Microsoft .NET is an advance in programming technology that greatly simplifies application development, both for traditional, proprietary applications and for the emerging paradigm of Web-based services. .NET 6 is a unified platform, for browser, cloud, desktop, IoT, and mobile apps. It is based on .NET Core, the package-based implementation that is cross-platform, running on Mac and Linux besides Windows. It completes the unification of the .NET platform begun with .NET 5.
Part of this technology is the new language from Microsoft, C#. This language combines the power of C++ and the ease of development of Visual Basic 6. It bears a striking resemblance to Java and improves on that language. C# has become the dominant language for building new applications on Microsoft platforms.
This thorough and comprehensive course is a practical introduction to programming in C#, utilizing the services provided by .NET. This course emphasizes the C# language. It is current to Visual Studio 2022, .NET 6 and C# 10. Important newer features such as dynamic data types, named and optional arguments, tuples, asynchronous programming keywords, nullable reference types, record types, and top-level statements are covered. Supplements provide a tutorial on Visual Studio 2022, an overview of LINQ, and coverage of unsafe code and pointers in C#.
This course is intended to be fully accessible to programmers who do not already have a strong background in object-oriented programming in C-like languages, such as C++ or Java. It is ideal, for example, for procedural programmers who desire to learn C#.
An important thrust of the course is to teach C# programming from an object-oriented perspective. It is often difficult for programmers trained originally in a procedural language to start “thinking in objects.” This course introduces object-oriented concepts early, and C# is developed in a way that leverages its object orientation. A case study is used to illustrate creating a complete system using C# and .NET. Besides supporting traditional object-oriented features, such as classes, inheritance, and polymorphism, C# introduces several additional features, such as properties, indexers, delegates, events, and interfaces that make C# a compelling language for developing object-oriented and component-based systems. This course provides thorough coverage of all these features.
C# as a language is elegant and powerful. But to utilize its capabilities fully, you need to have a good understanding of how it works with the .NET Framework. The course explores several important interactions between C# and the .NET Framework, and it includes an introduction to major classes for collections, delegates, and events. It includes a succinct introduction to creating GUI programs using Windows Forms. The course concludes with a chapter covering the newer features in the language.
Numerous programming examples and exercises are provided, including the case study. The student will receive a comprehensive set of materials, including course notes and all the programming examples.
Appendix A. Learning Resources
Supplement 1. Using Visual Studio 2022
Supplement 2. Language Integrated Query (LINQ)
Supplement 3. Unsafe Code and Pointers in C#
Course examples require Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 and Windows 10 or higher. The free Visual Studio Community 2022 can be used. See the appropriate course Setup Guide for details.
A good minimal hardware profile for this course consists of a 2 GHz or better CPU, 4 GB of RAM and at least 10 GB of free disk space for tools installation and courseware.
The student should have programming experience in a high-level language.
