Csharp Language PDF
Csharp Language PDF
#c#
Table of Contents
About 1
Remarks 2
Versions 2
Examples 2
Explanation 3
Creating a new project in Visual Studio (console application) and Running it in Debug mode 5
Examples 22
Syntax tree 22
Semantic model 22
Remarks 24
Examples 24
public 24
private 24
internal 25
protected 25
protected internal 26
Introduction 30
Examples 30
Examples 33
ADO.NET Connections 33
Connection Strings 35
Examples 37
Examples 39
Examples 41
HashSet 41
SortedSet 41
T[ ] (Array of T) 41
List 42
Dictionary 42
Stack 43
LinkedList 43
Queue 44
Examples 45
Creating an anonymous type 45
Anonymous vs dynamic 45
Syntax 48
Remarks 48
Examples 48
Array covariance 49
Declaring an array 49
Multi-dimensional arrays 51
Jagged arrays 51
Copying arrays 54
Usage: 55
Introduction 57
Examples 57
How to implement password reset token in asp.net identity using user manager. 57
Remarks 61
Examples 61
[AssemblyTitle] 61
[AssemblyProduct] 61
Global and local AssemblyInfo 61
[AssemblyVersion] 62
Automated versioning 62
Common fields 63
[AssemblyConfiguration] 63
[InternalsVisibleTo] 63
[AssemblyKeyFile] 64
Remarks 65
Examples 65
Blocking 65
ConfigureAwait 66
Async/await 67
BackgroundWorker 68
Task 69
Thread 70
Introduction 72
Remarks 72
Examples 72
Try/Catch/Finally 72
Concurrent calls 74
Async/await will only improve performance if it allows the machine to do additional work 78
Remarks 80
Examples 81
Examples 89
Using an attribute 89
Reading an attribute 89
DebuggerDisplay Attribute 90
Obsolete Attribute 93
Syntax 94
Remarks 94
Examples 94
Remarks 98
When To Use 98
Alternatives 98
Examples 98
Remarks 100
Examples 100
Examples 109
Examples 110
Value type - short, int, long (signed 16 bit, 32 bit, 64 bit integers) 110
Value type - ushort, uint, ulong (unsigned 16 bit, 32 bit, 64 bit integers) 111
Remarks 113
Examples 113
Examples 117
Variance 118
Parameters 120
Remarks 120
Examples 120
Introduction 123
Remarks 123
Examples 123
Properties 125
Indexers 125
Methods 126
Operators 126
Limitations 127
Introduction 132
Usage 133
Expressions 138
Basics 146
Limitations 148
Gotchas 148
Introduction 154
Examples 154
Example 154
Limitations 155
References 156
Basics 157
h11 160
References 162
Example 162
Example 163
Example 163
is expression 165
Example 165
Links 167
ValueTask 169
Notes 170
Examples 172
Examples 174
Examples 175
MemoryCache 175
Remarks 176
Examples 176
Examples 181
Syntax 182
Parameters 182
Remarks 182
Examples 182
Syntax 186
Remarks 186
Examples 186
Preconditions 186
Postconditions 187
Invariants 187
Examples 191
Remarks 192
Examples 192
Examples 197
Comments 197
Regions 198
Examples 201
Trimming Unwanted Characters Off the Start and/or End of Strings. 201
String.Trim() 201
Examples 211
Introduction 215
Remarks 215
Examples 215
Chapter 40: Creating a Console Application using a Plain-Text Editor and the C# Compiler ( 225
Examples 225
Creating a Console application using a Plain-Text Editor and the C# Compiler 225
Introduction 227
Syntax 227
Examples 227
How to use own created MessageBox control in another Windows Form application. 229
Chapter 42: Creational Design Patterns 231
Remarks 231
Examples 231
Examples 245
Examples 266
Usage 271
Examples 273
DateTime.Add(TimeSpan) 273
DateTime.AddDays(Double) 273
DateTime.AddHours(Double) 273
DateTime.AddMilliseconds(Double) 273
DateTime.DaysInMonth(Int32,Int32) 274
DateTime.AddYears(Int32) 274
DateTime.Parse(String) 275
DateTime.ParseExact(String,String,IFormatProvider) 278
DateTime.TryParseExact(String,String,IFormatProvider,DateTimeStyles,DateTime) 279
Remarks 282
Summary 282
Examples 283
Remarks 292
Examples 292
Examples 298
Debug.WriteLine 298
Remarks 299
Examples 299
Introduction 302
Syntax 302
Remarks 302
Examples 302
Examples 312
Remarks 313
Examples 313
Introduction 318
Parameters 318
Remarks 318
Examples 319
Examples 327
re-throwing 333
serialization 334
Conclusion 335
Cheatsheet 340
Syntax 344
Parameters 344
Remarks 344
Notes 346
Examples 346
Syntax 351
Parameters 351
Remarks 351
Examples 352
Extension methods can only see public (or internal) members of the extended class 356
Extensions and interfaces together enable DRY code and mixin-like functionality 365
Using Extension methods to build new collection types (e.g. DictList) 369
Introduction 371
Syntax 371
Parameters 371
Remarks 371
Examples 372
Syntax 376
Parameters 376
Examples 376
IsFileReady 377
Syntax 378
Parameters 378
Examples 378
Remarks 381
Examples 381
Examples 383
Immutability 383
Examples 388
Parameters 391
Remarks 391
Examples 391
Generating the same sequence of random numbers over and over again 392
Remarks 394
Examples 394
Usage 398
Output: 398
Syntax 399
Parameters 399
Remarks 399
Examples 399
Covariance 407
Contravariance 408
Invariance 409
Introduction 415
Examples 415
C# Implementation 415
Serialization 416
Deserialization 416
Introduction 418
Remarks 418
Examples 418
Chapter 68: Handling FormatException when converting string to other types 420
Examples 420
Remarks 422
Examples 422
MD5 422
SHA1 423
SHA256 423
SHA384 424
SHA512 424
Chapter 70: How to use C# Structs to create a Union type (Similar to C Unions) 430
Remarks 430
Examples 430
Syntax 433
Remarks 433
Examples 433
Examples 436
Remarks 438
Examples 438
Introduction 442
Remarks 442
Examples 442
IEnumerable 442
Examples 444
Examples 447
Remarks 449
Examples 449
Examples 451
Remarks 454
Examples 454
Requirements 454
Parameters 458
Examples 458
Syntax 460
Remarks 460
Examples 460
Syntax 462
Remarks 462
Examples 462
Remarks 473
Examples 473
Remarks 475
Examples 475
Examples 478
Hint: 480
Note: 480
Remarks 487
Examples 487
Examples 495
Translating a LINQ query to a SQL query 495
Remarks 496
Examples 496
Introduction 499
Remarks 499
Examples 501
stackalloc 501
volatile 502
fixed 504
default 504
readonly 505
as 506
is 507
typeof 508
const 508
namespace 510
continue 511
goto 515
goto as a: 515
Label: 515
enum 516
base 517
foreach 519
params 520
break 521
abstract 522
float 524
double 524
decimal 524
uint 525
this 525
for 526
while 527
return 529
in 529
using 529
sealed 530
sizeof 530
static 531
Drawbacks 533
int 533
long 533
ulong 533
dynamic 534
new 536
lock 540
null 541
internal 542
where 543
The previous examples show generic constraints on a class definition, but constraints can 545
extern 545
bool 546
when 546
unchecked 547
void 547
Important to note that if a condition is met in the above example , the control skips othe 549
do 549
operator 550
struct 551
switch 553
interface 553
unsafe 554
implicit 556
string 557
ushort 557
sbyte 557
var 558
delegate 559
event 560
partial 560
Remarks 563
Examples 563
Passing a Lambda Expression as a Parameter to a Method 563
Remarks 567
Closures 567
Examples 567
Introduction 570
Syntax 570
Remarks 572
Examples 572
Where 572
Range 574
Repeat 575
First() 576
FirstOrDefault() 576
Last() 577
LastOrDefault() 577
Single() 578
SingleOrDefault() 578
Recommendations 579
Except 580
SelectMany 583
All 584
Union 585
JOINS 586
Distinct 588
Basics 591
GroupBy 592
Any 593
1. Empty parameter 593
ToDictionary 594
Aggregate 595
SkipWhile 596
DefaultIfEmpty 596
SequenceEqual 598
Zip 600
TakeWhile 606
Sum 606
ToLookup 606
Reverse 610
OrderBy 613
OrderByDescending 614
Concat 615
Contains 615
Examples 617
Examples 622
Syntax 624
Examples 624
Syntax 627
Remarks 627
Examples 628
Assuming that locking restricts access to the synchronizing object itself 630
Examples 635
break 636
continue 640
Examples 641
Examples 642
Examples 648
Remarks 651
Examples 651
Examples 656
Introduction 659
Syntax 659
Examples 659
Introduction 664
Remarks 664
Examples 664
Capitalization conventions 664
Uppercase 665
Rules 665
Interfaces 666
Namespaces 667
Enums 667
Use a plural name for Enum types that are bit fields 667
Exceptions 668
Syntax 669
Remarks 669
Examples 669
Syntax 673
Remarks 673
Examples 673
Syntax 678
Parameters 678
Remarks 678
Examples 678
Syntax 682
Remarks 682
Examples 682
Examples 685
Examples 687
Syntax 689
Remarks 689
Examples 689
Introduction 691
Examples 691
Classes: 691
Examples 692
Introduction 693
Syntax 693
Parameters 693
Remarks 693
Examples 695
sizeof 700
typeof 706
Examples 711
Remarks 713
Examples 713
Syntax 716
Examples 718
AsOrdered 718
AsUnordered 719
Introduction 720
Syntax 720
Remarks 720
Examples 720
Examples 723
Error handling of specific HTTP response codes (such as 404 Not Found) 724
Sending asynchronous HTTP GET request and reading JSON request 725
Remarks 726
Examples 726
void* 728
Examples 734
Subtyping 736
Syntax 738
Remarks 738
Examples 739
Line 741
Remarks 745
Examples 745
Declaration 749
Examples 751
Introduction 753
Examples 753
Syntax 755
Parameters 755
Examples 755
The following example shows how to open a zip archive and extract all .txt files to a fold 756
Remarks 758
Examples 758
Introduction 765
Remarks 765
Examples 765
Syntax 777
Parameters 777
Remarks 777
Examples 778
Examples 779
RoslynScript 779
CSharpCodeProvider 779
Lazy, thread safe singleton (for .NET 3.5 or older, alternate implementation) 781
Examples 784
Syntax 787
Remarks 787
Examples 787
IsHighResolution 787
Examples 789
Remarks 791
Examples 791
+ Operator 791
Syntax 793
Remarks 793
Examples 793
Syntax 796
Remarks 796
Examples 796
Expressions 796
Examples 800
Introduction 803
Syntax 803
Parameters 803
Remarks 803
Examples 803
Places where String.Format is 'embedded' in the framework 803
Precision 805
ToString() 809
Examples 811
Remarks 813
Examples 813
Introduction 817
Examples 817
Examples 824
Authenticated SSL LDAP connection, SSL cert does not match reverse DNS 824
Remarks 826
Examples 826
Syntax 828
Examples 828
Examples 829
Parallel.ForEach 829
Parallel.For 829
Parallel.Invoke 830
Examples 833
JoinBlock 833
BroadcastBlock 834
WriteOnceBlock 835
BatchedJoinBlock 836
TransformBlock 836
ActionBlock 837
TransformManyBlock 838
BatchBlock 839
BufferBlock 840
Remarks 842
Examples 842
Syntax 852
Remarks 852
Examples 852
Features: 853
Examples 857
Remarks 859
Examples 859
Remarks 861
Examples 861
Remarks 864
Examples 864
Introduction 867
Examples 867
RuntimeSerializer 868
Calling It 869
Examples 872
Creating simple CRUD using SQLite in C# 872
Introduction 877
Syntax 877
Remarks 877
Examples 877
Gotcha: Exception in Dispose method masking other errors in Using blocks 881
Syntax 886
Remarks 886
Introduction 886
Value types exist on the stack, reference types exist on the heap 886
Value types don't change when you change them in a method, reference types do 887
Examples 887
Assignment 890
Syntax 893
Remarks 893
Examples 893
Verbatim strings instruct the compiler to not use character escapes 894
Introduction 896
Examples 896
Examples 899
Remarks 902
Examples 902
Examples 907
Introduction 911
Syntax 911
Remarks 911
Examples 911
Try...finally 916
Credits 921
About
You can share this PDF with anyone you feel could benefit from it, downloaded the latest version
from: csharp-language
It is an unofficial and free C# Language ebook created for educational purposes. All the content is
extracted from Stack Overflow Documentation, which is written by many hardworking individuals at
Stack Overflow. It is neither affiliated with Stack Overflow nor official C# Language.
The content is released under Creative Commons BY-SA, and the list of contributors to each
chapter are provided in the credits section at the end of this book. Images may be copyright of
their respective owners unless otherwise specified. All trademarks and registered trademarks are
the property of their respective company owners.
Use the content presented in this book at your own risk; it is not guaranteed to be correct nor
accurate, please send your feedback and corrections to [email protected]
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Chapter 1: Getting started with C# Language
Remarks
C# is a multi-paradigm, C-descendant programming language from Microsoft. C# is a managed
language that compiles to CIL, intermediate bytecode which can be executed on Windows, Mac
OS X and Linux.
Versions 1.0, 2.0 and 5.0 were standardized by ECMA (as ECMA-334), and standardization efforts
for modern C# are underway.
Versions
1.0 2002-01-01
1.2 2003-04-01
2.0 2005-09-01
3.0 2007-08-01
4.0 2010-04-01
5.0 2013-06-01
6.0 2015-07-01
7.0 2017-03-07
Examples
Creating a new console application (Visual Studio)
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System.Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!");
6. In the toolbar, click Debug -> Start Debugging or hit F5 or ctrl + F5 (running without
debugger) to run the program.
Explanation
• class Program is a class declaration. The class Program contains the data and method
definitions that your program uses. Classes generally contain multiple methods. Methods
define the behavior of the class. However, the Program class has only one method: Main.
• static void Main()defines the Main method, which is the entry point for all C# programs. The
Main method states what the class does when executed. Only one Main method is allowed per
class.
• System.Console.ReadKey(), ensures that the program won't close immediately after displaying
the message. It does this by waiting for the user to press a key on the keyboard. Any key
press from the user will terminate the program. The program terminates when it has finished
the last line of code in the main() method.
To compile this example, run the following command in the same directory where HelloWorld.cs is
located:
%WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\csc.exe HelloWorld.cs
It can also be possible that you have two main methods inside one application. In this case, you
have to tell the compiler which main method to execute by typing the following command in the
console.(suppose Class ClassA also has a main method in the same HelloWorld.cs file in
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HelloWorld namespace)
Note: This is the path where .NET framework v4.0 is located in general. Change the path
according to your .NET version. In addition, the directory might be framework instead of
framework64 if you're using the 32-bit .NET Framework. From the Windows Command Prompt,
you can list all the csc.exe Framework paths by running the following commands (the first for 32-
bit Frameworks):
There should now be an executable file named HelloWorld.exe in the same directory. To execute
the program from the command prompt, simply type the executable's name and hit Enter as
follows:
HelloWorld.exe
Hello, world!
You may also double click the executable and launch a new console window with the message "
Hello, world!"
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Creating a new project in Visual Studio (console application) and Running it in
Debug mode
1. Download and install Visual Studio. Visual Studio can be downloaded from
VisualStudio.com. The Community edition is suggested, first because it is free, and second
because it involves all the general features and can be extended further.
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5. After selecting Console Application, Enter a name for your project, and a location to save
and press OK. Don't worry about the Solution name.
6. Project created. The newly created project will look similar to:
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(Always use descriptive names for projects so that they can easily be distinguished from
other projects. It is recommended not to use spaces in project or class name.)
7. Write code. You can now update your Program.cs to present "Hello world!" to the user.
using System;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
public class Program
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
}
}
}
Add the following two lines to the public static void Main(string[] args) object in Program.cs:
(make sure it's inside the braces)
Console.WriteLine("Hello world!");
Console.Read();
Why Console.Read()? The first line prints out the text "Hello world!" to the console, and the
second line waits for a single character to be entered; in effect, this causes the program to
pause execution so that you're able to see the output while debugging. Without
Console.Read();, when you start debugging the application it will just print "Hello world!" to the
console and then immediately close. Your code window should now look like the following:
using System;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
public class Program
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Hello world!");
Console.Read();
}
}
}
8. Debug your program. Press the Start Button on the toolbar near the top of the window
or press F5 on your keyboard to run your application. If the button is not present,
you can run the program from the top menu: Debug → Start Debugging. The program will
compile and then open a console window. It should look similar to the following screenshot:
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9. Stop the program. To close the program, just press any key on your keyboard. The
Console.Read() we added was for this same purpose. Another way to close the program is by
going to the menu where the Start button was, and clicking on the Stop button.
