.NET Common Language Runtime Unleashed

Building a Program with C#

One of your first tasks in learning C# is to create a C# program. Listing A.1 shows a simple C# program that simply prints a message to the Console.

Listing A.1. Simple C# Program

using System; namespace Hello { class HelloMain { static void Main(string[] args) { Console.WriteLine("Hello!"); } } }

First, notice that a namepace encloses the entire program. This is strictly not required. If the namespace is taken out, leaving the class HelloMain, the program would still compile and run. However, it is a good idea to get in the habit of enclosing your programs with a namespace. This prevents conflicts with other modules and libraries.

Classes can only exist directly in a namespace. You cannot put methods or fields directly ...