There are a number of differences between a struct and a class, including:
- A struct is a value type (instance created on the stack); a class is a reference type (instance created on the heap)
- A variable defined as a struct type contains the actual data in the struct; a variable defined as a class type references or points to the data stored in the instance of the class
- Memory for a struct is released when its variable goes out of scope; memory for a class instance is released when the object is garbage collected
- When a struct is assigned to a new variable, a copy is made (changes to the original are not reflected in the copy); when an instance of a class is assigned to a new variable, the new variable references the existing instance
- When a struct is passed to a method, a copy is made