First install Mono by going through the install instructions for the platform of your choice as
described in their installation section.
After installation is done, create a text file, name it HelloWorld.cs and copy the following content
into it:
If you are using Windows, run the Mono Command Prompt which is included in the Mono
installation and ensures that the necessary environment variables are set. If on Mac or Linux,
open a new terminal.
To compile the newly created file, run the following command in the directory containing
HelloWorld.cs:
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mcs -out:HelloWorld.exe HelloWorld.cs
mono HelloWorld.exe
Hello, world!
Press any key to exit..
First install the .NET Core SDK by going through the installation instructions for the platform of
your choice:
• Windows
• OSX
• Linux
• Docker
After the installation has completed, open a command prompt, or terminal window.
1. Create a new directory with mkdir hello_world and change into the newly created directory
with cd hello_world.
• hello_world.csproj
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
<PropertyGroup>
<OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
<TargetFramework>netcoreapp1.1</TargetFramework>
</PropertyGroup>
</Project>
• Program.cs
using System;
namespace hello_world
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");
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}
}
}
4. Optional Build the application with dotnet build for Debug or dotnet build -c Release for
Release. dotnet run will also run the compiler and throw build errors, if any are found.
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LinqPad is a great tool that allows you to learn and test features of .Net languages (C#, F# and
VB.Net.)
1. Install LinqPad
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4. Type the following code and hit run (F5)
5. You should see "Hello World" printed out in the results screen.
6. Now that you have created your first .Net program, go and check out the samples included in
LinqPad via the "Samples" browser. There are many great examples that will show you
many different features of the .Net languages.
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Notes:
1. If you click on "IL", you can inspect the IL code that your .net code generates. This is a great
learning tool.
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2. When using LINQ to SQL or Linq to Entities you can inspect the SQL that's being generated
which is another great way to learn about LINQ.
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4. Click .NET → Console Project and choose C#.
5. Click Next to proceed.
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6. Enter the Project Name and Browse... for a Location to Save and then click Create.
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7. The newly created project will look similar to:
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8. This is the code in the Text Editor:
using System;
namespace FirstCsharp
{
public class MainClass
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
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}
9. To run the code, press F5 or click the Play Button as shown below:
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Read Getting started with C# Language online: https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/15/getting-
started-with-csharp-language
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Chapter 2: .NET Compiler Platform (Roslyn)
Examples
Create workspace from MSBuild project
To load existing code to the workspace, compile and report errors. Afterwards the code will be
located in memory. From here, both the syntactic and semantic side will be available to work with.
Syntax tree
A Syntax Tree is an immutable data structure representing the program as a tree of names,
commands and marks (as previously configured in the editor.)
Every type of C# construct with a corresponding type will exist in the syntax tree. To quickly find
specific types, use the Syntax Visualizer window from Visual Studio. This will interpret the current
opened document as a Roslyn syntax tree.
Semantic model
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A Semantic Model offers a deeper level of interpretation and insight of code compare to a syntax
tree. Where syntax trees can tell the names of variables, semantic models also give the type and
all references. Syntax trees notice method calls, but semantic models give references to the
precise location the method is declared (after overload resolution has been applied.)
Console.WriteLine(variableSymbol.Type);
// => "Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.SyntaxNode"
This outputs a list of local variables using a syntax tree. Then it consults the semantic model to get
the full type name and find all references of every variable.
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Chapter 3: Access Modifiers
Remarks
If the access modifier is omitted,
Access modifiers on setters or getters of properties can only restrict access, not widen it: public
string someProperty {get; private set;}
Examples
public
The public keyword makes a class (including nested classes), property, method or field available
to every consumer:
private
The private keyword marks properties, methods, fields and nested classes for use inside the class
only:
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private class Baz
{
public string Value { get; set; }
}
internal
The internal keyword makes a class (including nested classes), property, method or field available
to every consumer in the same assembly:
This can be broken to allow a testing assembly to access the code via adding code to
AssemblyInfo.cs file:
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
[assembly:InternalsVisibleTo("MyTests")]
protected
The protected keyword marks field, methods properties and nested classes for use inside the
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same class and derived classes only:
protected internal
The protected internal keyword marks field, methods, properties and nested classes for use
inside the same assembly or derived classes in another assembly:
Assembly 1
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var myPublicProperty = foo.MyPublicProperty;
var myProtectedInternalProperty = foo.MyProtectedInternalProperty;
var myProtectedInternalNestedInstance =
new Foo.MyProtectedInternalNestedClass();
}
}
Assembly 2
void MyMethod2()
{
Foo foo = new Foo();
var myPublicProperty = foo.MyPublicProperty;
// Compile Error
var myProtectedInternalProperty = foo.MyProtectedInternalProperty;
// Compile Error
var myProtectedInternalNestedInstance =
new Foo.MyProtectedInternalNestedClass();
}
// Compile Error
var myProtectedInternalProperty = baz.MyProtectedInternalProperty;
// Compile Error
var myProtectedInternalNestedInstance =
new Baz.MyProtectedInternalNestedClass();
}
void MyMethod2()
{
Foo foo = new Foo();
var myPublicProperty = foo.MyPublicProperty;
//Compile Error
var myProtectedInternalProperty = foo.MyProtectedInternalProperty;
// Compile Error
var myProtectedInternalNestedInstance =
new Foo.MyProtectedInternalNestedClass();
}
}
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Access Modifiers Diagrams
Here are all access modifiers in venn diagrams, from more limiting to more accessible:
private
internal
protected
protected internal
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Access Modifier Diagram
public
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Chapter 4: Access network shared folder with
username and password
Introduction
Accessing network share file using PInvoke.
Examples
Code to access network shared file
if (result != 0)
{
throw new Win32Exception(result);
}
}
~NetworkConnection()
{
Dispose(false);
}
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}
[DllImport("mpr.dll")]
private static extern int WNetAddConnection2(NetResource netResource,
string password, string username, int flags);
[DllImport("mpr.dll")]
private static extern int WNetCancelConnection2(string name, int flags,
bool force);
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public class NetResource
{
public ResourceScope Scope;
public ResourceType ResourceType;
public ResourceDisplaytype DisplayType;
public int Usage;
public string LocalName;
public string RemoteName;
public string Comment;
public string Provider;
}
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Read Access network shared folder with username and password online:
https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/9627/access-network-shared-folder-with-username-and-
password
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Chapter 5: Accessing Databases
Examples
ADO.NET Connections
ADO.NET Connections are one of the simplest ways to connect to a database from a C#
application. They rely on the use of a provider and a connection string that points to your database
to perform queries against.
All of these are commonly used to access data through C# and will be commonly encountered
throughout building data-centric applications. Many other classes that are not mentioned that
implement the same FooConnection,FooCommand,FooDataReader classes can be expected to behave
the same way.
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Or if you were just performing a simple update and didn't require a reader, the same basic concept
would apply :
You can even program against a set of common interfaces and not have to worry about the
provider specific classes. The core interfaces provided by ADO.NET are:
Entity Framework exposes abstraction classes that are used to interact with underlying databases
in the form of classes like DbContext. These contexts generally consist of DbSet<T> properties that
expose the available collections that can be queried :
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public class ExampleContext: DbContext
{
public virtual DbSet<Widgets> Widgets { get; set; }
}
The DbContext itself will handle making the connections with the databases and will generally read
the appropriate Connection String data from a configuration to determine how to establish the
connections :
Entity Framework also provides an extensive change-tracking system that can be used to handle
updating entries within your database by simply calling the SaveChanges() method to push changes
to the database :
Connection Strings
A Connection String is a string that specifies information about a particular data source and how to
go about connecting to it by storing credentials, locations, and other information.
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Server=myServerAddress;Database=myDataBase;User Id=myUsername;Password=myPassword;
<connectionStrings>
<add name="WidgetsContext" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"
connectionString="Server=.\SQLEXPRESS;Database=Widgets;Integrated Security=True;"/>
</connectionStrings>
<connectionStrings>
<add name="WidgetsContext" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"
connectionString="Server=.\SQLEXPRESS;Database=Widgets;Integrated Security=SSPI;"/>
</connectionStrings>
This will allow your application to access the connection string programatically through
WidgetsContext. Although both Integrated Security=SSPI and Integrated Security=True perform the
same function;Integrated Security=SSPI is preferred since works with both SQLClient & OleDB
provider where as Integrated Security=true throws an exception when used with the OleDb
provider.
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Chapter 6: Action Filters
Examples
Custom Action Filters
We write custom action filters for various reasons. We may have a custom action filter for logging,
or for saving data to database before any action execution. We could also have one for fetching
data from the database and setting it as the global values of the application.
1. Create a class
2. Inherit it from ActionFilterAttribute class
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Web.Mvc;
namespace WebApplication1
{
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Debug.WriteLine(message, "Action Filter Log");
base.OnActionExecuting(filterContext);
}
}
}
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Chapter 7: Aliases of built-in types
Examples
Built-In Types Table
The following table shows the keywords for built-in C# types, which are aliases of predefined types
in the System namespaces.
bool System.Boolean
byte System.Byte
sbyte System.SByte
char System.Char
decimal System.Decimal
double System.Double
float System.Single
int System.Int32
uint System.UInt32
long System.Int64
ulong System.UInt64
object System.Object
short System.Int16
ushort System.UInt16
string System.String
The C# type keywords and their aliases are interchangeable. For example, you can declare an
integer variable by using either of the following declarations:
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Read Aliases of built-in types online: https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/1862/aliases-of-built-in-
types
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Chapter 8: An overview of c# collections
Examples
HashSet
HashSet.Contains uses a hash table, so that lookups are extremely fast, regardless of the number
of items in the collection.
SortedSet
// add something
// note that we add 2 before we add 1
mySet.Add(2);
mySet.Add(1);
// output:
// 1
// 2
T[ ] (Array of T)
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// output:
// one
// two
// output:
// something else
// two
List
List<T> is a list of a given type. Items can be added, inserted, removed and addressed by index.
using System.Collections.Generic;
List<T> can be thought of as an array that you can resize. Enumerating over the collection in order
is quick, as is access to individual elements via their index. To access elements based on some
aspect of their value, or some other key, a Dictionary<T> will provide faster lookup.
Dictionary
Dictionary<TKey, TValue> is a map. For a given key there can be one value in the dictionary.
using System.Collections.Generic;
// Reading data
Console.WriteLine(people["John"]); // 30
Console.WriteLine(people["George"]); // throws KeyNotFoundException
int age;
if (people.TryGetValue("Mary", out age))
{
Console.WriteLine(age); // 35
}
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// Adding and changing data
people["John"] = 40; // Overwriting values this way is ok
people.Add("John", 40); // Throws ArgumentException since "John" already exists
Stack
// Pop removes the top element of the stack and returns it.
Console.WriteLine(stack.Pop()); // prints 8
Console.WriteLine(stack.Pop()); // prints 5
Console.WriteLine(stack.Pop()); // prints 3
LinkedList
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// initialize a LinkedList of integers
LinkedList list = new LinkedList<int>();
list.AddFirst(2);
// the list now is 2, 3, 5, 8
list.RemoveFirst();
// the list is now 3, 5, 8
list.RemoveLast();
// the list is now 3, 5
Note that LinkedList<T> represents the doubly linked list. So, it's simply collection of nodes and
each node contains an element of type T. Each node is linked to the preceding node and the
following node.
Queue
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Chapter 9: Anonymous types
Examples
Creating an anonymous type
Since anonymous types are not named, variables of those types must be implicitly typed (var).
If the member names are not specified, they are set to the name of the property/variable used to
initialize the object.
int foo = 1;
int bar = 2;
var anon2 = new { foo, bar };
// anon2.foo == 1
// anon2.bar == 2
Note that names can only be omitted when the expression in the anonymous type declaration is a
simple property access; for method calls or more complex expressions, a property name must be
specified.
Anonymous vs dynamic
Anonymous types allow the creation of objects without having to explicitly define their types ahead
of time, while maintaining static type checking.
Conversely, dynamic has dynamic type checking, opting for runtime errors, instead of compile-time
errors.
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Generic methods with anonymous types
Generic methods allow the use of anonymous types through type inference.
Using generic constructors would require the anonymous types to be named, which is not
possible. Alternatively, generic methods may be used to allow type inference to occur.
In the case of List<T>, implicitly typed arrays may be converted to a List<T> through the ToList
LINQ method:
Anonymous type equality is given by the Equals instance method. Two objects are equal if they
have the same type and equal values (through a.Prop.Equals(b.Prop)) for every property.
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Two anonymous types are considered the same if and only if their properties have the same name
and type and appear in the same order.
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Chapter 10: Arrays
Syntax
• Declaring an array:
<type>[] <name>;
<name>[i]
<name>.Length
Remarks
In C#, an array is a reference type, which means it is nullable.
An array has a fixed length, which means you cant .Add() to it or .Remove() from it. In order to use
these, you would need a dynamic array - List or ArrayList.
Examples
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Array covariance
This conversion is not type-safe. The following code will raise a runtime exception:
// Get
Console.WriteLine(arr[2]); // 20
// Set
arr[2] = 100;
Declaring an array
An array can be declared and filled with the default value using square bracket ([]) initialization
syntax. For example, creating an array of 10 integers:
Indices in C# are zero-based. The indices of the array above will be 0-9. For example:
Which means the system starts counting the element index from 0. Moreover, accesses to
elements of arrays are done in constant time. That means accessing to the first element of the
array has the same cost (in time) of accessing the second element, the third element and so on.
You may also declare a bare reference to an array without instantiating an array.
An array can also be created and initialized with custom values using collection initialization
syntax:
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int[] arr = new int[] { 24, 2, 13, 47, 45 };
The new int[] portion can be omitted when declaring an array variable. This is not a self-contained
expression, so using it as part of a different call does not work (for that, use the version with new):
Alternatively, in combination with the var keyword, the specific type may be omitted so that the
type of the array is inferred:
// same as int[]
var arr = new [] { 1, 2, 3 };
// same as string[]
var arr = new [] { "one", "two", "three" };
// same as double[]
var arr = new [] { 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 };
using foreach:
unsafe
{
int length = arr.Length;
fixed (int* p = arr)
{
int* pInt = p;
while (length-- > 0)
{
Console.WriteLine(*pInt);
pInt++;// move pointer to next element
}
}
}
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Output:
1
6
3
3
9
Multi-dimensional arrays
Arrays can have more than one dimension. The following example creates a two-dimensional
array of ten rows and ten columns:
int[,] arr = new int[4, 2] { {1, 1}, {2, 2}, {3, 3}, {4, 4} };
Jagged arrays
Jagged arrays are arrays that instead of primitive types, contain arrays (or other collections). It's
like an array of arrays - each array element contains another array.
They are similar to multidimensional arrays, but have a slight difference - as multidimensional
arrays are limited to a fixed number of rows and columns, with jagged arrays, every row can have
a different number of columns.
The second [] is initialized without a number. To initialize the sub arrays, you would need to do
that separately:
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Getting/Setting values
Now, getting one of the subarrays is easy. Let's print all the numbers of the 3rd column of a:
a[<row_number>][<column_number>]
a[<row_number>][<column_number>] = <value>
Remember: It's always recommended to use jagged arrays (arrays of arrays) rather than
multidimensional arrays (matrixes). It's faster and safer to use.
In the CLR type system, the convention for the ordering of the brackets is reversed, so with the
above arr instance we have:
arr.GetType().ToString() == "System.Int32[][,,,,][,,]"
and likewise:
typeof(int[,,][,,,,][]).ToString() == "System.Int32[][,,,,][,,]"
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{
if (array[a].Equals(candidate[0]))
{
int i = 0;
for (; i < candidate.Length; i++)
{
if (false == array[a + i].Equals(candidate[i]))
break;
}
if (i == candidate.Length)
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
/// Sample
This will create an array of 10 integers with each element of the array having value 0 (the default
value of type int).
To create an array initialized with a non-default value, we can use Enumerable.Repeat from the
System.Linq Namespace:
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int[] intArray = Enumerable.Repeat(100, 5).ToArray();
Copying arrays
Copying a partial array with the static Array.Copy() method, beginning at index 0 in both, source
and destination:
Copying the whole array with the CopyTo() instance method, beginning at index 0 of the source and
the specified index in the destination:
Both CopyTo and Clone perform shallow copy which means the contents contains references to the
same object as the elements in the original array.
