C# is an international standard programming language used to

create instructions that direct the computer about what to do,

when to do it, and how to do something.
C# 4 is the new version of the C# computer language.
This web site is dedicated to C#, providing lessons, tutorials,
and topics on various issues.
To follow the lessons on this site, you must use at least the csc
compiler, which you get from having the .NET Framework
installed in your computer. The best way is to use either
Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express, which is free, or Microsoft
Visual Studio 2010.

C#, pronounced c sharp, is a programming language that can be used to give instructions to a
computer. The instructions can be written from a text editor such as Notepad. Another way is to
use a programming environment that is equipped with many tools that make it easy to work on
projects, to create the necessary files, and to distribute a completed application.

Many programming environments are available. Probably the most popular programming
environment you can use to write C# instructions is Microsoft Visual Studio. This is
commercial application available for purchase from Microsoft. If your primary goal is to learn
the C# language, Microsoft provides a free programming studio you can use: Microsoft Visual
C# 2010 Express.
To follow our lessons, you can use Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 or Microsoft Visual C# 2010
Express. To get Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express, get to the Microsoft web site and click the
Visual studio link.

Starting Microsoft Visual C# Express

 To launch Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express, you can click Start -> (All) Programs -> Microsoft
Visual Studio 2010 Express -> Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express:

To launch Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, you can click Start -> (All) Programs -> Microsoft Visual
Studio 2010.

The Microsoft Visual Studio Interface

 
The Main Menu
The top section of Microsoft Visual Studio displays the main menu divided in categories such as File
or Edit. The main menu is used like the menu of a normal application.
The Toolbars
Under the main menu, there is a toolbar. Normally, when the studio is launched, it displays the
Standard toolbar as its default. Some additional toolbars will display in response to an action from
you. Still, you can display other toolbars if you want. To do this:
 On the main menu, click View -> Toolbars and click the toolbar of your choice
 Right-click the main menu or any toolbar. In the that appears, click the desired toolbar
Toolbars are used the same way they are in other applications.
Microsoft Visual Studio's menus and toolbars can be customized. You can customize a menu
category on the main menu by adding a menu item to it. You can customize a toolbar by adding a
button to it. To start, right-click anything on the main menu or on any toolbar and click
Customize... For example, imagine you want to add an item named Start Without Debugging to the
left side of the Start button:

To do this:
a. Right-click the main menu or a toolbar and click Customize
b. On the Customize dialog box, click the Commands tab
c. Click the Toolbars radio button
d. In the Toolbars combo box, select the toolbar that will host the button. For our example, that would be
Standard
e. In the Controls list, click the button that will come after the new button. For our example, that would be
Start / Continue:
f. Click Add Command...
g.  In the Categories list of the Add Command dialog box, select the category that has the button you want.
For our example, that would be Debug
h.  In the Commands list, click the desired button or menu item. For our example, that would be Start
Without Debugging
i. After making the selection, click OK

j. On the Customize dialog box, click Close:

 In the same way, you can customize any toolbar and any menu category.
 
The Start Page
The Start Page is the main body of Microsoft Visual Studio or Microsoft Visual C# Express when it
has been launched. It starts on top with a tab labeled Start Page. The main body of Microsoft Visual
C# Express displays Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express. The left section shows two labels: New
Project... and Open Project... When some projects have been previously created or used, their
names appear under Open Project... When you work on a project, the Start Page is usually in the
background but it is represented by a tab. At any time, to display the Start Page:
 You can click the Start Page label in the top section of the Code Editor
 On the main menu, you can click View -> Start Page
Showing and Closing a Window
When you start or open a project, the studio makes some windows available. These are the most
regularly used windows. If you think that one of them is not regularly used in your types of
assignments, you can remove it from the screen. To hide a window, you can click its Close button  .
All of the windows you can use are listed in the View menu. Therefore, if a window is not displaying,
you can click View on the main menu and click a window of your choice.
Auto Hiding a Window
When working on a project, you will use a set of windows that each accomplishes a specific purpose.
Some windows are represented by an icon but hide the rest of the body. To display such a window,
you can position the mouse on it. This would expand the window:
If you expand a window, it would display a title bar with three buttons. One of the button is called
Auto Hide:

