Visual Basic vs. C#

[IanS]

C# can use pointers directly, which vb.net cannot do. So I guess one could say c# is a little lower level than vb still, but it's all a moot point.

Microsoft's c# 2005 Step by Step by John Sharp has a page or so about pointers in c and c++ explaining how they're used and the kind of problems they can cause if not used correctly.

It then goes on to say:-

Reference Variables were added to c# to avoid all these problems.
If you really want to, you can continue to use pointers in c# but you must
mark your code as unsafe.

It then shows a couple of examples of using the unsafe keyword.

It then goes on to say ... unsafe code has a bearing on how memory is managed:
objects created in unsafe code are said to be 'Unmanaged'.

So I reckon what that is saying is that c# 'can' use pointers in similar syntax to c/c++ but you really shouldn't. You should use the same 'reference variables' just like you'd do in VB