LINQ provides a method that makes it easy to create a collection filled with sequential numbers.
For example, you can declare an array which contains the integers between 1 and 100.
The Enumerable.Range method allows us to create sequence of integer numbers from a specified
start position and a number of elements.
The method takes two arguments: the starting value and the number of elements to generate.
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Usage:
This will generate an array containing the numbers 1 through 100 ([1, 2, 3, ..., 98, 99, 100]).
Because the Range method returns an IEnumerable<int>, we can use other LINQ methods on it:
This will generate an array that contains 10 integer squares starting at 4: [4, 9, 16, ..., 100, 121]
.
LINQ provides a built-in function for checking the equality of two IEnumerables, and that function
can be used on arrays.
The SequenceEqual function will return true if the arrays have the same length and the values in
corresponding indices are equal, and false otherwise.
int[] arr1 = { 3, 5, 7 };
int[] arr2 = { 3, 5, 7 };
bool result = arr1.SequenceEqual(arr2);
Console.WriteLine("Arrays equal? {0}", result);
All arrays implement the non-generic IList interface (and hence non-generic ICollection and
IEnumerable base interfaces).
More importantly, one-dimensional arrays implement the IList<> and IReadOnlyList<> generic
interfaces (and their base interfaces) for the type of data that they contain. This means that they
can be treated as generic enumerable types and passed in to a variety of methods without
needing to first convert them to a non-array form.
int[] arr1 = { 3, 5, 7 };
IEnumerable<int> enumerableIntegers = arr1; //Allowed because arrays implement IEnumerable<T>
List<int> listOfIntegers = new List<int>();
listOfIntegers.AddRange(arr1); //You can pass in a reference to an array to populate a List.
After running this code, the list listOfIntegers will contain a List<int> containing the values 3, 5,
and 7.
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The IEnumerable<> support means arrays can be queried with LINQ, for example arr1.Select(i =>
10 * i).
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Chapter 11: ASP.NET Identity
Introduction
Tutorials concerning asp.net Identity such as user management, role management, creating
tokens and more.
Examples
How to implement password reset token in asp.net identity using user
manager.
1. Create a new folder called MyClasses and create and add the following class
public GmailEmailService() :
base(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["GmailHost"],
Int32.Parse(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["GmailPort"]))
{
//Get values from web.config file:
this.UserName = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["GmailUserName"];
this.EnableSsl = Boolean.Parse(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["GmailSsl"]);
this.UseDefaultCredentials = false;
this.Credentials = new System.Net.NetworkCredential(this.UserName,
ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["GmailPassword"]);
}
}
email.IsBodyHtml = true;
3. Add your credentials to the web.config. I did not use gmail in this portion because the use of
gmail is blocked in my workplace and it still works perfectly.
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<add key="GmailUserName" value="[email protected]"/>
<add key="GmailPassword" value="yourPassword"/>
<add key="GmailHost" value="yourServer"/>
<add key="GmailPort" value="yourPort"/>
<add key="GmailSsl" value="chooseTrueOrFalse"/>
<!--Smptp Server (confirmations emails)-->
4. Make necessary changes to your Account Controller. Add the following highlighted code.
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Compile then run. Cheers!
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Chapter 12: AssemblyInfo.cs Examples
Remarks
The filename AssemblyInfo.cs is used by convention as the source file where developers place
metadata attributes that describe the entire assembly they are building.
Examples
[AssemblyTitle]
[assembly: AssemblyTitle("MyProduct")]
[AssemblyProduct]
This attribute is used to describe the product that this particular assembly is for. Multiple
assemblies can be components of the same product, in which case they can all share the same
value for this attribute.
[assembly: AssemblyProduct("MyProduct")]
Having a global allows for better DRYness, you need only put values that are different into
AssemblyInfo.cs for projects that have variance. This use assumes your product has more than
one visual studio project.
GlobalAssemblyInfo.cs
using System.Reflection;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
//using Stackoverflow domain as a made up example
// The following GUID is for the ID of the typelib if this project is exposed to COM
[assembly: Guid("4e4f2d33-aaab-48ea-a63d-1f0a8e3c935f")]
[assembly: ComVisible(false)] //not going to expose ;)
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// dynamically generate this file
// Major Version - Year 6 being 2016
// Minor Version - The month
// Day Number - Day of month
// Revision - Build number
// You can specify all the values or you can default the Build and Revision Numbers
// by using the '*' as shown below: [assembly: AssemblyVersion("year.month.day.*")]
[assembly: AssemblyVersion("2016.7.00.00")]
[assembly: AssemblyFileVersion("2016.7.27.3839")]
//then the following might be put into a separate Assembly file per project, e.g.
[assembly: AssemblyTitle("Stackoveflow.Redis")]
You can add the GlobalAssemblyInfo.cs to the local project using the following procedure:
[AssemblyVersion]
[assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.*")]
The * character is used to auto-increment a portion of the version automatically every time you
compile (often used for the "build" number)
Using .NET's rich reflection APIs, you can gain access to an assembly's metadata. For example,
you can get this assembly's title attribute with the following code
using System.Linq;
using System.Reflection;
...
Automated versioning
Your code in source control has version numbers either by default (SVN ids or Git SHA1 hashes)
or explicitly (Git tags). Rather than manually updating versions in AssemblyInfo.cs you can use a
build time process to write the version from your source control system into your AssemblyInfo.cs
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files and thus onto your assemblies.
The GitVersionTask or SemVer.Git.Fody NuGet packages are examples of the above. To use
GitVersionTask, for instance, after installing the package in your project remove the
Assembly*Version attributes from your AssemblyInfo.cs files. This puts GitVersionTask in charge of
versioning your assemblies.
Note that Semantic Versioning is increasingly the de facto standard so these methods recommend
using source control tags that follow SemVer.
Common fields
It's good practice to complete your AssemblyInfo's default fields. The information may be picked
up by installers and will then appear when using Programs and Features (Windows 10) to uninstall
or change a program.
'AssemblyTitle' becomes the 'File description' when examining the DLL's Properties Details tab.
[AssemblyConfiguration]
AssemblyConfiguration: The AssemblyConfiguration attribute must have the configuration that was
used to build the assembly. Use conditional compilation to properly include different assembly
configurations. Use the block similar to the example below. Add as many different configurations
as you commonly use.
#if (DEBUG)
[assembly: AssemblyConfiguration("Debug")]
#else
[assembly: AssemblyConfiguration("Release")]
#endif
[InternalsVisibleTo]
If you want to make internal classes or functions of an assembly accessable from another
assembly you declare this by InternalsVisibleTo and the assembly name that is allowed to access.
In this example code in the assembly MyAssembly.UnitTests is allowed to call internal elements
from MyAssembly.
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[assembly: InternalsVisibleTo("MyAssembly.UnitTests")]
This is especially useful for unit testing to prevent unnecessary public declarations.
[AssemblyKeyFile]
Whenever we want our assembly to install in GAC then it is must to have a strong name. For
strong naming assembly we have to create a public key. To generate the .snk file.
once the keyFileName.snk is created at specified directory then give refernce in your project . give
AssemblyKeyFileAttribute attribute the path to snk file to generate the key when we build our class
library.
[assembly: AssemblyKeyFile(@"c:\Directory_Name\KeyFileName.snk")]
Thi will create a strong name assembly after build. After creating your strong name assembly you
can then install it in GAC
Happy Coding :)
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Chapter 13: Async/await, Backgroundworker,
Task and Thread Examples
Remarks
To run any of these examples just call them like that:
Examples
ASP.NET Configure Await
When ASP.NET handles a request, a thread is assigned from the thread pool and a request
context is created. The request context contains information about the current request which can
be accessed through the static HttpContext.Current property. The request context for the request is
then assigned to the thread handling the request.
When execution reaches await, the thread handling a request is returned to the thread pool while
the asynchronous method runs and the request context is free for another thread to use.
When the task completes the thread pool assigns another thread to continue execution of the
request. The request context is then assigned to this thread. This may or may not be the original
thread.
Blocking
When the result of an async method call is waited for synchronously deadlocks can arise. For
example the following code will result in a deadlock when IndexSync() is called:
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public async Task<ActionResult> Index()
{
// Execution on the initially assigned thread
List<Product> products = await dbContext.Products.ToListAsync();
return result;
}
This is because, by default the awaited task, in this case db.Products.ToListAsync() will capture the
context (in the case of ASP.NET the request context) and try to use it once it has completed.
When the entire call stack is asynchronous there is no problem because, once await is reached
the original thread is release, freeing the request context.
When we block synchronously using Task.Result or Task.Wait() (or other blocking methods) the
original thread is still active and retains the request context. The awaited method still operates
asynchronously and once the callback tries to run, i.e. once the awaited task has returned, it
attempts to obtain the request context.
Therefore the deadlock arises because while the blocking thread with the request context is
waiting for the asynchronous operation to complete, the asynchronous operation is trying to obtain
the request context in order to complete.
ConfigureAwait
By default calls to an awaited task will capture the current context and attempt to resume
execution on the context once complete.
// Execution resumes on a "random" thread from the pool without the original request
context
return View(products);
}
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// Block waiting for the result synchronously
ActionResult result = Task.Result;
return result;
}
This can avoid deadlocks when it is necessary to block on asynchronous code, however this
comes at the cost of losing the context in the continuation (code after the call to await).
In ASP.NET this means that if your code following a call to await someTask.ConfigureAwait(false);
attempts to access information from the context, for example HttpContext.Current.User then the
information has been lost. In this case the HttpContext.Current is null. For example:
return View();
}
If ConfigureAwait(true) is used (equivalent to having no ConfigureAwait at all) then both user and
user2 are populated with the same data.
For this reason it is often recommended to use ConfigureAwait(false) in library code where the
context is no longer used.
Async/await
See below for a simple example of how to use async/await to do some time intensive stuff in a
background process while maintaining the option of doing some other stuff that do not need to wait
on the time intensive stuff to complete.
However, if you need to work with the result of the time intensive method later, you can do this by
awaiting the execution.
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Console.WriteLine("Count: " + x);
}
BackgroundWorker
See below for a simple example of how to use a BackgroundWorker object to perform time-intensive
operations in a background thread.
1. Define a worker method that does the time-intensive work and call it from an event handler
for the DoWork event of a BackgroundWorker.
2. Start the execution with RunWorkerAsync. Any argument required by the worker method
attached to DoWork can be passed in via the DoWorkEventArgs parameter to RunWorkerAsync.
In addition to the DoWork event the BackgroundWorker class also defines two events that should be
used for interacting with the user interface. These are optional.
• The RunWorkerCompleted event is triggered when the DoWork handlers have completed.
• The ProgressChanged event is triggered when the ReportProgress method is called.
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}
Task
See below for a simple example of how to use a Task to do some time intensive stuff in a
background process.
All you need to do is wrap your time intensive method in a Task.Run() call.
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// return something as a "result"
return new Random().Next(100);
}
Thread
See below for a simple example of how to use a Thread to do some time intensive stuff in a
background process.
As you can see we can not return a value from our TimeIntensiveMethod because Thread expects a
void Method as its parameter.
To get a return value from a Thread use either an event or the following:
int ret;
Thread t= new Thread(() =>
{
Console.WriteLine("Start TimeintensiveMethod.");
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t.Start();
t.Join(1000);
Console.Writeline("Count: " + ret);
In certain cases (e.g. logging) it might be useful to run task and do not await for the result. The
following extension allows to run task and continue execution of the rest code:
The result is awaited only inside the extension method. Since async/await is used, it is possible to
catch an exception and call an optional method for handling it.
var task = Task.FromResult(0); // Or any other task from e.g. external lib.
task.RunAndForget(
e =>
{
// Something went wrong, handle it.
});
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Chapter 14: Async-Await
Introduction
In C#, a method declared async won't block within a synchronous process, in case of you're using
I/O based operations (e.g. web access, working with files, ...). The result of such async marked
methods may be awaited via the use of the awaitkeyword.
Remarks
An async method can return void, Task or Task<T>.
The return type Task will wait for the method to finish and the result will be void. Task<T> will return
a value from type T after the method completes.
async methods should return Task or Task<T>, as opposed to void, in almost all circumstances. async
void methods cannot be awaited, which leads to a variety of problems. The only scenario where an
async should return void is in the case of an event handler.
async/await works by transforming your async method into a state machine. It does this by creating
a structure behind the scenes which stores the current state and any context (like local variables),
and exposes a MoveNext() method to advance states (and run any associated code) whenever an
awaited awaitable completes.
Examples
Simple consecutive calls
The main thing to note here is that while every await-ed method is called asynchronously - and for
the time of that call the control is yielded back to the system - the flow inside the method is linear
and does not require any special treatment due to asynchrony. If any of the methods called fail,
the exception will be processed "as expected", which in this case means that the method
execution will be aborted and the exception will be going up the stack.
Try/Catch/Finally
6.0
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As of C# 6.0, the await keyword can now be used within a catch and finally block.
try {
var client = new AsyncClient();
await client.DoSomething();
} catch (MyException ex) {
await client.LogExceptionAsync();
throw;
} finally {
await client.CloseAsync();
}
5.06.0
Prior to C# 6.0, you would need to do something along the lines of the following. Note that 6.0 also
cleaned up the null checks with the Null Propagating operator.
AsynClient client;
MyException caughtException;
try {
client = new AsyncClient();
await client.DoSomething();
} catch (MyException ex) {
caughtException = ex;
}
if (client != null) {
if (caughtException != null) {
await client.LogExceptionAsync();
}
await client.CloseAsync();
if (caughtException != null) throw caughtException;
}
Please note that if you await a task not created by async (e.g. a task created by Task.Run), some
debuggers may break on exceptions thrown by the task even when it is seemingly handled by the
surrounding try/catch. This happens because the debugger considers it to be unhandled with
respect to user code. In Visual Studio, there is an option called "Just My Code", which can be
disabled to prevent the debugger from breaking in such situations.
The web.config system.web.httpRuntime must target 4.5 to ensure the thread will renter the
request context before resuming your async method.
Async and await have undefined behavior on ASP.NET prior to 4.5. Async / await will resume on
an arbitrary thread that may not have the request context. Applications under load will randomly
fail with null reference exceptions accessing the HttpContext after the await. Using
HttpContext.Current in WebApi is dangerous because of async
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Concurrent calls
It is possible to await multiple calls concurrently by first invoking the awaitable tasks and then
awaiting them.
await firstTask;
await secondTask;
}
Alternatively, Task.WhenAll can be used to group multiple tasks into a single Task, which completes
when all of its passed tasks are complete.
await Task.WhenAll(tasks);
To get results from a task after awaiting multiple tasks with Task.WhenAll, simply await the task
again. Since the task is already completed it will just return the result back
Also, the Task.WhenAny can be used to execute multiple tasks in parallel, like the Task.WhenAll
above, with the difference that this method will complete when any of the supplied tasks will be
completed.
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var secondTask = TaskOperation("#secondTask executed");
var thirdTask = TaskOperation("#thirdTask executed");
await Task.WhenAny(firstTask, secondTask, thirdTask);
}
The Task returned by RunConcurrentTasksWhenAny will complete when any of firstTask, secondTask, or
thirdTask completes.
The asynchronous method in which await is used must be modified by the async
keyword.
The opposite is not always true: you can mark a method as async without using await in its body.
What await actually does is to suspend execution of the code until the awaited task completes; any
task can be awaited.
Note: you cannot await for async method which returns nothing (void).
Actually, the word 'suspends' is a bit misleading because not only the execution stops, but the
thread may become free for executing other operations. Under the hood, await is implemented by
a bit of compiler magic: it splits a method into two parts - before and after await. The latter part is
executed when the awaited task completes.
If we ignore some important details, the compiler roughly does this for you:
becomes:
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Any usual method can be turned into async in the following way:
This can be advantageous when you need to execute a long running method on the UI thread
without freezing the UI.
But there is a very important remark here: Asynchronous does not always mean concurrent
(parallel or even multi-threaded). Even on a single thread, async-await still allows for
asynchronous code. For example, see this custom task scheduler. Such a 'crazy' task scheduler
can simply turn tasks into functions which are called within message loop processing.
We need to ask ourselves: What thread will execute the continuation of our method
DoIt_Continuation?
