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Q&A What does F#'s `box` keyword do and where is it documented?

The Null Values article in the F# Language Reference show an example that uses it, but it does not explain what it does exactly. You can use the following code to check if an arbitrary value is ...

1 answer  ·  posted 11mo ago by toraritte‭  ·  last activity 10mo ago by toraritte‭

Question f#
#1: Initial revision by user avatar toraritte‭ · 2024-01-05T15:57:18Z (11 months ago)
What does F#'s `box` keyword do and where is it documented?
The [Null Values][1] article in the [F# Language Reference][2] show an example that uses it, but it does not explain what it does exactly.

> You can use the following code to check if an arbitrary value is
> `null`.
> 
>     match box value with
>     | null -> printf "The value is null."
>     | _ -> printf "The value is not null."

I went through the entire [PDF version][3] of the language reference, but there is not trace of it ever being introduced. 


  [1]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/fsharp/language-reference/values/null-values
  [2]: https://docs.microsoft.com/dotnet/fsharp/language-reference/
  [3]: https://learn.microsoft.com/pdf?url=https%3A%2F%2Flearn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fdotnet%2Ffsharp%2Ftoc.json
f#