If you expand a window but find out you don't need it any more, you can just move the mouse away.
The window would return to its previous state. Based on this functionality, if you are working with a
window and move the mouse away, it would retract. If you need it again, you would have to reopen
it using the same technique. If you are going to work with a certain window for a while, you can
keep it open even if you move the mouse away. To do this, you can click the Auto Hide button. If
clicked, the Auto Hide button changes from pointing left to pointing down:
By default, the studio installs some windows to the left and some others to the right of the screen.
You can change this arrangement if you want. To do this, expand a window, then click its title bar
and start dragging. While you are dragging, to assist you with a new position, the studio displays
five boxes:

Docking a Window to a Side of the Studio

To position a window on one side of the studio, drag its title bar to the box that represents that side.
When you get to a side, a transparent blue rectangle would be drawn to indicate the possible
position. Drop the window to either the most left guiding box to position it to the left of the screen,
or to the most right guiding box to position it to the right of the screen. Here is an example:
or
To position a window to the top or the bottom side of the studio, drag its title bar to either the most
top guiding box to position it to the top of the studio or to the most bottom guiding box to position
it to the bottom of the studio. Here is an example:

Docking a Window Above or Below Another

To make two windows share an area, you can position one above or below an existing window. Of
course, you must first have a window as reference. Then, drag the second window to the existing
window. Drop it in the top or the bottom guiding box of the middle big box.
This
Becomes
Floating Windows
Most of the windows you will use are positioned on one side of the screen. If you want, you can have
a window that stays on top of other windows but is not "glued" to one side. Such a window is said to
float. To float a window, drag its title bar and release it somewhere in the middle of the screen but
not on a guiding box.
When a window is floating, it displays a Maximize button   on the title bar. If you click this button,
the window occupies the whole interface of Microsoft Visual Studio. In the same way, if you double-
click the title bar, the window gets maximized.
If a window is currently floating and you want to dock it, right-click its title bar and click Dock:
If a window is currently docked and you want to float it, right-click its title bar and click Float.
Coupling Windows
You can make two or more windows share one side of the screen or to share an area. To do this, first
expand and dock the window that you will use as the base (or reference). Then, drag the title bar of
the window that will share the area to its target until the bottom part of the base window shows a
highlighted and a non highlighted area:
Then release the mouse:
To remove a window that shares an area, drag its tab away:

To position a window to the left or the right of an existing window, first drag the second window to
where the existing window is. Then click the left (or the right, depending on the side you want)
guiding box of the multiple-box.

This
becomes this
 In the same way, you can make two or more windows share the same area.
Tabbed Windows
You can make a window display its tab in the top section of the Code Editor and share the area with
it. There are two ways yon do it:
 You can drag a window and drop it on the tab of the Start Page.

This

becomes this
 If a window is already represented with a tab on top of the Code Editor, you can drag the second
window and drop it to the left or of the right tab of the existing window.
 You can right-click Dock as Tabbed Document

Introduction to C# Projects
  
A C# Project
 
Introduction to C# as a Computer Language
A computer programming language, also called a computer language, or a programming
language, is used to give instrauctions to a computer to perform a specific assignment. Like a
spoken language, a computer language has meaning words, syntaxes, grammar, formulas, and
rules that must be followed to construct meaningful sentences.

Just like there are many languages, there are also various types of computer languages. A significant chara
opposed to human languages, is that they are categorized by roles or purposes.
Hardware is a series of objects that can receive instructions from a computer language. The hardware can
cell phone, a microwave oven, a car, the roller coaster of an amusement park, a health care machine, or a p
languages deal with specific hardware or some instructions can target a specific environment, such as a ce
environment uses a specific operating system that cannot be carried from one machine to another. Some o
hardware they are meant to serve.

Some languages are used to solve a specific type of problem and they cannot perform general assignments.
on the Internet are meant to display things on a browser. Such languages cannot perform arithmetic or geo
languages are used to operate on specific values, such as true or  false values. Some other languages are use
problems. Languages in this latter category are probably the most regularly used. These are refferred to as g
C#, pronounced c sharp, is a general purpose programming language used to create instructions for the co
assist a user with performing an assignment. C# is a universal language that is used on many operating sys
Windows. C# is one of the languages used in the Microsoft .NET Framework. The Microsoft .NET Framew
or draw things on the computer.

