Implicit and Explicit Conversion.

a) Implicit conversions: No special syntax is required because the conversion is type safe and no data will be lost. Examples include conversions from smaller to larger integral types, and conversions from derived classes to base classes.
b) Explicit conversions (casts): Explicit conversions require a cast operator. Casting is required when information might be lost in the conversion, or when the conversion might not succeed for other reasons. Typical examples include numeric conversion to a type that has less precision or a smaller range, and conversion of a base-class instance to a derived class.
c) User-defined conversions: User-defined conversions are performed by special methods that you can define to enable explicit and implicit conversions between custom types that do not have a base class–derived class relationship. For more information, see Conversion Operators.
d) Conversions with helper classes: To convert between non-compatible types, such as integers and System.DateTime objects, or hexadecimal strings and byte arrays, you can use the System.BitConverter class, the System.Convert class, and the Parse methods of the built-in numeric types, such as Int32.Parse.