What are unmanaged resources in C#?

What are unmanaged resources in C#?

Unmanaged resources in C# are resources that are not handled by the .NET garbage collector, such as file handles, database connections, and network sockets.

How do I properly dispose of unmanaged resources?

You should implement the IDisposable interface in your class and provide a Dispose method to release unmanaged resources.

Can you give me an example of using IDisposable?

Sure! Here's a simple example:

public class MyResource : IDisposable {
    private IntPtr unmanagedResource;

    public MyResource() {
        unmanagedResource = /* allocate unmanaged resource */;
    }

    public void Dispose() {
        Dispose(true);
        GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
    }

    protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing) {
        if (unmanagedResource != IntPtr.Zero) {
            // Free unmanaged resource
            unmanagedResource = IntPtr.Zero;
        }
    }
}

What happens if I forget to dispose of unmanaged resources?

Forgetting to dispose of unmanaged resources can lead to memory leaks and resource exhaustion, as these resources won't be released until the application terminates.