Introduction to C# Projects
A computer project is a group of files and objects that contain the necessary instructions for the intended a
results. A C# project is made of one or more files that contain the instructions of the project. A simple C# p
holds all the necessairy instructions. An advanced project would contain more than that. To narrow our go
the C# language. The language is very huge so much that we may need more than fourty lessons just to cov
discouraged. This language is fun and helps you understand many things about computer programming. A
language. So we will learn scratch.

Introduction
 

Console Applications
The C# language is used to create applications that display on a black window referred to as the DOS prom
types of applications we will create in our lessons. To start such an application, you can write the instructio
Notepad or you can use a programming environment such as Microsoft Visual Studio or Microsoft Visual C
assume that you have access to one of those. We also assume that you have installed the programming env
lessons, unless you decide to use Notepad, which is part of Microsoft Windows.
To launch Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express, you can click Start -> (All) Programs -> Microsoft Visual Stu
Visual C# 2010 Express:
To launch Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, you can click Start -> (All) Programs -> Microsoft Visual Studio 2

Application: Starting a Project

1. Start Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express or Microsoft Visual Studio 2010
2. To create a new application, on the main menu, click File -> New Project...
3. In the middle list, click Console Application
4. Change the Name to gdcs1 (which stands for Georgetown Dry Cleaning Services 1)

5. Click OK

Creating a File for Code

The programs we will write are meant to give instructions to the computer. You write these instructions in
We will find out what those words are. This means that a regular instruction uses normal text with alphabe
readable symbols.
You can write your instructions using any text editor such as Notepad, WordPad, WordPerfect, or Microso
instructions, there are rules your must follow and suggestions you should observe. The group of instructio
referred to as code.
To assist you with writing code, if you use Microsoft Visual C# Express or Microsoft Visual Studio Professi
referred to as the Code Editor. If you create your project as a Console Application, a default file would be c
you start your program as an empty project, you must explicitly add a file to it. To do that:
 On the main menu, click Project -> Add New Item...
 In the Solution Explorer, right-click the name of the project, position the mouse on Add, and click New Item...
Any of these actions would display the Add New Item dialog box. From there, in the middle list, click Code
When you click OK, a blank document would display. In the same way, you can add as many files as you ne

Application: Creating a File

1. To add a file for the code, on the main menu, click Project -> Add New Item...
2. If you are using Microsoft Visual Studio, in the left list, expand Visual C# Items and click Code.
In the middle list, click Code File
3. Change the name to CleaningOrder
 4. Click Add

The Primary C# Code

To create the most basic application in C#, there is a very basic code you must write. This code looks as fol
class Exercise
{
static void Main()
{
System.Console.WriteLine("Hello world");
}
}
This code contains many things, in fact all of its things, we cannot explain at this time. We rather wait for a
Unfortunately, each one of the items in this code is required:
 The class keyword will be introduced in Lesson 5
  The word Exercise is just a name. We will review the rules of names in the next lesson
  The curly brackets, { and }, and the parentheses, ( and ), will be introduced in Lesson 4 but various ways of using t
lessons
 The use of the static keyword will be explained in Lesson 10
 The meaning of the void keyword will be reviewed in Lesson 5
 Main will be introduced in Lesson 7 and expanded in Lesson 26
 The role of the word System is explained in Lesson 8
 The role of the period "." will be introduced in Lesson 5
 Console and WriteLine will be introduced in Lesson 6 and expanded in other lessons
 The double-quotes " will be formally introduced in Lesson 4 and heavily used in Lesson 28
We kept this code to a minimum. Every word and every operator in this code is required but there are vari
and operators can be used. For now, please use this code "as is". We can safely promise that by the end of t
everything about those words.

