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copied!<p>I'd like to add a couple of thoughts on why .NET's System.Object class definition has a ToString() method or member function, in addition to the previous postings on debugging.</p> <p>Since the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) or Execution Runtime supports Reflection, being able to instantiate an object given the string representation of the class type seems to be essential and fundamental. And if I'm not mistaken, all reference values in the CLR are derived from System.Object, having the ToString() method in the class ensures its availability and usage through Reflection. Defining and implementing an interface along the lines of IStringable, is not mandatory or required when defining a class in .NET, and would not ensure the ability to dynamically create a new instance after querying an assembly for its supported class types. </p> <p>As more advanced .NET functionality available in the 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5 runtimes, such as Generics and LINQ, are based on Reflection and dynamic instantiation, not to mention .NET's Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR) support that allow for .NET implementations of scripting languages, such as Ruby and Python, being able to identify and create an instance by a string type seems to be an essential and indispensable function to have in all class definitions.</p> <p>In short, if we can't identify and name a specific class we want to instantiate, how can we create it? Relying on a ToString() method that has the base class behavior of returning the Class Type as a "human readable" string seems to make sense.</p> <p>Maybe a review of the articles and books from Jeffrey Ricther and Don Box on the .NET Framework design and architecture may provide better insights on this topic as well.</p>

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