Direct casting vs 'as' operator?

Question

Consider the following code:

void Handler(object o, EventArgs e)
{
   // I swear o is a string
   string s = (string)o; // 1
   //-OR-
   string s = o as str         


        

Answer 1

The as keyword is good in asp.net when you use the FindControl method.

Hyperlink link = this.FindControl("linkid") as Hyperlink;
if (link != null)
{
     ...
}

This means you can operate on the typed variable rather then having to then cast it from object like you would with a direct cast:

object linkObj = this.FindControl("linkid");
if (link != null)
{
     Hyperlink link = (Hyperlink)linkObj;
}

It's not a huge thing, but it saves lines of code and variable assignment, plus it's more readable