Why would someone write string someString = “” + Convert.toChar(0) instead of someString = “0”

Question

Why would someone write

string someString = "" + Convert.ToChar(0);

instead of

string someString = "0";

I saw this in some code related to smart cards. Is there a particular reason for this, from a technical standpoint?

Answer 1

Convert.ToChar(0) is not the same as '0' . It is the same as '\\0' (the null character or null terminator). Why would one use the Convert instead of '\\0' ? I see no reason why.

Using "" + before the character converts it to a string instead of an char . I prefer to use .ToString() since that makes clear what actually happens. But converting here is absolutely useless since you can simply construct a string at once. So conclusion, the code can be written the best as:

"\0"

Answer 2

"0" is a string literal consisting of the number zero and an embedded string terminator.

I think "" + convertToChar(0) has a string terminator due to "" and another one due to convertToChar(0) . So it's still a zero length string.

Abbreviating the latter as "\\0" is more conventional.