C# Cookbook

Preface

C# is a language targeted at developers for the Microsoft .NET platform who have already worked with a C-like language such as C, C++, or Java. Unlike previous versions of C or C++ for the Microsoft Windows platform, C# code runs under a managed execution environment. While C and C++ developers using Visual Studio .NET can now write managed code using the Managed Extensions for C++, C# offers a middle path between C++’s overall power but sometimes difficult code and the higher-level task orientation provided by Visual Basic .NET. Microsoft portrays C# as a modern and innovative language for .NET development that will be familiar to current C++ programmers while allowing more runtime control over the executing code.

C# allows you to perform many C/C++-like functions such as direct memory access via pointers and operator overloading that are not supported in Visual Basic .NET. Many of the interesting enhancements for .NET languages are slated to appear first in C#, such as generics. (You can think of generics as templates with a twist.) C# is the system-level programming language for .NET. You can still do great application-level work in C#, but it really shines when you need to build code a little closer to the framework.

If you have seen C#, you may have noticed that it looks a lot like Java; Java programmers will feel very much at home in C# once they learn the Framework SDK. C# can also be a great language for Visual Basic .NET programmers when they need a little more ...