Essential C# 4.0

1. Introducing C#

C# IS NOW A WELL-ESTABLISHED LANGUAGE that builds on features found in its predecessor C-style languages (C, C++, and Java), making it immediately familiar to many experienced programmers.¹ Part of a larger, more complex execution platform called the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI), C# is a programming language for building software components and applications.

1. It has now been more than ten years since the first C# design meeting.

This chapter introduces C# using the traditional HelloWorld program. The chapter focuses on C# syntax fundamentals, including defining an entry point into the C# program executable. This will ...