Introduction to C-sharp

C-Sharp/Introduction to C-sharp

Introduction

C#(C-sharp) is a general-purpose, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. It enables developers to build many types of secure and robust applications that run in. NET. It was developed by Microsoft led by Anders Hejlsberg and his team within the .Net initiative and it was approved by the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) and International Standards Organization (ISO). It has roots in the C family of languages and will be immediately familiar to C, C++, Java, and JavaScript programmers.

C#(C-sharp) is an object-oriented, component-oriented programming language. It provides language constructs to directly support these concepts, making C# a natural language in which to create and use software components. Since its origin, has added features to support new workloads and emerging software design practices. At this core, C# is an object-oriented language. You define types and their behavior. Several C# features help create robust and durable applications. C# is widely used for building desktop applications, mobile applications, and games.

Some features of C#

• Garbage collection automatically reclaims memory occupied by unreachable unused objects.
• Nullable types guard against variables that don't refer to allocated objects.
• Exception handling provides a structured and extensible approach to error detection and recovery.
• Lambda expressions support functional programming techniques.
• Language Integrated Query (LINQ) syntax creates a common pattern for working with data from any source.
• Language support for asynchronous operations provides a syntax for building distributed systems.
• C# has a unified type system.  All C# types, including primitive types such as int and double, inherit from a single root object type. All types share a set of common operations. Values of any type can be stored, transported, and operated upon consistently.
• C# supports both user-defined reference types and value types.
• C# allows dynamic allocation of objects and in-line storage of lightweight structures.
• C# supports generic methods and types, which provide increased type safety and performance.
• C# provides iterators, which enable implementers of collection classes to define custom behaviors for client code.
• C# emphasizes versioning to ensure programs and libraries can evolve in a compatible manner over time.

Why C#?

•  Modern and Objects Oriented: C# provides the latest features and tools for developing scalable, reliable, and robust industry-standard applications and it supports all the basic object-oriented language features: encapsulation, polymorphism, and inheritance.
• Simple and Flexible: C# is a simple programming language to learn and use, in that everything in C# is represented as an object. All data types and components in C# are objects. Use a dot (.) operator to access the object members. C# provides flexibility, it develops both managed and unmanaged code. Managed code is code managed through the CLR module. It handles garbage collection, type-safety, and platform-independence behavior. The other one is unmanaged code, which is code run outside the CLR, such as an ActiveX control.

• Type-safety:  C# is a type-safe language. All variables and classes (including primitive types, such as integer, Boolean, and float) in C# are a type, and all types are derived from the object type. The object type provides basic functionality, such as string conversion, and information about a type. It doesn’t support unsafe-type assignments. This means, that assigning a float variable directly to a Boolean variable is not permitted. If you assign a float type to a Boolean type, the compiler generates an error. C# supports two kinds of types: value type and reference types. All value types are initialized with a value of zero, and all reference types are automatically initialized with a null value (local variables need to be initialized explicitly or the compiler throws a warning).
• Automatic Memory Management: Automatic memory management and garbage collection are two important features of C#. With C#, you don’t need to allocate memory or release it. Garbage collection automatically reclaims memory occupied by unreachable unused objects.
• Cross-Platform: C# is fully cross-platform in .NET Core. .NET Core is a free and open-source, managed computer software framework for Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems.
• High-level language with memory access capabilities: C# language is considered a high-level language because its syntax resembles human language. In other words, it has a high level of abstraction from machine code, which is why we need to compile the code written in C# for the hardware to understand its commands.

Where C# is used?

• Windows desktop applications: C# is a standard choice for Windows applications because of the native support for .NET frameworks. It provides a lot of libraries, components, user interface class libraries, and other resources that speed development.
• Web services and apps: With the help of .NET Core, it is also possible to develop reliable web services using the same resources as the .NET platform.
• Linux and macOS applications: Using Mono runtime, the same applications can be optimized for Unix-based systems and macOS devices. In many cases, Mono shows performance results comparable to .NET runtime. This means, there is no significant difference in how C# applications work on different platforms.
• Mobile development: Xamarin is a cross-platform framework that wraps native components and libraries into the .Net layer to create native-looking Android and iOS apps. It enables developers to reuse up to 90 percent of the code across two major mobile platforms.
• Game development: C# is a go-to language for game development since it’s used in the Unity game engine. The games can be built for various platforms such as Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo devices, mobile games for Android and iOS, and PC games (Win, Mac, Linux).

In this tutorial, you will learn how to write and compile C# programs; understand C# syntaxes, data types, control flow, classes and their members, interfaces, arrays, and exception handling. After completing this tutorial, you should have a clear understanding of the purpose of the C# language, its usages, and how to write C# programs.