Application: Writing Primary Code

 In the empty document, write the following code
 class Order
 {
 static void Main()
 {
 System.Console.WriteLine("Georgetown Dry Cleaning Services");
 System.Console.ReadKey();
 }
}

Comments
A comment is a line or paragraph of text that will not be considered as part of your code. There are two typ
To display a comment on a line of text, start the line with two forward slashes //. Anything on the right sid
example:
// This line will be ignored. I can write in it anything I want
The above type of comment is used on only one line. You can also start a comment with /*. This type of com
between this combination of /* and */ would not be read. Therefore, you can use this technique to span a c
While you can manually create comments, Microsoft Visual Studio provides a tool that can assist you. To a
anything on that line. Then, on the Standard toolbar, click the Comment Out the Selected Lines button 
adjacent lines, select text on those lines and click the Comment Out the Selected Lines button  . To remo
select text on the lines. Then, on the Standard toolbar, click the Uncomment the Selected Lines button 

Application: Creating Comments

 To create comments, change the file as follows:
 // Application Name: Georgetown Dry Cleaning Services
 class Order
 {
 // This application is used to perform processing orders for this business
 static void Main()
  {
 /* Always greet the customers before processing an order.
 Check the types of clothes a customer has brought.
 Find out the type of cleaning (starch, etc) the customer wants.
 If there are special needs the customer has, make a note. */

 System.Console.WriteLine("Georgetown Dry Cleaning Services");
 System.Console.ReadKey();
 }
}

Managing Files
 

Introduction
In Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express and in Microsoft Visual Studio, when a project is made of various file
in the top section of the Code Editor. Here are examples:

Each file is also represented in the main menu under Windows.

The Solution Explorer

The Solution Explorer is a window that displays a list of the files that make up a project. To access the Solu
 If the Solution Explorer is not yet showing on the screen:
o On the main menu, click View -> Solution Explorer

o On the Standard toolbar, click the Solution Explorer button 

 If the Solution Explorer is already showing, click its tab
The Solution Explorer is made of four sections. Like every regular window, the Solution Explorer is equipp
name on the left side and three buttons on the right side:
 The Window Position button   displays a menu when you click it:
 
  
The Float option is enabled if the window is docked to a side of the screen. The Float option is disabled if the windo
docked and you click Float, it would be moved from its docked position and would float. As an alternative to float a
from its docked position:
 

To dock a floating  window, drag its title bar

Under its title bar, the second section of the Solution Explorer is a toolbar: :
 The Properties button allows you to display the Properties window
 The Show All Files button is used to show the hidden files of the project
 As its name indicates, the Refresh button is used to refresh the list of files and resources of the project
 The View Code button is used to show the code of a class
The third part of the Solution Explorer is its body. It shows the folders, files, and resources that are part of
node, you can either click its button or double-click its name. To collapse a node, either click its button or
The root of the list is the name of the solution. Under the root is the name of the current project. If the solu
project, the name of each project is represented under the solution. Inside of the project are its folders, file
under a project name is References. After the References node, there are the names of the classes that are
The fourth part of the Solution Explorer is its tab.

The Properties Window

The Properties window shows the Windows operating system's details of the files or resources used in a pr
 If the Properties window is not yet displaying
o On the main menu, click View -> Properties window

o On the Standard toolbar, click the Properties button 

 If the Properties window is displaying already, click its tab
The display and rectangular behavior of the Properties window follows the description we had for the Solu
 To show the operating system's characteristics of a project or a file, in the Solution Explorer, click the obje
 If you click a solution, the Properties window would show its name and its location
 If you click a project, the Properties window would show its project file
 If you click a file, the Properties window would show its name (in the File Name field) and its location (in the Full P
The Properties window displays different fields depending on the item selected in the Solution Explorer. Y
Properties window. When a field is disabled, it means you cannot modify it.

Accessing or Opening a File

If you are using a text editor to write your code, you can use that editor to open a file. For example, in Note
you are trying to open a C# file, first change the file type combo box to All Files (*). Then locate the file fro
If a file is a member of the current project, to open it:
 On the main menu, click Window and click the name of the file
 In the top section of the Code Editor, click the label that holds the name of the file
 In the Solution Explorer, double-click the name of the file
If you are using Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express or Microsoft Visual Studio, to open a file:
 On the main menu, click File -> Open File...

