INTRODUCTION

Welcome

Whether you are new to programming or already an experienced programmer, this book will guide you step-by-step into the exciting world of C# programming. Regardless of whether you choose to create Windows applications, Web applications, Xbox games, or Windows Mobile applications; the skills you will learn here are applicable to all these various trades.

C# has fast become one of the world’s most popular programming languages. Not only is it robust and powerful, but can be applied to many environments such as the PC, internet, and mobile devices.

This book will introduce you to all the major concepts of the C# language. While it’s not an exhaustive resource on the subject, it will give you a solid foundation from which you can expand your skills into more advance topics.

How is This Book Different?

Given, there are a multitude of introductory books on C# programming. Some will go into great depths while others may omit crucial basic concepts. After reviewing many of these books, it was decided that this book needs to reflect the everyday elements used in the real world. The text is short and to the point. It focuses on relaying a concept to you. Not only does this save you hours of studying cumbersome theory, but it gets you programming as quick as possible.

Experience has shown that newcomers to programming often get stuck on terminologies. So, every effort has been made to present this material to you in plane simple English. Only after explaining a concept, the correct terminology will be introduced.

Furthermore, this book is part of a growing series of C# tutorials that was written with a passion to teach C# programming. This is your first step to learning a skill that is not only fun, but also lucrative.

How to Use This Book

The chapters in this book were designed so that each chapter builds on the knowledge you’ve gained in the previous chapters. Each chapter also deals with a fundamental concept in C# so that you can easily use it for future reference.

The book is meant to be used as a work book, so we encourage you to tryout and work along with the examples that are presented in each chapter. This will not only familiarize you with the syntax of the C# language, but also the development environment.

Conventions

All programming examples and results will be presented by images from the actual editor or window. Other formatting in the text is meant to distinguish specific elements:

·         Italics – A terminology.

·         "Italics" – A custom name or literal text.

·         Bold – A C# keyword, window, control, or menu option.

Trademarks

Microsoft, Windows, Visual Studio, C#, Visual C#, and .NET Framework, are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.

GETTING STARTED

Integrated Development Environment

The fastest way to learn and develop in C# is with Microsoft’s Visual Studio. This is a fully integrated development environment (IDE), which provides you with all the tools you require to develop complete applications from start to finish.

If you already have a version of Visual Studio installed, any version from Visual Studio 2005 upwards will do for the purposes of this book.

Microsoft provides an express edition of Visual Studio, which you can download, install and use without any charge. At the time of this writing, you can download and install Visual Studio 2010 Express from the following URL:

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/visual-csharp-express

Follow the installation instructions and remember to register your Visual Studio. It will install on any one of the following operating systems:

·         Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (32 bit version)

·         Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 (32/64 bit version)

·         Windows 7 (32/64 bit version)

You’re system must meet the following minimum requirements:

·         1GB (32 bit) or 2GB (64 bit) memory

·         3GB Hard drive space

·         DirectX 9

Setup the IDE

This book will refer to three windows in Visual Studio; the Editor, the Solution Explorer, and the Error List. The Editor will automatically be displayed when you start a new project, or open an existing C# file. The Solution Explorer and Error List windows can be activated from the top View menu if they’re not already displayed.

You can drag, size, and dock these windows as you please. Since the Editor is where you’ll be doing all the work, it makes sense to give it the majority of screen space. A common layout is to dock the Solution Explorer to the right and the Error List to the bottom of the IDE.

The Solution Explorer will display a tree view list of all the files that makes up your project. If an error is found, it will be displayed in the Error list, along with the line number where the error was found.

Once the Editor window opens and you find there are no line numbers, you can activate them through Tools > Options on the top menu. In the dialog window, expand Text Editor and select C#, then tick Line Number on