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C#

What is C# language? And how to use it?(2021 Complete guide)

C# is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language. This language encompasses static typing, strong typing, lexically scoped, imperative, declarative, functional, generic, object-oriented (class-based), and component-oriented programming disciplines.

C# was developed around 2000 by Microsoft as part of its .NET initiative and later approved as an international standard by Ecma (ECMA-334) in 2002 and ISO (ISO/IEC 23270) in 2003. It was designed by Anders Hejlsberg, and its development team is currently led by Mads Torgersen, being one of the programming languages designed for the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI). The most recent version is 9.0, which was released in 2020 in .NET 5.0 and included in Visual Studio 2019 version 16.8.

Mono is a free and open-source project to develop a cross-platform compiler and runtime environment (i.e. virtual machine) for the language.

Who is C# for?

Within the range of beginners and expert developers, C# can be used by people with a wide and diverse scope of skill levels. To learn C#, it’s best that you have at least a basic understanding of writing code, even if you have yet to build your first program or application.

The learning curve for C# is relatively low when compared to more complex languages like Java, although it’s not quite as simple to learn as Python, the ultimate programming language for those who are brand new to the field.

C# is a great choice for developers with moderate to advanced experience with writing code. While experts acknowledge the language for being one of moderate complexities, they agree that it’s fairly simple to grasp and excel in. Once you’re introduced to C# and you put in the time to get the hang of it, you can expect to advance quickly from rookie to expert.

This is due to the fact that C# is a high-level language, which means it’s relatively easy to read and write, making it a solid choice for beginners and a convenient option for experts. In addition to readability, C# can also be used to automate complex tasks that require a lot of time to achieve minor results.

This programming language is also statistically-typed, which means that errors are detected before the application goes live. This makes it a lot easier to detect small flaws in your stack that would otherwise be almost imperceptible—not to mention incredibly aggravating.

While C# can be put to good use in the hands of all kinds of programmers, a large chunk of the language’s user base is comprised of those who are partial to the Microsoft platform.

C# is modern and easy

It is a simple, modern, and an object-oriented programming language. The purpose of This language was to develop a programming language that is not only easy to learn but also supports modern day functionality for all kind of software development.
If you look at the history of programming languages and their features, each programming language was designed for a specific purpose to solve a specific need at that time.
C# language however was designed to keep business and enterprises needs in mind. It was designed for businesses to build all kinds of software by using one single programming language.
This language provides functionality to support modern day software development. It supports Web, Mobile, and app development needs. Some of the modern-day programming language features C# supports are generics, var types, auto initialization of types and collections, lambda expressions, dynamic programming, asynchronous programming, tuples, pattern matching, advanced debugging and exception handling, and more.
This language syntaxes has influence from C++, Java, Pascal and few other languages that are easy to adopt. C# also avoids complexity and unstructured language features.

C# is fast and open source

This language is open source under the .NET Foundation, which is govern and run independently of Microsoft. C# language specifications, compilers, and related tools are open source projects on Github. While C# language feature design is lead by Microsoft. The open source community is very active in the language development and improvements.
It is fast compare to several other high-level programming languages. C# 8 has many performance improvements.

C# is cross platform

This language is cross platform programming language. You can build .NET applications that can be deploy on Windows, Linux, and Mac platforms. This language apps can also be deploy in cloud and containers.

C# is safe and efficient

C# is a type safe language. This language does not allow type conversions that may lead to data loss or other problems. This language allows developers to write safe code. C# also focuses on writing efficient code.
Here is a list of some of the key concepts in C# that helps write safe and efficient code.
  • Unsafe type casting is not possible.
  • Nullable and non-nullable types has support in C#.
  • Declare a readonly struct to express that a type is immutable and enables the compiler to save copies when using in parameters.
  • Use a ref readonly return when the return value is a struct larger than IntPtr.Size and the storage lifetime is greater than the method returning the value.
  • When the size of a readonly struct is bigger than IntPtr.Size, you should pass it as an in parameter for performance reasons.
  • Never pass a struct as an in parameter unless it’s declared with the readonly modifier because it may negatively affect performance and could lead to an obscure behavior.
  • Use a ref struct, or a readonly ref struct such as Span<T> or ReadOnlySpan<T> to work with memory as a sequence of bytes.

C# is versatile

This language is a Swiss army knife. While most programming languages were design for a specific purpose, C# is here to
do C#. Also we can use it to build today’s modern software applications. This language is useful to develop all kind of applications including Windows client apps, components and libraries, services and APIs, Web applications, Mobile apps, cloud applications, and video games.
Here is a list of types of applications C# can build,
  • Windows client applications
  • Windows libraries and component
  • Web applications
  • Web services and Web API
  • Native iOS and Android mobile apps
  • Backend services
  • Azure cloud applications and services
  • Backend database using ML/Data tools
  • Interoperability software such as Office, SharePoint, SQL Server and so on.
  • Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning
  • Blockchains and distributed ledger technology including cryptocurrency
  • Internet of Things (IoT) devices
  • Gaming consoles and gaming systems
  • Video games

Summary

This tutorial is an introduction to C# language for beginners. In this tutorial, we learned how to write our first C# program. Basics of data types, classes, objects, and class members.