 On the Standard toolbar, click the Open File button 

Any of these actions would display the Open File dialog box. From there, locate the file from its folder and
Microsoft Visual Studio will try to open the file. If it can, it would display it inside its interface. If it cannot
program in the computer that can open the file and hand the job to it. That application would then decide
For example, if you try opening a video (a file with AVI, MOD or another video extension), Microsoft Visua
Media Player that would then try to play the video.
Besides the Code Editor, the integrated development interface (IDE) of the Microsoft Visual C# 2010 is ma
review when necessary.

Solution and Project Management

 

Introduction
We have seen how to create a console application. Microsoft Visual Studio allows you to create various oth
you should first display the New Project dialog box to select your option. Besides console applications, in f
how to create a library using the Class Library option.

Code Snippets
Microsoft Visual C# ships with many skeleton codes you can use and customize. It writes the primary code
default behaviors. Once it has done this, you can change or remove any section. To access these code skele
you want to add it, right-click and click Insert Snippet...:
In the menu that comes up, double-click Visual C#:

This would display a list of codes:

If you see the type of code you want to use, double-click it.
In some cases, if you have already written some code, you may want to change it or rather add some code t
skeleton codes you can use. To use this approach, right-click the code you want to modify and click Surrou
double-click the desired option.

Code Colors
Code is written in a wide area with a white background. This is the area you use the keyboard to insert cod
The Code Editor uses some colors to differentiate categories of words or lines of text.
The colors used are highly customizable. To change the colors, on the main menu, you can click Tools -> O
in the Environment section, click Fonts and Colors. To set the color of a category, in the Display Items sect
Foreground combo box, select the desired color. If you want the words of the category to have a colored ba
Item Background combo box and select one:
In both cases, the combo boxes display a fixed list of colors. If you want more colors, you can click a Custo
box that allows you to "create" a color.

Indentation 
Indentation is another feature that makes your program easy to read. Indentation is a technique of groupi
delimit the items of your code, you should indent them by two empty spaces or one tab. Indentation shoul
line of code appears to be a child of the previous line, the new line should be indented.
To control the indentation of your code, on the main menu, click Tools -> Options... In the left list, expand
click Indentation. Then change the options on the right side:
After making the changes, click OK to validate or Cancel to ignore.

Saving a Project 
If you are creating your application using a text editor, you must save your file(s) in a folder you will create
In previous versions of Microsoft Visual C# (namely 2002 and 2003), you always had to formally create a
always had to save it. After realizing that many of the projects that developers or students create are for ex
provided the ability to only temporarily create a project, then to save it or not. Saving a project allows you
refer to it later.
When Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (any edition) is installed, it creates a folder named Visual Studio 2010
Documents folder is called your personal drive or your personal directory. Inside of the Visual Studio 2010
named Projects. By default, this is where it would save your projects, each with its own folder.

To save a project, on the Standard toolbar, you can click the Save All button  . Alternatively, on the main
All. If the project had already been saved but you want to save it under a different name, on the main men
name As...

Opening a Project 
There are a various ways you can open an existing project:
 On the main menu, click File -> Open Project...
 On the Start Page, click Open Project...
 Press Ctrl + Shift + O

A Solution
A solution is used to coordinate the different aspects of an application that is being created. When you crea
of the application you have in mind. Besides the code you are writing, you may want to add other items. In
sections, we will see that a solution can contain more than one project.
When creating a project, the solution holds the same name as the project. You can see their names in the S

The solution and a project can have different names. While working on a project, to rename the solution, i
click the first node, which is the name of the solution starting with Solution. Then, in the Properties windo
of your choice:

This name is temporary, especially if you have not yet saved the project. If you want to permanently save a
techniques you can use.
If you start saving a project for the first time, it would bring the Save Project dialog box. By default, Micros
personal directory as the path to the solution. This is called the location. In the location, Microsoft Visual S
solution of the project. The solution must have, or must be stored, in its own folder. As mentioned earlier,
name of the project as the name of the solution. To rename the solution, you can change the string in the S
that you can enter the name of the project in the Name text box. Here is an example:
When you save a project (for the first time), by default, Microsoft Visual C# creates a new folder for it in th
2008\Projects folder. It uses the name of the solution to name the folder. It creates some files and stores t
creates a sub-folder, using the name of the project, inside of the folder of the solution. Besides the sub-fold
creates another folder named debug. It also creates another folder namedDebug in the sub-folder of the
and some other folders, it creates some files that we will not pay attention to for now.
If the project had already been saved but you want to change the name of the solution, on the main menu,
name.sln As... This would bring the Save File As dialog box where you can specify the name of the solution