By default the await operator schedules the execution of continuation with the current
Synchronization context. It means that by default for WinForms and WPF continuation runs in the
UI thread. If, for some reason, you need to change this behavior, use method
Task.ConfigureAwait():
Methods that perform asynchronous operations don't need to use await if:
If GetByKeyAsync has the same signature as GetUserAsync (returning a Task<User>), the method can
be simplified:
return dataStore.GetByKeyAsync(lookupKey);
}
In this case, the method doesn't need to be marked async, even though it's preforming an
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asynchronous operation. The Task returned by GetByKeyAsync is passed directly to the calling
method, where it will be awaited.
Important: Returning the Task instead of awaiting it, changes the exception behavior of the
method, as it won't throw the exception inside the method which starts the task but in the method
which awaits it.
This will improve performance as it will save the compiler the generation of an extra async state
machine.
It is a bad practice to block on async calls as it can cause deadlocks in environments that have a
synchronization context. The best practice is to use async/await "all the way down." For example,
the following Windows Forms code causes a deadlock:
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bool result = TryThis().Result;
// Never actually gets here
Trace.TraceInformation("Done with result");
}
Essentially, once the async call completes, it waits for the synchronization context to become
available. However, the event handler "holds on" to the synchronization context while it's waiting
for the TryThis() method to complete, thus causing a circular wait.
Note: event handlers are the only place where async void should be used (because you can't await
an async void method).
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// Do other work
}
The primary purpose of async/await is to allow the machine to do additional work - for example, to
allow the calling thread to do other work while it's waiting for a result from some I/O operation. In
this case, the calling thread is never allowed to do more work than it would have been able to do
otherwise, so there's no performance gain over simply calling MethodA(), MethodB(), and MethodC()
synchronously.
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Chapter 15: Asynchronous Socket
Introduction
By using asynchronous sockets a server can listening for incoming connections and do some
other logic in the mean time in contrast to synchronous socket when they are listening they block
the main thread and the application is becoming unresponsive an will freeze until a client
connects.
Remarks
Socket and network
How to access a Server outside my own network? This is a common question and when it is
asked is mostly flagged as of topic.
Server Side
On the network of your server you need to port forward your router to your server.
local IP = 192.168.1.115
Client Side
The only thing you need to change is the IP. You don't want to connect to your loopback address
but to the public IP from the network your server is running on. This IP you can get here.
So now you create a request on this endpoint : 10.10.10.10:1234 if you did property port forward
your router your server and client will connect without any problem.
If you want to connect to a local IP you won't have to portforwart just change the loopback address
to 192.168.1.178 or something like that.
Sending data:
Data is send in byte array. You need to pack you data into an byte array and unpack it on the
other side.
If you are familiar with socket you also can try to encrypt your byte array before sending. This will
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prevent anyone from stealing your package.
Examples
Asynchronous Socket (Client / Server) example.
Start of with creating an server that will handle clients that connect, and requests that will be send.
So create an Listener Class that will handle this.
class Listener
{
public Socket ListenerSocket; //This is the socket that will listen to any incoming
connections
public short Port = 1234; // on this port we will listen
public Listener()
{
ListenerSocket = new Socket(AddressFamily.InterNetwork, SocketType.Stream,
ProtocolType.Tcp);
}
}
First we need to initialize the Listener socket where we can listen on for any connections. We are
going to use an Tcp Socket that is why we use SocketType.Stream. Also we specify to witch port
the server should listen to
1. ListenerSocket.Bind();
This method binds the socket to an IPEndPoint. This class contains the host and local or
remote port information needed by an application to connect to a service on a host.
2. ListenerSocket.Listen(10);
The backlog parameter specifies the number of incoming connections that can be queued for
acceptance.
3. ListenerSocket.BeginAccept();
The server will start listening for incoming connections and will go on with other logic. When
there is an connection the server switches back to this method and will run the
AcceptCallBack methodt
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{
try
{
MessageBox.Show($"Listening started port:{Port} protocol type:
{ProtocolType.Tcp}");
ListenerSocket.Bind(new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Any, Port));
ListenerSocket.Listen(10);
ListenerSocket.BeginAccept(AcceptCallback, ListenerSocket);
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception("listening error" + ex);
}
}
1. ListenerSocket.EndAccept()
We started the callback with Listener.BeginAccept() end now we have to end that call back.
The EndAccept() method accepts an IAsyncResult parameter, this will store the state of the
asynchronous method, From this state we can extract the socket where the incoming
connection was coming from.
2. ClientController.AddClient()
With the socket we got from EndAccept() we create an Client with an own made method
(code ClientController below server example).
3. ListenerSocket.BeginAccept()
We need to start listening again when the socket is done with handling the new connection.
Pass in the method who will catch this callback. And also pass int the Listener socket so we
can reuse this socket for upcoming connections.
ListenerSocket.BeginAccept(AcceptCallback, ListenerSocket);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
throw new Exception("Base Accept error"+ ex);
}
}
Now we have an Listening Socket but how do we receive data send by the client that is what the
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next code is showing.
First of create a receive class with a constructor that takes in a Socket as parameter:
In the next method we first start off with giving the buffer a size of 4 bytes (Int32) or package
contains to parts {lenght, actual data}. So the first 4 bytes we reserve for the lenght of the data the
rest for the actual data.
Next we use BeginReceive() method. This method is used to start receiving from connected
clients and when it will receive data it will run the ReceiveCallback function.
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the socket.
StartReceiving();
}
else
{
Disconnect();
}
}
catch
{
// if exeption is throw check if socket is connected because than you can
startreive again else Dissconect
if (!_receiveSocket.Connected)
{
Disconnect();
}
else
{
StartReceiving();
}
}
}
So we've setup a server that can receive and listen for incoming connections. When a clients
connect it will be added to a list of clients and every client has his own receive class. To make the
server listen:
class Client
{
public Socket _socket { get; set; }
public ReceivePacket Receive { get; set; }
public int Id { get; set; }
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{
public static List<Client> Clients = new List<Client>();
Connecting to server
First of all we want to create a class what connects to the server te name we give it is: Connector:
class Connector
{
private Socket _connectingSocket;
}
3. Every loop it is just holding the Thread for 1 second we don't want to DOS the server XD
4. With Connect() it will try to connect to the server. If it fails it will throw an exception but the
wile will keep the program connecting to the server. You can use a Connect CallBack
method for this, but I'll just go for calling a method when the Socket is connected.
5. Notice the Client is now trying to connect to your local pc on port 1234.
while (!_connectingSocket.Connected)
{
Thread.Sleep(1000);
try
{
_connectingSocket.Connect(new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Parse("127.0.0.1"),
1234));
}
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catch { }
}
SetupForReceiveing();
}
}
So now we have an almost finish or Socket application. The only thing that we don't have jet is a
Class for sending a message to the server.
Finaly crate two buttons one for connect and the other for sending a message:
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tpp.TryToConnect();
}
Notice
The Receive Class from the server is the same as the receive class from the client.
Conclusion
You now have a server and a client. You can work this basic example out. For example make it
that the server also can receive files or other tings. Or send a message to the client. In the server
you got a list of client so when you receive something you will know from with client it came from.
Final result:
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Read Asynchronous Socket online: https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/9638/asynchronous-socket
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Chapter 16: Attributes
Examples
Creating a custom attribute
Using an attribute
Reading an attribute
Method GetCustomAttributes returns an array of custom attributes applied to the member. After
retrieving this array you can search for one or more specific attributes.
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foreach(var attribute in typeof(MyClass).GetCustomAttributes()) {
Console.WriteLine(attribute.GetType());
}
GetCustomAttribute also has generic signature to specify type of attribute to search for.
Boolean argument inherit can be passed to both of those methods. If this value set to true the
ancestors of element would be also to inspected.
DebuggerDisplay Attribute
Adding the DebuggerDisplay Attribute will change the way the debugger displays the class when it is
hovered over.
Expressions that are wrapped in {} will be evaluated by the debugger. This can be a simple
property like in the following sample or more complex logic.
[DebuggerDisplay("{StringProperty} - {IntProperty}")]
public class AnObject
{
public int ObjectId { get; set; }
public string StringProperty { get; set; }
public int IntProperty { get; set; }
}
Adding ,nq before the closing bracket removes the quotes when outputting a string.
[DebuggerDisplay("{StringProperty,nq} - {IntProperty}")]
Even though general expressions are allowed in the {} they are not recommended. The
DebuggerDisplay attribute will be written into the assembly metadata as a string. Expressions in {}
are not checked for validity. So a DebuggerDisplay attribute containing more complex logic than i.e.
some simple arithmetic might work fine in C#, but the same expression evaluated in VB.NET will
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probably not be syntactically valid and produce an error while debugging.
A way to make DebuggerDisplay more language agnostic is to write the expression in a method or
property and call it instead.
[DebuggerDisplay("{DebuggerDisplay(),nq}")]
public class AnObject
{
public int ObjectId { get; set; }
public string StringProperty { get; set; }
public int IntProperty { get; set; }
One might want DebuggerDisplayto output all or just some of the properties and when debugging
and inspecting also the type of the object.
The example below also surrounds the helper method with #if DEBUG as DebuggerDisplay is used in
debugging environments.
[DebuggerDisplay("{DebuggerDisplay(),nq}")]
public class AnObject
{
public int ObjectId { get; set; }
public string StringProperty { get; set; }
public int IntProperty { get; set; }
#if DEBUG
private string DebuggerDisplay()
{
return
$"ObjectId:{this.ObjectId}, StringProperty:{this.StringProperty},
Type:{this.GetType()}";
}
#endif
}
Caller info attributes can be used to pass down information about the invoker to the invoked
method. The declaration looks like this:
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
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And the invocation looks like this:
Notice that only the first parameter is passed explicitly to the LogException method whereas the rest
of them will be provided at compile time with the relevant values.
The callerMemberName parameter will receive the value "Save" - the name of the calling method.
The callerLineNumber parameter will receive the number of whichever line the LogException method
call is written on.
And the 'callerFilePath' parameter will receive the full path of the file Save method is declared in.
There is no simple way to obtain attributes from an interface, since classes does not inherit
attributes from an interface. Whenever implementing an interface or overriding members in a
derived class, you need to re-declare the attributes. So in the example below output would be True
in all three cases.
using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Reflection;
namespace InterfaceAttributesDemo {
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private static void GetInterfaceAttributeDemo() {
var attribute1 = (MyCustomAttribute)
typeof(MyClass).GetCustomAttribute(typeof(MyCustomAttribute), true);
Console.WriteLine(attribute1 == null); // True
var attribute2 =
typeof(MyClass).GetCustomAttributes(true).OfType<MyCustomAttribute>().SingleOrDefault();
Console.WriteLine(attribute2 == null); // True
One way to retrieve interface attributes is to search for them through all the interfaces
implemented by a class.
Obsolete Attribute
System.Obsolete is an attribute that is used to mark a type or a member that has a better version,
and thus should not be used.
In case the class above is used, the compiler will give the warning "This class is obsolete. Use
SomeOtherClass instead."
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Chapter 17: BackgroundWorker
Syntax
• bgWorker.CancellationPending //returns whether the bgWorker was cancelled during its
operation
Remarks
Performing long-running operations within the UI thread can cause your application to become
unresponsive, appearing to the user that it has stopped working. It is preferred that these tasks be
run on a background thread. Once complete, the UI can be updated.
Making changes to the UI during the BackgroundWorker's operation requires invoking the
changes to the UI thread, typically by using the Control.Invoke method on the control you are
updating. Neglecting to do so will cause your program to throw an exception.
Examples
Assigning Event Handlers to a BackgroundWorker
Once the instance of the BackgroundWorker has been declared, it must be given properties and
event handlers for the tasks it performs.
bgWorker.DoWork += bgWorker_DoWork;
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// Work to be done here
// ...
// To get a reference to the current Backgroundworker:
BackgroundWorker worker = sender as BackgroundWorker;
// The reference to the BackgroundWorker is often used to report progress
worker.ReportProgress(...);
}
/*This is the method that will be run once the BackgroundWorker has completed its tasks */
bgWorker.RunWorkerCompleted += bgWorker_CompletedWork;
bgWorker.ProgressChanged += bgWorker_ProgressChanged;
bgWorker.WorkerSupportsCancellation = true;
bgWorker.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
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namespace BGWorkerExample
{
public partial class ExampleForm : Form
{
namespace BgWorkerExample
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
prgProgressBar.Step = 1;
//tell the backgroundWorker to raise the "DoWork" event, thus starting it.
//Check to make sure the background worker is not already running.
if(!bgWorker.IsBusy)
bgWorker.RunWorkerAsync();
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}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("Task Complete!");
prgProgressBar.Value = 0;
}
}
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Chapter 18: BigInteger
Remarks
When To Use
objects are by their very nature very heavy on RAM. Consequently, they should only be
BigInteger
used when absolutely necessary, ie for numbers on a truly astronomical scale.
Further to this, all arithmetic operations on these objects are an order of magnitude slower than
their primitive counterparts, this problem gets further compounded as the number grows as they
are not of a fixed size. It is therefore feasibly possible for a rogue BigInteger to cause a crash by
consuming all of the available RAM.
Alternatives
If speed is imperative to your solution it may be more efficient to implement this functionality
yourself using a class wrapping a Byte[] and overloading the necessary operators yourself.
However, this does require a significant amount of extra effort.
Examples
Calculate the First 1,000-Digit Fibonacci Number
using System;
using System.Numerics;
namespace Euler_25
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
BigInteger l1 = 1;
BigInteger l2 = 1;
BigInteger current = l1 + l2;
while (current.ToString().Length < 1000)
{
l2 = l1;
l1 = current;
current = l1 + l2;
}
Console.WriteLine(current);
}
}
}
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This simple algorithm iterates through Fibonacci numbers until it reaches one at least 1000
decimal digits in length, then prints it out. This value is significantly larger than even a ulong could
hold.
Theoretically, the only limit on the BigInteger class is the amount of RAM your application can
consume.
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Chapter 19: Binary Serialization
Remarks
The binary serialization engine is part of the .NET framework, but the examples given here are
specific to C#. As compared to other serialization engines built into the .NET framework, the binary
serializer is fast and efficient and usually requires very little extra code to get it to work. However, it
is also less tolerant to code changes; that is, if you serialize an object and then make a slight
change to the object's definition, it likely will not deserialize correctly.
Examples
Making an object serializable
Add the [Serializable] attribute to mark an entire object for binary serialization:
[Serializable]
public class Vector
{
public int X;
public int Y;
public int Z;
[NonSerialized]
public decimal DontSerializeThis;
[OptionalField]
public string Name;
}
All members will be serialized unless we explicitly opt-out using the [NonSerialized] attribute. In
our example, X, Y, Z, and Name are all serialized.
All members are required to be present on deserialization unless marked with [NonSerialized] or
[OptionalField]. In our example, X, Y, and Z are all required and deserialization will fail if they are
not present in the stream. DontSerializeThis will always be set to default(decimal) (which is 0). If
Name is present in the stream, then it will be set to that value, otherwise it will be set to
default(string) (which is null). The purpose of [OptionalField] is to provide a bit of version
tolerance.
If you use the [NonSerialized] attribute, then that member will always have its default value after
deserialization (ex. 0 for an int, null for string, false for a bool, etc.), regardless of any initialization
done in the object itself (constructors, declarations, etc.). To compensate, the attributes
[OnDeserializing] (called just BEFORE deserializing) and [OnDeserialized] (called just AFTER
deserializing) together with their counterparts, [OnSerializing] and [OnSerialized] are provided.
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Assume we want to add a "Rating" to our Vector and we want to make sure the value always
starts at 1. The way it is written below, it will be 0 after being deserialized:
[Serializable]
public class Vector
{
public int X;
public int Y;
public int Z;
[NonSerialized]
public decimal Rating = 1M;
public Vector()
{
Rating = 1M;
}
To fix this problem, we can simply add the following method inside of the class to set it to 1:
[OnDeserializing]
void OnDeserializing(StreamingContext context)
{
Rating = 1M;
}
Or, if we want to set it to a calculated value, we can wait for it to be finished deserializing and then
set it:
[OnDeserialized]
void OnDeserialized(StreamingContext context)
{
Rating = 1 + ((X+Y+Z)/3);
}
Similarly, we can control how things are written out by using [OnSerializing] and [OnSerialized].
