my question if <code>Array.CopyTo</code> calls <code>Buffer.BlockCopy</code>. I'm specifically interested in if I'm able to see how these two functions are implemented, and if I had future questions about the internals of C#, if it is possible for me to investigate it. Or am I out of luck?</p>
 

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