Why can't you convert Console.ReadLine to int trough Convert.ToInt

Question

so I was just starting to code and found out that this example right here doesn't work, but with int.TryParse() it would work. Otherwise with Convert.Byte() it works too. What is the background of that?

using System;

namespace timezones
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            int timeSwitzerland = Convert.ToInt(Console.ReadLine());

        }
    }
}

There's no such method as `Convert.ToInt`. There *is* `Convert.ToInt32`. Perhaps that's what you meant? (Likewise there's no `Convert.Byte`, but there is `Convert.ToByte`.) — Jon Skeet, Feb 06 '21 at 07:27

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 06 '21 at 07:36

As I'm seeing this quite often, I'll post the official string to number conversion guide

You can convert a string to a number by calling the Parse or TryParse method found on the various numeric types (int, long, double, and so on), or by using methods in the System.Convert class.

The Convert.ToInt32 method uses Parse internally. The Parse method returns the converted number;

So effectively in both cases you use Int.Parse

Now in your case the options are Convert.ToInt{Enter extected integer size}:

Why can't you convert Console.ReadLine to int trough Convert.ToInt

1 Answers1