That would get more control over serialization, how to save and load types
[Serializable]
public class Item : ISerializable
{
private string _name;
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public string Name
{
get { return _name; }
set { _name = value; }
}
public Item ()
{
For data serialization, you can specify the desired name and the desired type
When the data is deserialized, you will be able to read the desired type
Implements a serialization surrogate selector that allows one object to perform serialization and
deserialization of another
As well allows to properly serialize or deserialize a class that is not itself serializable
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Then you need to let your IFormatter know about the surrogates by defining and initializing a
SurrogateSelector and assigning it to your IFormatter
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;
namespace BinarySerializationExample
{
class Item
{
private string _name;
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item.Name = (string)info.GetValue("_name", typeof(string));
return item;
}
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var item = new Item
{
Name = "Orange"
};
Serialization Binder
The binder gives you an opportunity to inspect what types are being loaded in your application
domain
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class MyBinder : SerializationBinder
{
public override Type BindToType(string assemblyName, string typeName)
{
if (typeName.Equals("BinarySerializationExample.Item"))
return typeof(Item);
return null;
}
}
Now we can check what types are loading and on this basis to decide what we really want to
receive
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;
namespace BinarySerializationExample
{
class MyBinder : SerializationBinder
{
public override Type BindToType(string assemblyName, string typeName)
{
if (typeName.Equals("BinarySerializationExample.Item"))
return typeof(Item);
return null;
}
}
[Serializable]
public class Item
{
private string _name;
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
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{
var item = new Item
{
Name = "Orange"
};
This small example shows how you can lose backward compatibility in your programs if you do not
take care in advance about this. And ways to get more control of serialization process
Version 1
[Serializable]
class Data
{
[OptionalField]
private int _version;
And now, let us assume that in the second version of the program added a new class. And we
need to store it in an array.
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Now code will look like this:
Version 2
[Serializable]
class NewItem
{
[OptionalField]
private string _name;
[Serializable]
class Data
{
[OptionalField]
private int _version;
[OptionalField]
private List<NewItem> _newItems;
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And so, what would happen when you serialize the data in the program of v2 and will try to
deserialize them in the program of v1?
Why?
The ObjectManager has a different logic to resolve dependencies for arrays and for reference and
value types. We added an array of new the reference type which is absent in our assembly.
When ObjectManager attempts to resolve dependencies it builds the graph. When it sees the
array, it can not fix it immediately, so that it creates a dummy reference and then fixes the array
later.
And since this type is not in the assembly and dependencies can’t be fixed. For some reason, it
does not remove the array from the list of elements for the fixes and at the end, it throws an
exception “IncorrectNumberOfFixups”.
It is some ‘gotchas’ in the process of serialization. For some reason, it does not work correctly only
for arrays of new reference types.
A Note:
Similar code will work correctly if you do not use arrays with new classes
• Use a collection of new structures rather than classes or use a dictionary(possible classes),
because a dictionary it’s a collection of keyvaluepair(it’s structure)
• Use ISerializable, if you can't change the old code
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Chapter 20: BindingList
Examples
Avoiding N*2 iteration
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Chapter 21: Built-in Types
Examples
Immutable reference type - string
// single character s
char c = 's';
Value type - short, int, long (signed 16 bit, 32 bit, 64 bit integers)
// assigning a signed long to its minimum value (note the long postfix)
long l = -9223372036854775808L;
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// assigning a signed long to its maximum value (note the long postfix)
long l = 9223372036854775807L;
It is also possible to make these types nullable, meaning that additionally to the usual values, null
can be assigned, too. If a variable of a nullable type is not initialized, it will be null instead of 0.
Nullable types are marked by adding a question mark (?) after the type.
Value type - ushort, uint, ulong (unsigned 16 bit, 32 bit, 64 bit integers)
// assigning an unsigned long to its minimum value (note the unsigned long postfix)
ulong l = 0UL;
// assigning an unsigned long to its maximum value (note the unsigned long postfix)
ulong l = 18446744073709551615UL;
It is also possible to make these types nullable, meaning that additionally to the usual values, null
can be assigned, too. If a variable of a nullable type is not initialized, it will be null instead of 0.
Nullable types are marked by adding a question mark (?) after the type.
The bool keyword is an alias of System.Boolean. It is used to declare variables to store the
Boolean values, true and false.
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Comparisons with boxed value types
If value types are assigned to variables of type object they are boxed - the value is stored in an
instance of a System.Object. This can lead to unintended consequences when comparing values
with ==, e.g.:
This can be avoided by using the overloaded Equals method, which will give the expected result.
Alternatively, the same could be done by unboxing the left and right variables so that the int
values are compared:
Boxed value types can only be unboxed into their original Type, even if a conversion of the two Type
s is valid, e.g.:
This can be avoided by first unboxing into the original Type, e.g.:
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Chapter 22: C# 3.0 Features
Remarks
C# version 3.0 was released as part of .Net version 3.5. Many of the features added with this
version were in support of LINQ (Language INtegrated Queries).
• LINQ
• Lambda expressions
• Extension methods
• Anonymous types
• Implicitly typed variables
• Object and Collection Initializers
• Automatically implemented properties
• Expression trees
Examples
Implicitly typed variables (var)
The var keyword allows a programmer to implicitly type a variable at compile time. var declarations
have the same type as explicitly declared variables.
The types of the above variables are int, double, StringBuilder, and an anonymous type
respectively.
It is important to note that a var variable is not dynamically typed. SquaredNumber = Builder is not
valid since you are trying to set an int to an instance of StringBuilder
//Example 1
int[] array = { 1, 5, 2, 10, 7 };
// Select squares of all odd numbers in the array sorted in descending order
IEnumerable<int> query = from x in array
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where x % 2 == 1
orderby x descending
select x * x;
// Result: 49, 25, 1
Example 1 uses query syntax which was designed to look similar to SQL queries.
//Example 2
IEnumerable<int> query = array.Where(x => x % 2 == 1)
.OrderByDescending(x => x)
.Select(x => x * x);
// Result: 49, 25, 1 using 'array' as defined in previous example
It is important to note that, in C#, LINQ query syntax is syntactic sugar for LINQ method syntax.
The compiler translates the queries into method calls at compile time. Some queries have to be
expressed in method syntax. From MSDN - "For example, you must use a method call to express
a query that retrieves the number of elements that match a specified condition."
Lambda expresions
Lambda Expresions are an extension of anonymous methods that allow for implicitly typed
parameters and return values. Their syntax is less verbose than anonymous methods and follows
a functional programming style.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
The above code will output the sum of the squares of the numbers 1 through 10 to the console.
The first lambda expression squares the numbers in the list. Since there is only 1 parameter
parenthesis may be omitted. You can include parenthesis if you wish:
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or explicitly type the parameter but then parenthesis are required:
The lambda body is an expression and has an implicit return. You can use a statement body if you
want as well. This is useful for more complex lambdas.
The select method returns a new IEnumerable with the computed values.
The second lambda expression sums the numbers in list returned from the select method.
Parentheses are required as there are multiple parameters. The types of the parameters are
explicitly typed but this is not necessary. The below method is equivalent.
As is this one:
Anonymous types
Anonymous types provide a convenient way to encapsulate a set of read-only properties into a
single object without having to explicitly define a type first. The type name is generated by the
compiler and is not available at the source code level. The type of each property is inferred by the
compiler.
You can make anonymous types by using the new keyword followed by a curly brace ({). Inside the
curly braces, you could define properties like on code below.
It's also possible to create an array of anonymous types. See code below:
var a = new[] {
new {
Fruit = "Apple",
Color = "Red"
},
new {
Fruit = "Banana",
Color = "Yellow"
}
};
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select new { prod.Color, prod.Price };
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Chapter 23: C# 4.0 Features
Examples
Optional parameters and named arguments
We can omit the argument in the call if that argument is an Optional Argument Every Optional
Argument has its own default value It will take default value if we do not supply the value A default
value of a Optional Argument must be a
1. Constant expression.
2. Must be a value type such as enum or struct.
3. Must be an expression of the form default(valueType)
public void ExampleMethod(int required, string optValue = "test", int optNum = 42)
{
//...
}
Enables you to pass the argument to the function by associating the parameter’s name No needs
for remembering the parameters position that we are not aware of always. No need to look the
order of the parameters in the parameters list of called function. We can specify parameter for
each arguments by its name.
Named arguments:
Named argument specification must appear after all fixed arguments have been specified.
If you use a named argument before a fixed argument you will get a compile time error as follows.
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Named argument specification must appear after all fixed arguments have been specified
Variance
Generic interfaces and delegates can have their type parameters marked as covariant or
contravariant using the out and in keywords respectively. These declarations are then respected
for type conversions, both implicit and explicit, and both compile time and run time.
For example, the existing interface IEnumerable<T> has been redefined as being covariant:
The ref keyword for callers of methods is now optional when calling into methods supplied by
COM interfaces. Given a COM method with the signature
A new pseudo-type dynamic is introduced into the C# type system. It is treated as System.Object, but
in addition, any member access (method call, field, property, or indexer access, or a delegate
invocation) or application of an operator on a value of such type is permitted without any type
checking, and its resolution is postponed until run-time. This is known as duck typing or late
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binding. For example:
In this case, dynamic type is used to avoid more verbose Reflection. It still uses Reflection under
the hood, but it's usually faster thanks to caching.
Dynamic type has applications even in mostly statically typed code, for example it makes double
dispatch posible without implementing Visitor pattern.
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Chapter 24: C# 5.0 Features
Syntax
• Async & Await
await MyTaskAsync();
Parameters
Remarks
C# 5.0 is coupled with Visual Studio .NET 2012
Examples
Async & Await
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asyncand await are two operators that are intended to improve performance by freeing up Threads
and waiting for operations to complete before moving forward.
Here's another example of downloading a file and handling what happens when it's progress has
changed and when the download completes (there are two ways to do this):
Method 1:
//This one using async event handlers, but not async coupled with await
private void DownloadAndUpdateAsync(string uri, string DownloadLocation){
WebClient web = new WebClient();
//Assign the event handler
web.DownloadProgressChanged += new DownloadProgressChangedEventHandler(ProgressChanged);
web.DownloadFileCompleted += new AsyncCompletedEventHandler(FileCompleted);
//Download the file asynchronously
web.DownloadFileAsync(new Uri(uri), DownloadLocation);
}
Method 2:
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//Assign the event handler
web.DownloadProgressChanged += new DownloadProgressChangedEventHandler(ProgressChanged);
//Download the file async
web.DownloadFileAsync(new Uri(uri), DownloadLocation);
//Notice how there is no complete event, instead we're using techniques from the first
example
}
private void ProgressChanged(object sender, DownloadProgressChangedEventArgs e){
int i = 0;
i++;
doSomething();
}
private void doProcess(){
//Wait for the download to finish
await DownloadAndUpdateAsync(new Uri("http://example.com/file"))
doSomething();
}
C.I.A.s are intended as a simple way of getting attributes from whatever is calling the targeted
method. There is really only 1 way to use them and there are only 3 attributes.
Example:
//This is the "calling method": the method that is calling the target method
public void doProcess()
{
GetMessageCallerAttributes("Show my attributes.");
}
//This is the target method
//There are only 3 caller attributes
public void GetMessageCallerAttributes(string message,
//gets the name of what is calling this method
[System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CallerMemberName] string memberName = "",
//gets the path of the file in which the "calling method" is in
[System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CallerFilePath] string sourceFilePath = "",
//gets the line number of the "calling method"
[System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CallerLineNumber] int sourceLineNumber = 0)
{
//Writes lines of all the attributes
System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine("Message: " + message);
System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine("Member: " + memberName);
System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine("Source File Path: " + sourceFilePath);
System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine("Line Number: " + sourceLineNumber);
}
Example Output:
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Chapter 25: C# 6.0 Features
Introduction
This sixth iteration of the C# language is provided by the Roslyn compiler. This compiler came out
with version 4.6 of the .NET Framework, however it can generate code in a backward compatible
manner to allow targeting earlier framework versions. C# version 6 code can be compiled in a fully
backwards compatible manner to .NET 4.0. It can also be used for earlier frameworks, however
some features that require additional framework support may not function correctly.
Remarks
The sixth version of C# was released July 2015 alongside Visual Studio 2015 and .NET 4.6.
As well as adding some new language features it includes a complete rewrite of the compiler.
Previously csc.exe was a native Win32 application written in C++, with C# 6 it is now a .NET
managed application written in C#. This rewrite was known as project "Roslyn" and the code is
now open source and available on GitHub.
Examples
Operator nameof
The nameof operator returns the name of a code element as a string. This is useful when throwing
exceptions related to method arguments and also when implementing INotifyPropertyChanged.
The nameof operator is evaluated at compile time and changes the expression into a string literal.
This is also useful for strings that are named after their member that exposes them. Consider the
following:
Since nameof expressions are compile-time constants, they can be used in attributes, case labels,
switch statements, and so on.
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It is convenient to use nameof with Enums. Instead of:
Console.WriteLine(Enum.One.ToString());
it is possible to use:
Console.WriteLine(nameof(Enum.One))
The nameof operator can access non-static members using static-like syntax. Instead of doing:
The output will be Length in both examples. However, the latter prevents the creation of
unnecessary instances.
Although the nameof operator works with most language constructs, there are some limitations. For
example, you cannot use the nameof operator on open generic types or method return values:
Furthermore, if you apply it to a generic type, the generic type parameter will be ignored:
Console.WriteLine(nameof(List<int>)); // "List"
Console.WriteLine(nameof(List<bool>)); // "List"
6.0
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Expression:
Usage:
Note that this approach causes an expression tree to be created on every call, so the performance
is much worse compared to nameof operator which is evaluated at compile time and has zero
overhead at runtime.
Expression-bodied function members allow the use of lambda expressions as member bodies. For
simple members, it can result in cleaner and more readable code.
Expression-bodied functions can be used for properties, indexers, methods, and operators.
Properties
public decimal TotalPrice => BasePrice + Taxes;
Is equivalent to:
View Demo
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Indexers
public object this[string key] => dictionary[key];
Is equivalent to:
Methods
static int Multiply(int a, int b) => a * b;
Is equivalent to:
Operators
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This also can be used by operators:
Limitations
Expression-bodied function members have some limitations. They can't contain block statements
and any other statements that contain blocks: if, switch, for, foreach, while, do, try, etc.
Some if statements can be replaced with ternary operators. Some for and foreach statements can
be converted to LINQ queries, for example:
IEnumerable<string> Digits
{
get
{
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
yield return i.ToString();
}
}
In all other cases, the old syntax for function members can be used.
Expression-bodied function members can contain async/await, but it's often redundant:
Exception filters
Exception filters give developers the ability to add a condition (in the form of a boolean expression)
to a catch block, allowing the catch to execute only if the condition evaluates to true.
Exception filters allow the propagation of debug information in the original exception, where as
using an if statement inside a catch block and re-throwing the exception stops the propagation of
debug information in the original exception. With exception filters, the exception continues to
propagate upwards in the call stack unless the condition is met. As a result, exception filters make
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the debugging experience much easier. Instead of stopping on the throw statement, the debugger
will stop on the statement throwing the exception, with the current state and all local variables
preserved. Crash dumps are affected in a similar way.
Exception filters have been supported by the CLR since the beginning and they've
been accessible from VB.NET and F# for over a decade by exposing a part of the
CLR's exception handling model. Only after the release of C# 6.0 has the functionality
also been available for C# developers.
Multiple catch blocks with when clauses may be combined. The first when clause returning true will
cause the exception to be caught. Its catch block will be entered, while the other catch clauses will
be ignored (their when clauses won't be evaluated). For example:
try
{ ... }
catch (Exception ex) when (someCondition) //If someCondition evaluates to true,
//the rest of the catches are ignored.
{ ... }
catch (NotImplementedException ex) when (someMethod()) //someMethod() will only run if
//someCondition evaluates to false
{ ... }
catch(Exception ex) // If both when clauses evaluate to false
{ ... }
It can be risky to use exception filters: when an Exception is thrown from within the when
clause, the Exception from the when clause is ignored and is treated as false. This
approach allows developers to write when clause without taking care of invalid cases.
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public static void Main()
{
int a = 7;
int b = 0;
try
{
DoSomethingThatMightFail();
}
catch (Exception ex) when (a / b == 0)
{
// This block is never reached because a / b throws an ignored
// DivideByZeroException which is treated as false.
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// This block is reached since the DivideByZeroException in the
// previous when clause is ignored.
}
}
View Demo
Note that exception filters avoid the confusing line number problems associated with using throw
when failing code is within the same function. For example in this case the line number is reported
as 6 instead of 3:
1. int a = 0, b = 0;
2. try {
3. int c = a / b;
4. }
5. catch (DivideByZeroException) {
6. throw;
7. }
The exception line number is reported as 6 because the error was caught and re-thrown with the
throw statement on line 6.
1. int a = 0, b = 0;
2. try {
3. int c = a / b;
4. }
5. catch (DivideByZeroException) when (a != 0) {
6. throw;
7. }
In this example a is 0 then catch clause is ignored but 3 is reported as line number. This is
because they do not unwind the stack. More specifically, the exception is not caught on line 5
because a in fact does equal 0 and thus there is no opportunity for the exception to be re-thrown
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on line 6 because line 6 does not execute.
