VB.Net - DirectCast

This is a type of explicit conversion
If this conversion is not possible then an exception is thrown.
This is another way to convert between different data types.
The DirectCast works in a similar way to the CType operator but has a few imporatant differences:
It only works with arguments that are reference type. If you pass a Value type then a compilation error will occur.
It cannot perform widening conversions from Short to Integer.
It cannot perform widening conversions from Single to Double.
This method is slightly faster that CType so you should use CType when you need to cast rather than convert a value.

DirectCast requires an inheritance or implementation relationship between the data types of the two arguments.
This means that one type must inherit from or implement the other.
This is a cast operator that has the same syntax as CType and is useful in certain narrowing situations
The DirectCast gives you the CLR supported conversions rather than using any of the other conversion functions.
DirectCast(objObject, Integer) will generate an exception if objObject doesn't contain an integer.
CType(objObject, Integer) will work if objObject is a Long, Double, String etc
Using DirectCast instead of CType can make the conversion that little bit faster and should only be used when you know exactly what you are converting.

Dim arArray As New ArrayList() 
Dim i as Integer 
arArray.Add(100) 
i = DirectCast(arArray(0), Integer) 

DirectCast is twice as fast for value types (integers, etc) and marginally faster for reference types.
There is no boxing in DirectCast
DirectCast only works if the specified type and the run-time type of the expression are the same.
If the argument cannot be converted to the target type it will throw an InvalidCastException error.

C# Equivalent

This is the same as using (Brackets)

VBA

This operator is not available in VBA.