Codenotes for C#

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Innovation is the hallmark of the software industry. Like clockwork, the widespread adoption of a particular standard is frequently accompanied by the introduction of a new one. Programming languages are no exception. Drawing upon both theory and practice, a new language will often address the shortcomings and limitations of its predecessors while boasting innovations to boot. So it is with C#. As you have likely heard, C# (pronounced "C-Sharp") is a new programming language designed by Microsoft. Although the spectrum of existing documentation on C# can give varying impressions as to its place within the software development community, a diagnosis of the language is prone to the following two distinct observations: 1. Formally, C# is a specification for a computer language that Microsoft announced in June 2000. Syntactically, the language is similar to C++ and Java, eliminating (or obscuring) many of the complexities of the former while improving on some of the conventions of the latter. The C# specification was recently ratified by the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA), which means that other vendors can provide their own implementations of the language. Therefore, writing C# applications for operating systems other than Windows will be possible (in fact, as we will see, it is already possible). 2. Practically, C# is the "native" language of the .NET Framework, which is Microsoft's new strategy for the development and deployment of software. As we will see throughout this book, in addition to revamping significant portions of Windows architecture, .NET improves upon existing Microsoft technologies such as ActiveX Data Objects (ADO, for database access) and Active Server Pages (ASP, for web development). Furthermore, .NET introduces some fundamentally new concepts into the realm of software development, such as cross-language inheritance and component versioning through public-key cryptography. In this regard, C# is not so much a new creature as an improved form of older languages that has been adapted to the .NET environment. For developers C# can serve as an excellent entry point into the .NET world (although, as we will see, other languages are also supported by the framework). By using C# to leverage the .NET Framework you can develop a variety of applications, including traditional Windows desktop applications, web-based applications, and software components that communicate over the open standards of the Internet (web services). In this book we will examine both the theory and practice behind C#. Whereas theory encompasses the syntactical conventions of the language (such as supported variable types, loop constructs, and object-oriented features), practice incorporates the surrounding .NET Framework on which a C# application executes. Remember, however, that technically C# is nothing more than language specification, and while in practice it is intrinsically tied to .NET, there is no stipulation that it remain so. (An open source effort to port the language to Linux is already in progress; see aCS010001 for details.) Nevertheless, a portion of this book is dedicated to exploring the natural habitat of C#, which is .NET. C# Is Just Another Language . . . While it is easy to become buried in the marketing hyperbole, remember that C# is just another language. Although there are some noteworthy innovations with Microsoft's latest creature, the language merely builds on concepts with which you are likely familiar. Memory allocation, array usage, and class inheritance are all-important aspects of C#, though they may be used with slightly different conventions and assumptions than the language you are currently using. What is special about C# is that it was designed specifically with component development in mind. This means that authoring classes in C# isBrill, Gregory is the author of 'Codenotes for C#' with ISBN 9780812966466 and ISBN 0812966465.