Language Elements of C#

This article provides an overview of the C# Language. The various elements and building blocks of the C#
language are explained.

Background

What is C# all about?

C# was developed at Microsoft. It is an object-oriented programming language and provides excellent features
such as strong type checking, array bounds checking and automatic garbage collection. We will explore these
and several other features in this article.

C# has features that make it an excellent choice for developing robust distributed n-tier Enterprise applications,
web applications, windows applications and embedded systems. It is used for building applications ranging
from the very large that use sophisticated operating systems, down to the very small having specialist functions

Getting Started:

Here is a very simple “Hello World” program written using C#. The code for C# program is written in text files
with an extension “.cs”

Example:

1) Create a text file “First.cs”

2) Type the following code and „save‟

using System;

class myClass

static void Main()

Console.WriteLine("Hello World");

3)From the command line compile the above code by typing the following
csc First.cs
4)This creates First.exe
5) Run this exe from the command line and you see an output –
Hello World

Having seen the example above we will now review the concepts and elements of the C# programming
language. After that we will review the above example once again to understand what each line of code does.
To get a better grasp of the C# language it is helpful if you have some programming experience and even
better if you have experience in Object Oriented Programming. We now examine the C# language concepts
and elements one by one.

A) OOP

C# is an object oriented Programming language and it supports the Object Oriented Programming
Methodology. When creating a software solution you can represent the real world entities as “objects” of
different “types”.

a. Types: C# supports mainly two kinds of types: value types and Reference types. The difference lies in the
way in which handles these tow kinds of types. Examples of value types are – char, int, structures, enums .
Examples of Reference types are – class, interface, delegate, arrays

i. Variables represent storage locations. Every variable is of a specific „type‟. This determines what values can
be stored in it.

ii. Field is a variable that is associated with a Class or Struct, or an instance of a class or struct.

iii. Parameters: There are four kinds of parameters: value parameters, reference parameters, output
parameters, and parameter arrays.

iv. Classes: Classes are blueprints for objects. You instantiate an object from class. An object thus instantiated
if said to be of a reference types. As C# is an Object Oriented Programming Language a class can inherit from
another class, and can implement interfaces . Each Class can have one or members such as methods,
properties, constants, fields, events, constructors, destructors and so on.

v. Structs: Structs are similar to classes in many ways. They have members and they can implement interfaces.
They are fundamentally different from classes. STRUCTS are value types. STRUCT values are stored "on the
stack" or "in-line". They cannot be inherited from any other class or reference type.

vi. Interfaces: What is an interface? An Interface simplifies a complex process by providing easy to use
methods. Consider you need to change the channel on your TV or increase its volume, how do we do this, we
use a Remote Control to change the channel or increase the volume. In this context, a Remote Control acts as
an interface between you and your TV. Using a Remote Control one can perform required operation and
control various functionality available in TV.

An interface defines a contract. When a class or a struct implements an interface with the help of methods and
properties. A type (CLASS or STRUCT) that implements an interface must adhere to its contract. Interfaces
can contain methods, properties, events, and indexers as members.
vii. Delegates: C# implements the functionality of function pointers using Delegates.

A delegate instance encapsulates a list of one or more methods, each of which is referred to as a callable
entity. When a delegate instance is invoked it causes the delegate instance's callable entity to be invoked.

viii. Enums: An enum type declaration defines a type name for a related group of symbolic constants.

ix. Predefined types: The predefined value types include

 signed integral types (sbyte, short, int, and long)

 unsigned integral types (byte, ushort, uint, and ulong)
 floating-point types (float and double)
 bool
 char
 decimal

B) Namespaces

C# programs are organized using namespaces. Namespaces provide a hierarchical means of organizing the
elements of one or more programs. They also provide a way of presenting program elements that are exposed
to other programs. For instance in our example

using System;

class myClass

static void Main()

Console.WriteLine("Hello World");

