Intro to C# Language

Richard Della Tezra

IS 373

What Is C#?

C# is type-safe object-oriented language 

Enables developers to build a variety of secure and robust applications

It was developed by Microsoft within the .NET Framework

Design Goals

You can use C# to create traditional Windows client applications, XML Web services, distributed components, client-server applications, database applications, etc…

The language provides support for software engineering principles such as strong type checking, array bounds checking, automatic garbage collection, etc…

Design Goals (contd.)

Intended to be suitable for writing applications for both hosted and embedded systems, ranging from the very large that use sophisticated operating systems, down to the very small having dedicated functions.

History

Was created in 1999 by principal designer and lead architect of Microsoft Anders Hejlsberg.

Has gone through several versions currently at version 4.0(released 2010)

Features

Very similar in syntax to C, C++, and Java.

Syntax is highly expressive.

Key features: nullable value type, enumerations, delegates, lambda expressions, and direct memory access

Governing Standards Body

In 2000 Microsoft co-sponsored the submission of the language to the ECMA International and has been approved as a standard by the ECMA since 2001.

Likewise C# became an ISO standard in 2003.

Advantages

Interoperability “Interop” process enables C# programs to do

almost anything that a native C++ application can do.

Ease of Use Syntax allows for users familiar with C, C++, or

Java to easily start coding in C# very effortlessly.

Advantages (contd)

Reliability Progression of versions gives the user the feeling

of reliable mature standard. Support of Community

It approval from the ISO and ECMA as well as development support from Microsoft give the standard elite standing.

Disadvantages

Microsoft uses C# in its Base Class Library (BCL) which is the foundation of its proprietary .NET framework. Proprietary features may deter other idependent

implementations of the full framework. Monetary concerns.

Applications

C# programs run on the .NET Framework which is an integral component of Windows that includes a virtual execution system called common language runtime (CLR).

Likewise C# programs run on a unified set of class libraries as well.

Source code relationships

The following diagram illustrates the compile-time and run-time relationships of C# source code files, the .NET Framework class libraries, assemblies, and the CLR.

Example source code

The following code illustrates how to connect to a SQL Server Express Databases using C# .NET

Conclusion

C# is an elegant and type-safe object-oriented language developed by Microsoft.

Advantages vs. Disadvantages? Advantages out weigh the disadvantages. Proven reliable standard approved by the ISO &

ECMA. Proprietary to Microsoft. The future for the language is promising

continuing with updating versions.

Thank you!

Q & A