Chapter 16

Language-Specific Features

WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER?

  • Choosing the right language for the job
  • Working with the new C# and VB language features
  • Understanding and getting started with Visual F#

The .NET language ecosystem is alive and well. With literally hundreds of languages targeting the .NET Framework (you can find a fairly complete list at www.dotnetpowered.com/languages.aspx), .NET developers have a huge language arsenal at their disposal. Because the .NET Framework was designed with language interoperability in mind, these languages are also able to talk to each other, allowing for a creative cross-pollination of languages across a cross-section of programming problems. You can literally choose the right language tool for the job.

This chapter explores some of the latest language paradigms within the ecosystem, each with particular features and flavors that make solving those tough programming problems just a little bit easier. After a tour of some of the programming language paradigms, you’ll learn about some of the new language features introduced in Visual Studio 2012.

HITTING A NAIL WITH THE RIGHT HAMMER

You need to be a flexible and diverse programmer. The programming landscape requires elegance, efficiency, and longevity. Gone are the days of picking one language and platform and executing like crazy to meet the requirements of your problem domain. Different nails sometimes require different hammers.

Given that hundreds of languages are available on the .NET ...

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