Member Avatar for jigneshdesai

Hello freinds,
Recently i was interviewes in accenture and i was asked what the difference between tostring and convertostring. I think tostring checks for spaces and convertostring does not

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Quick practical clarification (builds on , and ): ToString() is an instance method (declared on System.Object and commonly overridden), while Convert.ToString(...) is a static helper with several overloads. That difference (instance vs static + overloads) is the root of the behavior people notice. (learn.microsoft.com)

Important overload nuance you’ll see in real code — this often surprises people:

object o = null;
string a = Convert.ToString(o);      // returns String.Empty (object overload)
string b = o.ToString();             // throws NullReferenceException

string s = null;
string c = Convert.ToString(s);      // returns null (string overload — input unchanged)
string d = Convert.ToString((object)s); // returns String.Empty (object overload used)

The static Convert.ToString(object) explicitly returns String.Empty for a null object; the Convert.ToString(string) overload simply returns the string reference it was given (so null stays null). (learn.microsoft.com) (learn.microsoft.com)

Practical recommendations for code and interviews:

  • If you want an explicit empty string when the source might be null, use obj?.ToString() ?? "" or Convert.ToString((object)obj) (but be aware of the overload difference above).
  • If you need culture-aware formatting for user-facing output, use the Convert.ToString(object, IFormatProvider) or the type’s ToString(IFormatProvider) overloads. (learn.microsoft.com)

Short interview answer: mention instance vs static, explain the null/overload nuance, and give the safe coding pattern (?.ToString() ?? "") as a concrete recommendation.

Member Avatar for khadakbist

Its not spaces its nulls.
convert.tostring handles nulls while simple tostring() function does not handle null.

Member Avatar for jigneshdesai

Are you sure about it khadak...

Member Avatar for jigneshdesai

Nice video to the point thanks a lot.

Member Avatar for Ramesh.KR

Tostring:-
Its not handle the null values.Its throwing error.
Convert to string:-
Its handle null value also.Its not throwing an error.

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