Be aware that while this seems to be a comfortable way of logging, it can be risky,
especially if 3rd party logging assemblies are used. These might throw exceptions
while logging in non-obvious situations that may not be detected easily (see Risky
when(...) clause above).
try
{
DoSomethingThatMightFail(s);
}
catch (Exception ex) when (Log(ex, "An error occurred"))
{
// This catch block will never be reached
}
// ...
View Demo
The common approach in previous versions of C# was to log and re-throw the exception.
6.0
try
{
DoSomethingThatMightFail(s);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Log(ex, "An error occurred");
throw;
}
// ...
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View Demo
Produced Output:
Start
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EvaluatesTo: True
Inner Finally
Catch
Outer Finally
View Demo
In the example above, if the method SomeOperation does not wish to "leak" the global state changes
to caller's when clauses, it should also contain a catch block to modify the state. For example:
It is also common to see IDisposable helper classes leveraging the semantics of using blocks to
achieve the same goal, as IDisposable.Dispose will always be called before an exception called
within a using block starts bubbling up the stack.
Auto-property initializers
Introduction
Properties can be initialized with the = operator after the closing }. The Coordinate class below
shows the available options for initializing a property:
6.0
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You can initialize auto-properties that have different visibility on their accessors. Here’s an
example with a protected setter:
Read-Only Properties
In addition to flexibility with visibility, you can also initialize read-only auto-properties. Here’s an
example:
This example also shows how to initialize a property with a complex type. Also, auto-properties
can’t be write-only, so that also precludes write-only initialization.
6.0
public Coordinate()
{
_z = 42;
}
}
Note: Before C# 6.0, you could still initialize read and write auto implemented properties
(properties with a getter and a setter) from within the constructor, but you could not initialize the
property inline with its declaration
View Demo
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Usage
Initializers must evaluate to static expressions, just like field initializers. If you need to reference
non-static members, you can either initialize properties in constructors like before, or use
expression-bodied properties. Non-static expressions, like the one below (commented out), will
generate a compiler error:
This method can also be applied to properties with different level of accessors:
The auto-property initializer allows assignment of properties directly within their declaration. For
read-only properties, it takes care of all the requirements required to ensure the property is
immutable. Consider, for example, the FingerPrint class in the following example:
View Demo
Cautionary notes
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Take care to not confuse auto-property or field initializers with similar-looking expression-body
methods which make use of => as opposed to =, and fields which do not include { get; }.
Missing { get; } in the property declaration results in a public field. Both read-only auto-property
Users1 and read-write field Users2 are initialized only once, but a public field allows changing
collection instance from outside the class, which is usually undesirable. Changing a read-only
auto-property with expression body to read-only property with initializer requires not only removing
> from =>, but adding { get; }.
The different symbol (=> instead of =) in Users3 results in each access to the property returning a
new instance of the HashSet<UserDto> which, while valid C# (from the compiler's point of view) is
unlikely to be the desired behavior when used for a collection member.
Index initializers
Index initializers make it possible to create and initialize objects with indexes at the same time.
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["foo"] = 34,
["bar"] = 42
};
Any object that has an indexed getter or setter can be used with this syntax:
class Program
{
public class MyClassWithIndexer
{
public int this[string index]
{
set
{
Console.WriteLine($"Index: {index}, value: {value}");
}
}
}
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
Output:
View Demo
If the class has multiple indexers it is possible to assign them all in a single group of statements:
class Program
{
public class MyClassWithIndexer
{
public int this[string index]
{
set
{
Console.WriteLine($"Index: {index}, value: {value}");
}
}
public string this[int index]
{
set
{
Console.WriteLine($"Index: {index}, value: {value}");
}
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}
}
Output:
It should be noted that the indexer set accessor might behave differently compared to an Add
method (used in collection initializers).
For example:
versus:
String interpolation
String interpolation allows the developer to combine variables and text to form a string.
Basic Example
Two int variables are created: foo and bar.
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int bar = 42;
Console.WriteLine(resultString);
Output:
View Demo
Output:
View Demo
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Expressions
With string interpolation, expressions within curly braces {} can also be evaluated. The result will
be inserted at the corresponding location within the string. For example, to calculate the maximum
of foo and bar and insert it, use Math.Max within the curly braces:
Output:
Note: Any leading or trailing whitespace (including space, tab and CRLF/newline) between the
curly brace and the expression is completely ignored and not included in the output
View Demo
Output:
View Demo
Output:
View Demo
Statements with a Conditional (Ternary) Operator can also be evaluated within the interpolation.
However, these must be wrapped in parentheses, since the colon is otherwise used to indicate
formatting as shown above:
Console.WriteLine($"{(foo > bar ? "Foo is larger than bar!" : "Bar is larger than foo!")}");
Output:
View Demo
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Conditional expressions and format specifiers can be mixed:
Output:
Escape sequences
Escaping backslash (\) and quote (") characters works exactly the same in interpolated strings as
in non-interpolated strings, for both verbatim and non-verbatim string literals:
Console.WriteLine($"Foo is: {foo}. In a non-verbatim string, we need to escape \" and \\ with
backslashes.");
Console.WriteLine($@"Foo is: {foo}. In a verbatim string, we need to escape "" with an extra
quote, but we don't need to escape \");
Output:
Foo is 34. In a non-verbatim string, we need to escape " and \ with backslashes.
Foo is 34. In a verbatim string, we need to escape " with an extra quote, but we don't
need to escape \
To include a curly brace { or } in an interpolated string, use two curly braces {{ or }}:
Output:
{foo} is: 34
View Demo
FormattableString type
The type of a $"..." string interpolation expression is not always a simple string. The compiler
decides which type to assign depending on the context:
This is also the order of type preference when the compiler needs to choose which overloaded
method is going to be called.
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A new type, System.FormattableString, represents a composite format string, along with the
arguments to be formatted. Use this to write applications that handle the interpolation arguments
specifically:
// ...
}
For example, one could choose not to incur the performance cost of formatting the string if the
logging level was already going to filter out the log item.
Implicit conversions
There are implicit type conversions from an interpolated string:
You can also produce an IFormattable variable that allows you to convert the string with invariant
context:
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}
public static string Invariant(FormattableString formattableString)
{
return formattableString?.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
}
}
Then, to produce a correct string for the current culture, just use the expression:
Note: Current and Invariant cannot be created as extension methods because, by default, the
compiler assigns type String to interpolated string expression which causes the following code to
fail to compile:
FormattableString class already contains Invariant() method, so the simplest way of switching to
invariant culture is by relying on using static:
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var fooBar = (from DataRow x in fooBarTable.Rows
select string.Format("{0}{1}", x["foo"], x["bar"])).ToList();
// ...
Logger.Log(string.Format(ErrorFormat, ex));
Interpolated strings, however, will not compile with placeholders referring to non-existent variables.
The following will not compile:
// ...
Logger.Log(FormatError(ex));
String interpolation process occurs at compile time, unlike formatting string with string.Format
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which occurs at runtime. Expressions in an interpolated string must reference names in the current
context and need to be stored in resource files. That means that if you want to use localization you
have to do it like:
If the resource strings for the languages used above are correctly stored in the individual resource
files, you should get the following output:
Note that this implies that the name follows the localized string in every language. If that is not the
case, you need to add placeholders to the resource strings and modify the function above or you
need to query the culture info in the function and provide a switch case statement containing the
different cases. For more details about resource files, see How to use localization in C#.
It is a good practice to use a default fallback language most people will understand, in case a
translation is not available. I suggest to use English as default fallback language.
Recursive interpolation
Although not very useful, it is allowed to use an interpolated string recursively inside another's
curly brackets:
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Console.WriteLine($"String has {$"My class is called {nameof(MyClass)}.".Length} chars:");
Console.WriteLine($"My class is called {nameof(MyClass)}.");
Output:
It is possible to use await expression to apply await operator to Tasks or Task(OfTResult) in the
catch and finally blocks in C#6.
It was not possible to use the await expression in the catch and finally blocks in earlier versions
due to compiler limitations. C#6 makes awaiting async tasks a lot easier by allowing the await
expression.
try
{
//since C#5
await service.InitializeAsync();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
//since C#6
await logger.LogAsync(e);
}
finally
{
//since C#6
await service.CloseAsync();
}
It was required in C# 5 to use a bool or declare an Exception outside the try catch to perform async
operations. This method is shown in the following example:
try
{
// Since C#5
await service.InitializeAsync();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
// Declare bool or place exception inside variable
error = true;
ex = e;
}
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// Handle async task
}
Null propagation
The ?. operator and ?[...] operator are called the null-conditional operator. It is also sometimes
referred to by other names such as the safe navigation operator.
This is useful, because if the . (member accessor) operator is applied to an expression that
evaluates to null, the program will throw a NullReferenceException. If the developer instead uses
the ?. (null-conditional) operator, the expression will evaluate to null instead of throwing an
exception.
Note that if the ?. operator is used and the expression is non-null, ?. and . are equivalent.
Basics
var teacherName = classroom.GetTeacher().Name;
// throws NullReferenceException if GetTeacher() returns null
View Demo
If the classroom does not have a teacher, GetTeacher() may return null. When it is null and the Name
property is accessed, a NullReferenceException will be thrown.
If we modify this statement to use the ?. syntax, the result of the entire expression will be null:
View Demo
Subsequently, if classroom could also be null, we could also write this statement as:
View Demo
This is an example of short-circuiting: When any conditional access operation using the null-
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conditional operator evaluates to null, the entire expression evaluates to null immediately, without
processing the rest of the chain.
When the terminal member of an expression containing the null-conditional operator is of a value
type, the expression evaluates to a Nullable<T> of that type and so cannot be used as a direct
replacement for the expression without ?..
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will not evaluate to null. It will just prevent a NullReferenceException.
When invoking an event, traditionally, it is best practice to check if the event is null in case no
subscribers are present:
Since the null-conditional operator has been introduced, the invocation can be reduced to a single
line:
OnCompleted?.Invoke(EventArgs.Empty);
Limitations
Null-conditional operator produces rvalue, not lvalue, that is, it cannot be used for property
assignment, event subscription etc. For example, the following code will not work:
Gotchas
Note that:
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int? nameLength = (person?.Name).Length; // avoid this
Despite ternary operator ?: is used here for explaining the difference between two cases, these
operators are not equivalent. This can be easily demonstrated with the following example:
void Main()
{
var foo = new Foo();
Console.WriteLine("Null propagation");
Console.WriteLine(foo.Bar?.Length);
Console.WriteLine("Ternary");
Console.WriteLine(foo.Bar != null ? foo.Bar.Length : (int?)null);
}
class Foo
{
public string Bar
{
get
{
Console.WriteLine("I was read");
return string.Empty;
}
}
}
Which outputs:
Null propagation
I was read
0
Ternary
I was read
I was read
0
View Demo
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And this difference somewhat explains why null propagation operator is not yet supported in
expression trees.
The using static [Namespace.Type] directive allows the importing of static members of types and
enumeration values. Extension methods are imported as extension methods (from just one type),
not into top-level scope.
6.0
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
BackgroundColor = DarkBlue;
WriteLine(Sqrt(2));
}
}
6.0
using System;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.DarkBlue;
Console.WriteLine(Math.Sqrt(2));
}
}
Following snippet shows an example of passing a method group (as opposed to a lambda) when a
delegate is expected. Overload resolution will now resolve this instead of raising an ambiguous
overload error due to the ability of C# 6 to check the return type of the method that was passed.
using System;
public class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
Overloaded(DoSomething);
}
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{
Console.WriteLine("overload with action called");
}
Results:
6.0
Output
View Demo
5.0
Error
error CS0121: The call is ambiguous between the following methods or properties:
'Program.Overloaded(System.Action)' and 'Program.Overloaded(System.Func)'
C# 6 can also handle well the following case of exact matching for lambda expressions which
would have resulted in an error in C# 5.
using System;
class Program
{
static void Foo(Func<Func<long>> func) {}
static void Foo(Func<Func<int>> func) {}
Parentheses are now forbidden around named parameters. The following compiles in C#5, but not
C#6
5.0
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Console.WriteLine((value: 23));
Operands of is and as are no longer allowed to be method groups. The following compiles in C#5,
but not C#6
5.0
The native compiler allowed this (although it did show a warning), and in fact didn’t
even check extension method compatibility, allowing crazy things like 1.Any is string
or IDisposable.Dispose is object.
Collection initialization syntax can be used when instantiating any class which implements
IEnumerable and has a method named Add which takes a single parameter.
In previous versions, this Add method had to be an instance method on the class being initialized.
In C#6, it can also be an extension method.
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{
var collection1 = new CollectionWithAdd{1,2,3}; // Valid in all C# versions
var collection2 = new CollectionWithoutAdd{4,5,6}; // Valid only since C# 6
}
}
In C# 5.0 and earlier the developer could only suppress warnings by number. With the introduction
of Roslyn Analyzers, C# needs a way to disable warnings issued from specific libraries. With C#
6.0 the pragma directive can suppress warnings by name.
Before:
C# 6.0:
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Chapter 26: C# 7.0 Features
Introduction
C# 7.0 is the seventh version of C#. This version contains some new features: language support
for Tuples, local functions, out var declarations, digit separators, binary literals, pattern matching,
throw expressions, ref return and ref local and extended expression bodied members list.
Examples
out var declaration
A common pattern in C# is using bool TryParse(object input, out object value) to safely parse
objects.
The out var declaration is a simple feature to improve readability. It allows a variable to be
declared at the same time that is it passed as an out parameter.
A variable declared this way is scoped to the remainder of the body at the point in which it is
declared.
Example
Using TryParse prior to C# 7.0, you must declare a variable to receive the value before calling the
function:
7.0
int value;
if (int.TryParse(input, out value))
{
Foo(value); // ok
}
else
{
Foo(value); // value is zero
}
Foo(value); // ok
In C# 7.0, you can inline the declaration of the variable passed to the out parameter, eliminating
the need for a separate variable declaration:
7.0
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if (int.TryParse(input, out var value))
{
Foo(value); // ok
}
else
{
Foo(value); // value is zero
}
Foo(value); // still ok, the value in scope within the remainder of the body
If some of the parameters that a function returns in out is not needed you can use the discard
operator _.
An out var declaration can be used with any existing function which already has out parameters.
The function declaration syntax remains the same, and no additional requirements are needed to
make the function compatible with an out var declaration. This feature is simply syntactic sugar.
Another feature of out var declaration is that it can be used with anonymous types.
7.0
var a = new[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 };
var groupedByMod2 = a.Select(x => new
{
Source = x,
Mod2 = x % 2
})
.GroupBy(x => x.Mod2)
.ToDictionary(g => g.Key, g => g.ToArray());
if (groupedByMod2.TryGetValue(1, out var oddElements))
{
Console.WriteLine(oddElements.Length);
}
In this code we create a Dictionary with int key and array of anonymous type value. In the
previous version of C# it was impossible to use TryGetValue method here since it required you to
declare the out variable (which is of anonymous type!). However, with out var we do not need to
explicitly specify the type of the out variable.
Limitations
Note that out var declarations are of limited use in LINQ queries as expressions are interpreted as
expression lambda bodies, so the scope of the introduced variables is limited to these lambdas.
For example, the following code will not work:
var nums =
from item in seq
let success = int.TryParse(item, out var tmp)
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select success ? tmp : 0; // Error: The name 'tmp' does not exist in the current context
References
• Original out var declaration proposal on GitHub
Binary literals
Binary literals allow constructing numbers from zeroes and ones, which makes seeing which bits
are set in the binary representation of a number much easier. This can be useful for working with
binary flags.
The following are equivalent ways of specifying an int with value 34 (=25 + 21):
// Existing methods:
int a2 = 0x22; // hexadecimal: every digit corresponds to 4 bits
int a3 = 34; // decimal: hard to visualise which bits are set
int a4 = (1 << 5) | (1 << 1); // bitwise arithmetic: combining non-zero bits
Flags enumerations
Before, specifying flag values for an enum could only be done using one of the three methods in this
example:
[Flags]
public enum DaysOfWeek
{
// Previously available methods:
// decimal hex bit shifting
Monday = 1, // = 0x01 = 1 << 0
Tuesday = 2, // = 0x02 = 1 << 1
Wednesday = 4, // = 0x04 = 1 << 2
Thursday = 8, // = 0x08 = 1 << 3
Friday = 16, // = 0x10 = 1 << 4
Saturday = 32, // = 0x20 = 1 << 5
Sunday = 64, // = 0x40 = 1 << 6
With binary literals it is more obvious which bits are set, and using them does not require
understanding hexadecimal numbers and bitwise arithmetic:
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[Flags]
public enum DaysOfWeek
{
Monday = 0b00000001,
Tuesday = 0b00000010,
Wednesday = 0b00000100,
Thursday = 0b00001000,
Friday = 0b00010000,
Saturday = 0b00100000,
Sunday = 0b01000000,
Digit separators
The underscore _ may be used as a digit separator. Being able to group digits in large numeric
literals has a significant impact on readability.