}The statement – “using system;” helps us use the “Console” class in it. A namespace-declaration consists of
the keyword namespace, followed by a namespace name and body

namespace Company1.Dept2

class manager {}

class emp {}
}

namespace Company1

namespace Dept2

class manager {}

class emp {}

Namespaces are open-ended, and two namespace declarations with the same fully qualified name contribute
to the same declaration space In the example

namespace Company1.Dept2

class manager {}

namespace Company1.Dept2

class emp {}

the two namespace declarations above contribute to the same declaration space,

Assemblies Assemblies are used for physical packaging and deployment. An assembly can contain the
executable code and references to other assemblies.
C) Language Grammar

a. Expressions: An expression is a sequence of operands (variables, literals, etc) and operators An

expression can be classified as one of the following:

 value
 variable
 namespace
 type
 method group
 property access
 event access
 indexer access
 void or Nothing

The output of an expression can never be a namespace, type, method group, or

b. Statements: C# statements can be classified as one of the following:

 labeled-statement
 declaration-statement
 embedded-statement
 embedded-statement: (statements that appear within other statements)
 empty-statement
 expression-statement
 selection-statement
 iteration-statement
 jump-statement
 try-statement
 checked-statement
 unchecked-statement
 lock-statement
 using-statement

c. Constants: A constant is a class member that represents a constant value: a value that can be computed at
compile-time. Constants can depend on other constants within the same program.

class myClass

public const int A = 1;

public const int B = A + 1;

}
d. Fields: A field is a member that represents a variable associated with an object or class.

e. Operators: The operators of an expression indicate which operations to apply to the operands. Examples of
operators: +, -, *, /, new. There are three kinds of operators:

 Unary operators. The unary operators take one operand and use either prefix notation (such as –-counter)
or postfix notation (such as counter++).
 Binary operators. The binary operators take two operands and all use infix notation (such as intA + intY).
 Ternary operator. Only one ternary operator, ?:, exists; it takes three operands and uses infix notation
(condition? intX: intY).

Certain operators can be overloaded. Operator overloading permits user-defined behavior for the operator.

f) Methods: A method is a member of the class. It implements functionality or behavior or action that can be
performed by an instance of that class. Methods can have one or more formal parameters, an optional return
value

g) Properties: A property is a member of the class. It provides access to a feature or characteristic of an

instance of the class. In the example below: class car has a property CarColor

public class car

private string _CarColor;

public string CarColor

get

return _CarColor;

set

{
 _CarColor = value;

h) Comments: Two forms of comments are supported: delimited comments and single-line comments. A
delimited comment begins with the characters /* and ends with the characters */. Delimited comments can
occupy a portion of a line, a single line, or multiple lines. A single-line comment begins with the characters //
and extends to the end of the line.

/* This is my First Program

This is where it gets started

*/

class myFirstProgram

static void Main() {

System.Console.WriteLine("Welcome Aboard!"); // Comment

i) Conditional Statements The if statement selects a statement for execution based on the value of a Boolean
expression. Examples:

if ( boolean-expression ) embedded-statement

if ( boolean-expression ) embedded-statement else embedded-statement

if (x) if (y) F(); else G();

if (x)
{

if (y) {

F();

else {

G();

j) The switch statement: Based on the value of the switch expression. The switch statement matches a switch
label and executes the statement(s) that corresponds to it
Example:

switch (iMatch) {

case 0:

Matched_Zero();

break;

case 1:

Matched_One();

break;

default:

Matched_None();

break;

k) Iteration statements : Iteration statements repeatedly execute an embedded statement.

Types of iteration statements:

 while-statement
 do-statement
 for-statement
 foreach-statement

Keywords in C#

abstract as base bool break

byte case catch char checked
class const continue decimal default
delegate do double else enum
event explicit extern false finally
fixed float for foreach goto
if implicit in int interface
internal is lock long namespace
new null object operator out
override params private protected public
readonly ref return sbyte sealed
short sizeof stackalloc static string
struct switch this throw true
try typeof uint ulong unchecked
unsafe ushort using virtual void
volatil while

l) Conversions A conversion enables an expression of one type to be treated as another type. Conversions
can be implicit or explicit. A conversion enables an expression of one type to be treated as another type.
Conversions can be implicit or explicit.
A conversion enables an expression of one type to be treated as another type. Conversions can be implicit or
explicit.

m) Arrays An array is a data structure. It contains one or more variables that are accessed through computed
indices. The elements of the array, are all of the same type.

n) Memory Management: One of the most important features of C# is automatic memory management
implemented using a „garbage collector‟. The process scans thru the objects created in the program and if the
object can no longer be accessed the memory is cleared up