Datasheet

Chapter 1: Introducing C#
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Web applications: These are Web pages such as might be viewed through any Web browser. The
.NET Framework includes a powerful system for generating Web content dynamically, allowing
personalization, security, and much more. This system is called ASP.NET (Active Server Pages
.NET), and you can use C# to create ASP.NET applications using Web Forms.
Web services: These are a new and exciting way to create versatile distributed applications.
Using Web services you can exchange virtually any data over the Internet, using the same
simple syntax regardless of the language used to create a Web service or the system that it
resides on.
Any of these types may also require some form of database access, which can be achieved using the
ADO.NET (Active Data Objects .NET) section of the .NET Framework or through the new LINQ
(Language Integrated Query) capabilities of C#. Many other resources can be drawn on, such as tools for
creating networking components, outputting graphics, performing complex mathematical tasks, and so on.
C# in This Book
The first part of this book deals with the syntax and usage of the C# language without too much
emphasis on the .NET Framework. This is necessary because you won ’ t be able to use the .NET
Framework at all without a firm grounding in C# programming. We ’ ll start off even simpler, in fact, and
leave the more involved topic of object - oriented programming (OOP) until you ’ ve covered the basics.
These are taught from first principles, assuming no programming knowledge at all.
Once you have done that, you ’ ll be ready to move on to developing the types of applications listed in the
last part. Part 2 of this book looks at Windows Forms programming, Part 3 tackles Web application and
Web service programming, Part 4 examines data access (for database, file system, and XML data), and
Part 5 covers some other .NET topics of interest, such as more about assemblies and graphics
programming.
Visual Studio 2008
In this book, you use the Visual Studio 2008 (VS) or Visual C# 2008 Express Edition (VCE) development
tools for all of your C# programming, from simple command - line applications to more complex project
types. A development tool, or Integrated Development Environment (IDE), such as VS isn ’ t essential for
developing C# applications, but it makes things much easier. You can (if you want to) manipulate C#
source code files in a basic text editor, such as the ubiquitous Notepad application, and compile code
into assemblies using the command - line compiler that is part of the .NET Framework. However, why do
this when you have the power of an IDE to help you?
The following is a short list of some Visual Studio features that make it an appealing choice for .NET
development:
VS automates the steps required to compile source code but at the same time gives you complete
control over any options used should you wish to override them.
The VS text editor is tailored to the languages VS supports (including C#) so that it can
intelligently detect errors and suggest code where appropriate as you are typing. This feature is
called IntelliSense .
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