The underscore may occur anywhere in a numeric literal except as noted below. Different
groupings may make sense in different scenarios or with different numeric bases.
Any sequence of digits may be separated by one or more underscores. The _ is allowed in
decimals as well as exponents. The separators have no semantic impact - they are simply
ignored.
Basics
A tuple is an ordered, finite list of elements. Tuples are commonly used in programming as a
means to work with one single entity collectively instead of individually working with each of the
tuple's elements, and to represent individual rows (ie. "records") in a relational database.
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In C# 7.0, methods can have multiple return values. Behind the scenes, the compiler will use the
new ValueTuple struct.
Side note: for this to work in Visual Studio 2017, you need to get the System.ValueTuple package.
If a tuple-returning method result is assigned to a single variable you can access the members by
their defined names on the method signature:
Tuple Deconstruction
Tuple deconstruction separates a tuple into its parts.
For example, invoking GetTallies and assigning the return value to two separate variables
deconstructs the tuple into those two variables:
You can also use shorter syntax, with var outside of ():
int s, c;
(s, c) = GetTallies();
Interestingly, any object can be deconstructed by defining a Deconstruct method in the class:
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class Person
{
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public string LastName { get; set; }
In this case, the (localFirstName, localLastName) = person syntax is invoking Deconstruct on the
person.
Deconstruction can even be defined in an extension method. This is equivalent to the above:
An alternative approach for the Person class is to define the Name itself as a Tuple. Consider the
following:
class Person
{
public (string First, string Last) Name { get; }
Then you can instantiate a person like so (where we can take a tuple as an argument):
Tuple Initialization
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You can also arbitrarily create tuples in code:
Console.WriteLine(name.Item2);
// Outputs Smith
When creating a tuple, you can assign ad-hoc item names to the members of the tuple:
Type inference
Multiple tuples defined with the same signature (matching types and count) will be inferred as
matching types. For example:
stats can be returned since the declaration of the stats variable and the method's return signature
are a match.
While the ValueTuple class itself does not preserve information for member names the information
is available through reflection in a TupleElementNamesAttribute. This attribute is not applied to the
tuple itself but to method parameters, return values, properties and fields. This allows tuple item
names to be preserved across assemblies i.e. if a method returns (string name, int count) the
names name and count will be available to callers of the method in another assembly because the
return value will be marked with TupleElementNameAttribute containing the values "name" and
"count".
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Use with generics and async
The new tuple features (using the underlying ValueTuple type) fully support generics and can be
used as generic type parameter. That makes it possible to use them with the async/await pattern:
Example:
if (result == null)
throw new ArgumentException("combo not found");
return result.Item3;
}
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var result = labels
.Where(w => w.firstThingy == firstElement && w.secondThingyLabel == secondElement)
.FirstOrDefault();
if (result == null)
throw new ArgumentException("combo not found");
return result.foundValue;
}
Though the naming on the example tuple above is pretty generic, the idea of relevant labels allows
for a deeper understanding of what is being attempted in the code over referencing "item1",
"item2", and "item3".
References
• Original Tuples language feature proposal on GitHub
• A runnable VS 15 solution for C# 7.0 features
• NuGet Tuple Package
Local functions
Local functions are defined within a method and aren't available outside of it. They have access to
all local variables and support iterators, async/await and lambda syntax. This way, repetitions
specific to a function can be functionalized without crowding the class. As a side effect, this
improves intellisense suggestion performance.
Example
double GetCylinderVolume(double radius, double height)
{
return getVolume();
double getVolume()
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{
// You can declare inner-local functions in a local function
double GetCircleArea(double r) => Math.PI * r * r;
// ALL parents' variables are accessible even though parent doesn't have any input.
return GetCircleArea(radius) * height;
}
}
Local functions considerably simplify code for LINQ operators, where you usually have to separate
argument checks from actual logic to make argument checks instant, not delayed until after
iteration started.
Example
public static IEnumerable<TSource> Where<TSource>(
this IEnumerable<TSource> source,
Func<TSource, bool> predicate)
{
if (source == null) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(source));
if (predicate == null) throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(predicate));
return iterator();
IEnumerable<TSource> iterator()
{
foreach (TSource element in source)
if (predicate(element))
yield return element;
}
}
Example
async Task WriteEmailsAsync()
{
var emailRegex = new Regex(@"(?i)[a-z0-9_.+-]+@[a-z0-9-]+\.[a-z0-9-.]+");
IEnumerable<string> emails1 = await getEmailsFromFileAsync("input1.txt");
IEnumerable<string> emails2 = await getEmailsFromFileAsync("input2.txt");
await writeLinesToFileAsync(emails1.Concat(emails2), "output.txt");
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}
One important thing that you may have noticed is that local functions can be defined under the
return statement, they do not need to be defined above it. Additionally, local functions typically
follow the "lowerCamelCase" naming convention as to more easily differentiate themselves from
class scope functions.
Pattern Matching
Pattern matching extensions for C# enable many of the benefits of pattern matching from
functional languages, but in a way that smoothly integrates with the feel of the underlying
language
switch expression
Pattern matching extends the switch statement to switch on types:
class Geometry {}
switch (g)
{
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case Triangle t:
Console.WriteLine($"{t.Width} {t.Height} {t.Base}");
break;
case Rectangle sq when sq.Width == sq.Height:
Console.WriteLine($"Square rectangle: {sq.Width} {sq.Height}");
break;
case Rectangle r:
Console.WriteLine($"{r.Width} {r.Height}");
break;
case Square s:
Console.WriteLine($"{s.Width}");
break;
default:
Console.WriteLine("<other>");
break;
}
}
is expression
Pattern matching extends the is operator to check for a type and declare a new variable at the
same time.
Example
7.0
string s = o as string;
if(s != null)
{
// do something with s
}
7.0
if(o is string s)
{
//Do something with s
};
Also note that the scope of the pattern variable s is extended to outside the if block reaching the
end of the enclosing scope, example:
if(someCondition)
{
if(o is string s)
{
//Do something with s
}
else
{
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// s is unassigned here, but accessible
}
Ref returns and ref locals are useful for manipulating and returning references to blocks of
memory instead of copying memory without resorting to unsafe pointers.
Ref Return
public static ref TValue Choose<TValue>(
Func<bool> condition, ref TValue left, ref TValue right)
{
return condition() ? ref left : ref right;
}
With this you can pass two values by reference with one of them being returned based on some
condition:
Ref Local
public static ref int Max(ref int first, ref int second, ref int third)
{
ref int max = first > second ? ref first : ref second;
return max > third ? ref max : ref third;
}
…
int a = 1, b = 2, c = 3;
Max(ref a, ref b, ref c) = 4;
Debug.Assert(a == 1); // true
Debug.Assert(b == 2); // true
Debug.Assert(c == 4); // true
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byte[] b = new byte[4] { 0x42, 0x42, 0x42, 0x42 };
0x0EF00EF0;
Assert.Equal(0xFE, b[0] | b[1] | b[2] | b[3]);
Beware of endianness when doing this, though, e.g. check BitConverter.IsLittleEndian if needed
and handle accordingly.
Additionally, one can check if two ref values are the same i.e. same address:
Links
Roslyn Github Issue
System.Runtime.CompilerServices.Unsafe on github
throw expressions
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C# 7.0 allows throwing as an expression in certain places:
class Person
{
public string Name { get; }
Prior to C# 7.0, if you wanted to throw an exception from an expression body you would have to:
if (spoonsArray == null)
{
throw new Exception("There are no spoons");
}
Or
var spoonsArray = spoons.Length > 0 ? spoons : throw new Exception("There are no spoons");
C# 7.0 adds accessors, constructors and finalizers to the list of things that can have expression
bodies:
class Person
{
private static ConcurrentDictionary<int, string> names = new ConcurrentDictionary<int,
string>();
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public Person(string name) => names.TryAdd(id, name); // constructors
Also see the out var declaration section for the discard operator.
ValueTask
is a class and causes the unnecessary overhead of its allocation when the result is
Task<T>
immediately available.
ValueTask<T>is a structure and has been introduced to prevent the allocation of a Task object in
case the result of the async operation is already available at the time of awaiting.
1. Performance increase
Here's a Task<T> example:
• No heap allocation if the result is known synchronously (which it is not in this case because
of the Task.Delay, but often is in many real-world async/await scenarios)
• Takes 65ns with JIT
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2. Increased implementation flexibility
Implementations of an async interface wishing to be synchronous would otherwise be forced to
use either Task.Run or Task.FromResult (resulting in the performance penalty discussed above).
Thus there's some pressure against synchronous implementations.
But with ValueTask<T>, implementations are more free to choose between being synchronous or
asynchronous without impacting callers.
interface IFoo<T>
{
ValueTask<T> BarAsync();
}
With ValueTask, the above code will work with either synchronous or asynchronous
implementations:
Synchronous implementation:
Asynchronous implementation
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Notes
Although ValueTask struct was being planned to be added to C# 7.0, it has been kept as another
library for the time being. ValueTask<T> System.Threading.Tasks.Extensions package can be
downloaded from Nuget Gallery
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Chapter 27: C# Authentication handler
Examples
Authentication handler
/// <summary>
/// Default overridden method which performs authentication.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="request">Http request message.</param>
/// <param name="cancellationToken">Cancellation token.</param>
/// <returns>Returns http response message of type <see cref="HttpResponseMessage"/>
class asynchronously.</returns>
protected override Task<HttpResponseMessage> SendAsync(HttpRequestMessage request,
CancellationToken cancellationToken)
{
if (request.Headers.Contains(securityToken))
{
bool authorized = Authorize(request);
if (!authorized)
{
return ApiHttpUtility.FromResult(request, false,
HttpStatusCode.Unauthorized, MessageTypes.Error, Resource.UnAuthenticatedUser);
}
}
else
{
return ApiHttpUtility.FromResult(request, false, HttpStatusCode.BadRequest,
MessageTypes.Error, Resource.UnAuthenticatedUser);
}
/// <summary>
/// Authorize user by validating token.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="requestMessage">Authorization context.</param>
/// <returns>Returns a value indicating whether current request is authenticated or
not.</returns>
private bool Authorize(HttpRequestMessage requestMessage)
{
try
{
HttpRequest request = HttpContext.Current.Request;
string token = request.Headers[securityToken];
return SecurityUtility.IsTokenValid(token, request.UserAgent,
HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/Content/"), requestMessage);
}
catch (Exception)
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{
return false;
}
}
}
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Chapter 28: C# Script
Examples
Simple code evaluation
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Chapter 29: Caching
Examples
MemoryCache
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Chapter 30: Casting
Remarks
Casting is not the same as Converting. It is possible to convert the string value "-1" to an integer
value (-1), but this must be done through library methods like Convert.ToInt32() or Int32.Parse(). It
cannot be done using casting syntax directly.
Examples
Cast an object to a base type
string IMyInterface2.GetName()
{
return "IMyInterface2";
}
}
// Outputs :
// I am : IMyInterface1
// I am : IMyInterface2
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Explicit Casting
If you know that a value is of a specific type, you can explicitly cast it to that type in order to use it
in a context where that type is needed.
If we tried passing value directly to Math.Abs(), we would get a compile-time exception because
Math.Abs() doesn't have an overload that takes an object as a parameter.
If value could not be cast to an int, then the second line in this example would throw an
InvalidCastException
If you aren't sure whether a value is of the type you think it is, you can safely cast it using the as
operator. If the value is not of that type, the resulting value will be null.
Note that null values have no type, so the as keyword will safely yield null when casting any null
value.
Implicit Casting
A value will automatically be cast to the appropriate type if the compiler knows that it can always
be converted to that type.
In this example, we didn't need to use the typical explicit casting syntax because the compiler
knows all ints can be cast to objects. In fact, we could avoid creating variables and pass -1
directly as the argument of Console.WriteLine() that expects an object.
Console.WriteLine(-1);
If you need to know whether a value's type extends or implements a given type, but you don't want
to actually cast it as that type, you can use the is operator.
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if(value is int)
{
Console.WriteLine(value + "is an int");
}
Explicit casting operators can be used to perform conversions of numeric types, even though they
don't extend or implement one another.
Note that in cases where the destination type has less precision than the original type, precision
will be lost. For example, -1.1 as a double value in the above example becomes -1 as an integer
value.
Also, numeric conversions rely on compile-time types, so they won't work if the numeric types
have been "boxed" into objects.
Conversion Operators
In C#, types can define custom Conversion Operators, which allow values to be converted to and
from other types using either explicit or implicit casts. For example, consider a class that is meant
to represent a JavaScript expression:
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But we can add some explicit conversion operators to JsExpression, to allow a simple conversion
when using explicit casting.
// Usage:
JsExpression intExpression = (JsExpression)(-1);
JsExpression doubleExpression = (JsExpression)(-1.0);
Console.WriteLine(intExpression.IsEqualTo(doubleExpression)); // (-1 == -1.0)
Or, we could change these operators to implicit to make the syntax much simpler.
// Usage:
JsExpression intExpression = -1;
Console.WriteLine(intExpression.IsEqualTo(-1.0)); // (-1 == -1.0)
interface IThing { }
class Thing : IThing { }
LINQ allows you to create a projection that changes the compile-time generic type of an
IEnumerable<> via the Enumerable.Cast<>() and Enumerable.OfType<>() extension methods.
When things2 is evaluated, the Cast<>() method will try to cast all of the values in things into Thing
s. If it encounters a value that cannot be cast, an InvalidCastException will be thrown.
When things3 is evaluated, the OfType<>() method will do the same, except that if it encounters a
value that cannot be cast, it will simply omit that value rather than throw an exception.
Due to the generic type of these methods, they cannot invoke Conversion Operators or perform
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numeric conversions.
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Chapter 31: Checked and Unchecked
Syntax
• checked(a + b) // checked expression
• unchecked(a + b) // unchecked expression
• checked { c = a + b; c += 5; } // checked block
• unchecked { c = a + b; c += 5; } // unchecked block
Examples
Checked and Unchecked
short m = 32767;
short n = 32767;
int result1 = checked((short)(m + n)); //will throw an OverflowException
int result2 = unchecked((short)(m + n)); // will return -2
If neither of these are specified then the default context will rely on other factors, such as compiler
options.
The keywords can also create scopes in order to (un)check multiple operations.
short m = 32767;
short n = 32767;
checked
{
int result1 = (short)(m + n); //will throw an OverflowException
}
unchecked
{
int result2 = (short)(m + n); // will return -2
}
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Chapter 32: CLSCompliantAttribute
Syntax
1. [assembly:CLSCompliant(true)]
2. [CLSCompliant(true)]
Parameters
Constructor Parameter
Remarks
The Common Language Specification (CLS) is a set of base rules to which any language targeting
the CLI(language which confirms the Common Language Infrastructure specifications) should
confirm in order to interoperate with other CLS-compliant languages.
You should mark your assembly as CLSCompliant in most cases when you are distributing
libraries. This attribute will guarantee you that your code will be usable by all CLS-compliant
languages. This means that your code can be consumed by any language that can be compiled
and run on CLR(Common Language Runtime)
When your assembly is marked with CLSCompliantAttribute, the compiler will check if your code
violates any of CLS rules and return warning if it is needed.
Examples
Access Modifier to which CLS rules apply
using System;
[assembly:CLSCompliant(true)]
namespace CLSDoc
{
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//Warning CS3003 Type of 'Cat.DaysTillVacination' is not CLS-compliant
protected UInt16 DaysTillVacination
{
get { return _daysTillVacination; }
}
return increasedAge;
}
}
}
using System;
[assembly:CLSCompliant(true)]
namespace CLSDoc
{
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return ptr;
}
}
}
using System;
[assembly:CLSCompliant(true)]
namespace CLSDoc
{
}
}
using System;
[assembly:CLSCompliant(true)]
namespace CLSDoc
{
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Violation of CLS rule: Inherit from non CLSComplaint class
using System;
[assembly:CLSCompliant(true)]
namespace CLSDoc
{
[CLSCompliant(false)]
public class Animal
{
public int age = 0;
}
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Chapter 33: Code Contracts
Syntax
1. Contract.Requires(Condition,userMessage)
Contract.Requires(Condition,userMessage)
Contract.Result<T>
Contract.Ensures()
Contract.Invariants()
Remarks
.NET supports the Design by Contract idea via its Contracts class found in the System.Diagnostics
namespace and introduced in .NET 4.0. Code Contracts API includes classes for static and
runtime checks of code and allows you to define preconditions, postconditions, and invariants
within a method. The preconditions specify the conditions the parameters must fulfill before a
method can execute, postconditions that are verified upon completion of a method, and the
invariants define the conditions that do not change during the execution of a method.
