Boxing Detection

Boxing is one of the most hidden causes of Garbage Collection (GC) spikes in Unity projects.

What is Boxing?

Boxing occurs when a value type (like int, float, struct, or enum) is converted to an object type or an interface. This forces the value to be wrapped in a reference type on the heap, triggering a memory allocation.

int health = 100;
Debug.Log("Current Health: " + health); // ❌ Boxing 'health' to object for string.Format

How Code Hygienist Helps

Our scanner identifies code patterns where boxing is likely to occur, particularly in performance-critical areas like Update() or frequently called utility methods.

Common Flagged Patterns:

• Passing value types into methods taking params object[] (like string.Format or Debug.Log).
• Implicitly converting enums to strings or objects.
• Storing structs in non-generic collections (like ArrayList).

Optimization Tip

To avoid boxing, consider:

• Using generics (<T>) where possible.
• Pre-converting values to strings if they are used repeatedly.
• Avoiding object or interface parameters for high-frequency method calls.