Building a Project
After creating a project and writing code, you may want to see the result. To do this, you must first build th
executable.
To allow you to create programs, a computer language such as C# is equipped with an application named a
computer program made of internal other sub-programs. One of the sub-programs, in fact probably the fir
A parser "scans" a file that contains (part of) the program. It checks the syntax, keywords, unknown words
parser finds a problem, which could be anything, either it stops or it continues making a list of the mistake
to you to fix. Sometimes it would point to the exact line where the/a problem was found. Sometimes it wou
problem showed its impact although the problem may be found somewhere else. With experience, you wil
troubleshoot the problems.
If the parser doesn't find any problem, or after you have fixed the problems, it (the parser) passes its resul
calls another program called a linker. If the program contains just one file, the linker considers it. If the pr
the linker considers them. The linker gathers some of the files that the C# compiler shipped with (those fil
to work, since your program doesn't need all possible files that the .NET Framework provides), puts them
file(s) to get your instructions in a manner that can produce a suitable result. If there is no significant prob
program. This doesn't mean that everything is alright, it only means that the compiler thinks that everythi
the result may not be what you would expect. We will come back to these issues when studying debugging.
To make your life easier, all of the sub-programs (parser, linker, debugger, etc) that ship with C# are group
compiler. Therefore, from now on, we will use the word "compiler" to refer to the program you use to "tran
into a computer-based language.
The compiler that Microsoft created, and that we will use, that is, the compiler of the Microsoft .NET Fram
other programs, it has the extension .exe. This csc name is not standard. This means that another C# com
name; csc.exe is just the name of the compiler we will use.
The csc compiler is freely available if you download the .NET Framework from the Microsoft web site.
To build an application at the Command Prompt, you use the csc.exe compiler. After download the .NET
What interests us is the csc.exe application. By default, it is installed in C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\F
You should add the path of the csc.exe to the Path of the Environment Variables. To start, use a file utility
display the folder where csc is installed. Here is its path in Windows Explorer:

Select the path in the top combo box and copy it to the clipboard. Start the Control Panel. Click System an
In the System and Security section, click System:
In the System window, click Change Settings. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
button:
In the System Variables section, double-click Path or click it and click Edit:
Press the End key, type a semi-colon ";". Paste the value you had copied from the clipboard:

Click OK three times.

Open the Command Prompt. Type CD\ and press Enter to move to the root drive. Type CD and a space, fo
folder(s)) where the file is located, and press Enter. To compile, type csc followed by the name of the file a
The file produced from this operation has the extension .exe. By default, it holds same name as the file you
executable using a name of your choice, after csc, type /out:followed by the name you want, followed by a
and followed by the name of the file you had created, with its extension. The formula to follow would be:
csc /out:NameOfExecutate.exe Filename.cs
The NameOfExecutate represents the name you want the executable to have. If the name you want is in on
want a name made of various words, you can include those words in double-quotes.
If you are creating your application using a text editor and if you create many files, when compiling the pro
reference each file. To do that, in the last section, add the name of each file with its extension:
csc FileName1.cs FileName2.cs FileName_n.cs
The executable you get is the one you can use on other computers and that you can distribute to other peop

Executing a Project
After building a project, you and your users can execute it. If you are working from the Command Prompt,
name of the file that has the .exe extension and press Enter:
If you are working from Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express or from Microsoft Visual Studio, to execute an a
can click Debug -> Start Debugging.

Application: Executing an Application

1. To execute the application, on the main menu, click Debug -> Start Debugging
2. After viewing the result in a DOS window, press Enter to close it
3. Close Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express or Microsoft Visual Studio
4. When asked whether you want to save, click No