Chapter 1. Introducing C#
The C# programming language (pronounced “see sharp”) is used for many kinds of applications, including websites, cloud-based systems, artificial intelligence, IoT devices, desktop applications, embedded controllers, mobile apps, games, and command-line utilities. C#, along with the supporting runtime, libraries, and tools known collectively as .NET, has been center stage for Windows developers for over 20 years. Today, .NET is cross-platform and open source, enabling applications and services written in C# to run on operating systems including Android, iOS, macOS, and Linux, as well as on Windows.
Every new version of C# has enhanced developer productivity. For example, the most recent versions include new pattern-matching features to make our code more expressive and succinct. Primary constructors and collection expressions help to reduce verbosity in some common scenarios. Various type-system enhancements allow our code to express its requirements and characteristics in more detail, enabling us to write more flexible libraries, and to enjoy better compile-time diagnostics.
C# 11.0 and 12.0 have gained performance-oriented features including generic math, and improved control over memory handling for performance-sensitive low-level code. Every new .NET release has improved execution speed, but there have also been significant reductions in startup times, memory footprint, and binary size. This, along with improved support for containerization, enhances ...
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