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How do you declare an enum in C#, and what underlying type do its members have by default? How do you create a 'flags' enum that supports combining multiple values using bitwise operations? How does the [Flags] attribute change the output of ToString() on a combined flags enum value? What is the performance consideration when using Enum.HasFlag() versus a direct bitwise AND check? How would you write an extension method to safely add or remove a specific flag from a [Flags] enum value without manual bitwise operators scattered throughout your code? How do you safely validate that an enum value received from external input (like deserialized JSON or a database) is actually a DEFINED member, given that enums don't enforce this by default? How would you use pattern matching (switch expressions) with an enum, including exhaustiveness warnings from the compiler? How do enums interact with generic constraints, and why has it historically been awkward to write generic, reusable flag-manipulation code? How would you design an enum-based state machine using pattern matching to enforce valid state transitions at compile time or runtime?
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How do you convert between an enum value and its underlying numeric value, and between an enum and its string name?

Beginner

Answer

Cast directly with (int) to get the numeric value; use ToString() to get the member's name as a string, and Enum.Parse<T>() (or the safer Enum.TryParse<T>()) to convert a string back into the corresponding enum value.
DayOfWeek day = DayOfWeek.Monday;
int numericValue = (int)day;          // 1
string name = day.ToString();          // "Monday"
DayOfWeek parsed = Enum.Parse<DayOfWeek>("Tuesday"); // DayOfWeek.Tuesday
Real-world example Converting a user-selected string from a dropdown into the corresponding enum value for use in business logic.

Common follow-ups: What exception does Enum.Parse<T>() throw if the input string doesn't match any enum member, and how does TryParse avoid it?

String Handling & StringBuilder
All 10 Enums & Flags questions