C# 8.0 in a Nutshell

Preface

C# 8.0 represents the seventh major update to Microsoft’s flagship programming language, positioning C# as a language with unusual flexibility and breadth. At one end, it offers high-level abstractions such as query expressions and asynchronous continuations, whereas at the other end, it allows low-level efficiency through constructs such as custom value types and optional pointers.

The price of this growth is that there’s more than ever to learn. Although tools such as Microsoft’s IntelliSense—and online references—are excellent in helping you on the job, they presume an existing map of conceptual knowledge. This book provides exactly that map of knowledge in a concise and unified style—free of clutter and long introductions.

Like the past five editions, C# 8.0 in a Nutshell is organized around concepts and use cases, making it friendly both to sequential reading and to random browsing. It also plumbs significant depths while assuming only basic background knowledge, making it accessible to intermediate as well as advanced readers.

This book covers C#, the Common Language Runtime (CLR), and the essential .NET Core assemblies. We’ve chosen this focus to allow space for difficult topics such as concurrency, security, and access to operating system functionality—without compromising depth or readability. Features new to C# 8 are flagged so that you can also use this book as a reference for C# 7.

Intended Audience

This book targets intermediate to advanced audiences. No ...