Tracking issues of an application when your application is running, is one the foremost concerns of
all the developers and administrators. Tracking can be performed in many ways. For example -
• You can apply tracing on our application and get the details of an application when the
application is running
• You can use event logging mechanism when you are running the application. The messages
can be seen using Event Viewer
• You can apply Performance Monitoring after a specific time interval and write live data from
your application.
Code Contracts uses a different approach for tracking and managing issues within an application.
Instead of validating everything that is returned from a method call, Code Contracts with the help
of preconditions, postconditions, and invariants on methods, ensure that everything entering and
leaving your methods are correct.
Examples
Preconditions
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namespace CodeContractsDemo
{
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics.Contracts;
this._payments.Add(payment);
}
}
}
Postconditions
return total;
}
Invariants
namespace CodeContractsDemo
{
using System;
using System.Diagnostics.Contracts;
public Point()
{
}
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this.X = x;
this.Y = y;
}
[ContractInvariantMethod]
private void ValidateCoordinates()
{
Contract.Invariant(this.X >= 0);
Contract.Invariant(this.Y >= 0);
}
}
}
[ContractClass(typeof(ValidationContract))]
interface IValidation
{
string CustomerID{get;set;}
string Password{get;set;}
}
[ContractClassFor(typeof(IValidation))]
sealed class ValidationContract:IValidation
{
string IValidation.CustomerID
{
[Pure]
get
{
return Contract.Result<string>();
}
set
{
Contract.Requires<ArgumentNullException>(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(value), "Customer
ID cannot be null!!");
}
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}
string IValidation.Password
{
[Pure]
get
{
return Contract.Result<string>();
}
set
{
Contract.Requires<ArgumentNullException>(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(value), "Password
cannot be null!!");
}
}
}
class Validation:IValidation
{
public string GetCustomerPassword(string customerID)
{
Contract.Requires(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(customerID),"Customer ID cannot be Null");
Contract.Requires<ArgumentNullException>(!string.IsNullOrEmpty(customerID),
"Exception!!");
Contract.Ensures(Contract.Result<string>() != null);
string password="AAA@1234";
if (customerID!=null)
{
return password;
}
else
{
return null;
}
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}
}
In the above code, we have defined an interface called IValidation with an attribute
[ContractClass]. This attribute takes an address of a class where we have implemented a contract
for an Interface. The class ValidationContract makes use of properties defined in the interface and
checks for the null values using Contract.Requires<T>. T is an exception class.
We have also marked the get accessor with an attribute [Pure]. The pure attribute ensures that the
method or a property does not change the instance state of a class in which IValidation interface
is implemented.
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Chapter 34: Code Contracts and Assertions
Examples
Assertions to check logic should always be true
Assertions are used not to perform testing of input parameters, but to verify that program flow is
corect -- i.e., that you can make certain assumptions about your code at a certain point in time. In
other words: a test done with Debug.Assert should always assume that the value tested is true.
Debug.Assert only executes in DEBUG builds; it is filtered out of RELEASE builds. It must be
considered a debugging tool in addition to unit testing and not as a replacement of code contracts
or input validation methods.
Here assert is a good choice because we can assume that RetrieveSystemConfiguration() will
return a valid value and will never return null.
First, we may assume that RetrieveUserData() will return a valid value. Then, before using the Age
property, we verify the assumption (which should always be true) that the age of the user is strictly
positive.
Assert is not for input validation because it is incorrect to assume that this assertion will always be
true. You must use input validation methods for that. In the case above, you should also verify that
the input value is a number in the first place.
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Chapter 35: Collection Initializers
Remarks
The only requirement for an object to be initialized using this syntactic sugar is that the type
implements System.Collections.IEnumerable and the Add method. Although we call it a collection
initializer, the object does not have to be an collection.
Examples
Collection initializers
Collection initializers are syntactic sugar for Add() calls. Above code is equivalent to:
Note that the intialization is done atomically using a temporary variable, to avoid race conditions.
For types that offer multiple parameters in their Add() method, enclose the comma-separated
arguments in curly braces:
C# 6 Index Initializers
Starting with C# 6, collections with indexers can be initialized by specifying the index to assign in
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square brackets, followed by an equals sign, followed by the value to assign.
Dictionary Initialization
An example of this syntax using a Dictionary:
So there is a significant difference in functionality, as the new syntax uses the indexer of the
initialized object to assign values instead of using its Add() method. This means the new syntax
only requires a publicly available indexer, and works for any object that has one.
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This would output:
To make a class support collection initializers, it must implement IEnumerable interface and have at
least one Add method. Since C# 6, any collection implementing IEnumerable can be extended with
custom Add methods using extension methods.
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
var col = new MyCollection {
"foo",
{ "bar", 3 },
"baz",
123.45d,
};
}
}
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public class LotteryTicket : IEnumerable{
public int[] LuckyNumbers;
public string UserName;
Synonyms is a collection-type property. When the Tag object is created using object initializer syntax,
Synonyms can also be initialized with collection initializer syntax:
The collection property can be readonly and still support collection initializer syntax. Consider this
modified example (Synonyms property now has a private setter):
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This works because collection initializers are just syntatic sugar over calls to Add(). There's no new
list being created here, the compiler is just generating calls to Add() on the exiting object.
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Chapter 36: Comments and regions
Examples
Comments
Using comments in your projects is a handy way of leaving explanations of your design choices,
and should aim to make your (or someone else's) life easier when maintaining or adding to the
code.
System.Console.ReadLine();
}
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}
Regions
A region is a collapsible block of code, that can help with the readability and organisation of your
code.
NOTE: StyleCop's rule SA1124 DoNotUseRegions discourages use of regions. They are usually a
sign of badly organized code, as C# includes partial classes and other features which make
regions obsolete.
class Program
{
#region Application entry point
static void Main(string[] args)
{
PrintHelloWorld();
System.Console.ReadLine();
}
#endregion
#region My method
private static void PrintHelloWorld()
{
System.Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!");
}
#endregion
}
When the above code is view in an IDE, you will be able to collapse and expand the code using
the + and - symbols.
Expanded
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Collapsed
Documentation comments
XML documentation comments can be used to provide API documentation that can be easily
processed by tools:
/// <summary>
/// A helper class for validating method arguments.
/// </summary>
public static class Precondition
{
/// <summary>
/// Throws an <see cref="ArgumentOutOfRangeException"/> with the parameter
/// name set to <c>paramName</c> if <c>value</c> does not satisfy the
/// <c>predicate</c> specified.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">
/// The type of the argument checked
/// </typeparam>
/// <param name="value">
/// The argument to be checked
/// </param>
/// <param name="predicate">
/// The predicate the value is required to satisfy
/// </param>
/// <param name="paramName">
/// The parameter name to be passed to the
/// <see cref="ArgumentOutOfRangeException"/>.
/// </param>
/// <returns>The value specified</returns>
public static T Satisfies<T>(T value, Func<T, bool> predicate, string paramName)
{
if (!predicate(value))
throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(paramName);
return value;
}
}
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Read Comments and regions online: https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/5346/comments-and-
regions
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Chapter 37: Common String Operations
Examples
Splitting a String by specific character
Substring returns the string up from a given index, or between two indexes (both inclusive).
Using the System.String.Contains you can find out if a particular string exists within a string. The
method returns a boolean, true if the string exists else false.
String.Trim()
string q = "{(Hi!*";
string r = q.Trim( '(', '*', '{' ); // "Hi!"
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String.TrimStart() and String.TrimEnd()
string q = "{(Hi*";
string r = q.TrimStart( '{' ); // "(Hi*"
string s = q.TrimEnd( '*' ); // "{(Hi"
Formatting a string
Use the String.Format() method to replace one or more items in the string with the string
representation of a specified object:
String.Format("Hello {0} Foo {1}", "World", "Bar") //Hello World Foo Bar
string s = "Foo";
string paddedLeft = s.PadLeft(5); // paddedLeft = " Foo" (pads with spaces by default)
string paddedRight = s.PadRight(6, '+'); // paddedRight = "Foo+++"
string noPadded = s.PadLeft(2); // noPadded = "Foo" (original string is never
shortened)
The String.Join method will help us to construct a string From array/list of characters or string.
This method accepts two parameters. The first one is the delimiter or the separator which will help
you to separate each element in the array. And the second parameter is the Array itself.
string delimiter=",";
char[] charArray = new[] { 'a', 'b', 'c' };
string inputString = String.Join(delimiter, charArray);
Output : a,b,c if we change the delimiter as "" then the output will become abc.
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Output : a|b|c
Output : Ram_is_a_boy
Usually we are using String.Format method for formatting purpose, the.ToString is usually used for
converting other types to string. We can specify the format along with the ToString method while
conversion is taking place, So we can avoid an additional Formatting. Let Me Explain how it works
with different types;
Visual Basic has Left, Right, and Mid functions that returns characters from the Left, Right, and
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Middle of a string. These methods does not exist in C#, but can be implemented with Substring().
They can be implemented as an extension methods like the following:
/// <summary>
/// VB Right function
/// </summary>
/// <param name="stringparam"></param>
/// <param name="numchars"></param>
/// <returns>Right-most numchars characters</returns>
public static string Right( this string stringparam, int numchars )
{
// Handle possible Null or numeric stringparam being passed
stringparam += string.Empty;
/// <summary>
/// VB Mid function - to end of string
/// </summary>
/// <param name="stringparam"></param>
/// <param name="startIndex">VB-Style startindex, 1st char startindex = 1</param>
/// <returns>Balance of string beginning at startindex character</returns>
public static string Mid( this string stringparam, int startindex )
{
// Handle possible Null or numeric stringparam being passed
stringparam += string.Empty;
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// Validate numchars parameter
if (startindex > stringparam.Length)
startindex = stringparam.Length;
/// <summary>
/// VB Mid function - for number of characters
/// </summary>
/// <param name="stringparam"></param>
/// <param name="startIndex">VB-Style startindex, 1st char startindex = 1</param>
/// <param name="numchars">number of characters to return</param>
/// <returns>Balance of string beginning at startindex character</returns>
public static string Mid( this string stringparam, int startindex, int numchars)
{
// Handle possible Null or numeric stringparam being passed
stringparam += string.Empty;
}
}
bool result;
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result = String.IsNullOrEmpty(nullString); // true
result = String.IsNullOrEmpty(emptyString); // true
result = String.IsNullOrEmpty(whitespaceString); // false
result = String.IsNullOrEmpty(tabString); // false
result = String.IsNullOrEmpty(newlineString); // false
result = String.IsNullOrEmpty(nonEmptyString); // false
You can use the Substring method to get any number of characters from a string at any given
location. However, if you only want a single character, you can use the string indexer to get a
single character at any given index like you do with an array:
string s = "hello";
char c = s[1]; //Returns 'e'
Notice that the return type is char, unlike the Substring method which returns a string type.
You can also use the indexer to iterate through the characters of the string:
string s = "hello";
foreach (char c in s)
Console.WriteLine(c);
/********* This will print each character on a new line:
h
e
l
l
o
**********/
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var Number = 15;
Console.WriteLine(Convert.ToString(Number, 16)); //OUTPUT : f
Result:
Most times when people have to reverse a string, they do it more or less like this:
char[] a = s.ToCharArray();
System.Array.Reverse(a);
string r = new string(a);
However, what these people don't realize is that this is actually wrong.
And I don't mean because of the missing NULL check.
It is actually wrong because a Glyph/GraphemeCluster can consist out of several codepoints (aka.
characters).
To see why this is so, we first have to be aware of the fact what the term "character" actually
means.
Reference:
A code point is the atomic unit of information. Text is a sequence of code points. Each
code point is a number which is given meaning by the Unicode standard.
A grapheme is a sequence of one or more code points that are displayed as a single,
graphical unit that a reader recognizes as a single element of the writing system. For
example, both a and ä are graphemes, but they may consist of multiple code points
(e.g. ä may be two code points, one for the base character a followed by one for the
diaresis; but there's also an alternative, legacy, single code point representing this
grapheme). Some code points are never part of any grapheme (e.g. the zero-width
non-joiner, or directional overrides).
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work. A font may contain multiple alternative glyphs for the same grapheme, too.
Which means, if you just reverse a valid string like Les Misérables, which can look like this
selbaŕesiM seL
As you can see, the accent is on the R character, instead of the e character.
Although string.reverse.reverse will yield the original string if you both times reverse the char
array, this kind of reversal is definitely NOT the reverse of the original string.
System.Globalization.TextElementEnumerator enumerator =
System.Globalization.StringInfo.GetTextElementEnumerator(s);
while (enumerator.MoveNext())
{
ls.Add((string)enumerator.Current);
}
return ls;
}
// this
private static string ReverseGraphemeClusters(string s)
{
if(string.IsNullOrEmpty(s) || s.Length == 1)
return s;
System.Collections.Generic.List<string> ls = GraphemeClusters(s);
ls.Reverse();
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System.Console.WriteLine(r);
}
And - oh joy - you'll realize if you do it correctly like this, it will also work for Asian/South-
Asian/East-Asian languages (and French/Swedish/Norwegian, etc.)...
Using the System.String.Replace method, you can replace part of a string with another string.
This method can also be used to remove part of a string, using the String.Empty field:
The System.String class supports a number of methods to convert between uppercase and
lowercase characters in a string.
Note: The reason to use the invariant versions of these methods is to prevent producing
unexpected culture-specific letters. This is explained here in detail.
Example:
Note that you can choose to specify a specific Culture when converting to lowercase and
uppercase by using the String.ToLower(CultureInfo) and String.ToUpper(CultureInfo) methods
accordingly.
The System.String.Join method allows to concatenate all elements in a string array, using a
specified separator between each element:
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string singleString = String.Join(",", words); // singleString = "One,Two,Three,Four"
String Concatenation
String Concatenation can be done by using the System.String.Concat method, or (much easier)
using the + operator:
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Chapter 38: Conditional Statements
Examples
If-Else Statement
Programming in general often requires a decision or a branch within the code to account for how
the code operates under different inputs or conditions. Within the C# programming language (and
most programming languages for this matter), the simplest and sometimes the most useful way of
creating a branch within your program is through an If-Else statement.
Lets assume we have method (a.k.a. a function) which takes an int parameter which will represent
a score up to 100, and the method will print out a message saying whether we pass or fail.
When looking at this method, you may notice this line of code (score >= 50) inside the If
statement. This can be seen as a boolean condition, where if the condition is evaluated to equal
true, then the code that is in between the if { } is ran.
For example, if this method was called like this: PrintPassOrFail(60);, the output of the method
would be a Console Print saying Pass! since the parameter value of 60 is greater or equal to 50.
However, if the method was called like: PrintPassOrFail(30);, the output of the method would print
out saying Fail!. This is because the value 30 is not greater or equal to 50, thus the code in
between the else { } is ran instead of the If statement.
In this example, we've said that score should go up to 100, which hasn't been accounted for at all.
To account for score not going past 100 or possibly dropping below 0, see the If-Else If-Else
Statement example.
Following on from the If-Else Statement example, it is now time to introduce the Else If
statement. The Else If statement follows directly after the If statement in the If-Else If-Else
structure, but intrinsically has has a similar syntax as the If statement. It is used to add more
branches to the code than what a simple If-Else statement can.
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In the example from If-Else Statement, the example specified that the score goes up to 100;
however there were never any checks against this. To fix this, lets modify the method from If-Else
Statement to look like this:
All these statements will run in order from the top all the way to the bottom until a condition has
been met. In this new update of the method, we've added two new branches to now accommodate
for the score going out of bounds.
For example, if we now called the method in our code as PrintPassOFail(110);, the output would be
a Console Print saying Error: score is greater than 100!; and if we called the method in our code
like PrintPassOrFail(-20);, the output would say Error: score is less than 0!.
Switch statements
A switch statement allows a variable to be tested for equality against a list of values. Each value is
called a case, and the variable being switched on is checked for each switch case.
A switch statement is often more concise and understandable than if...else if... else..
statements when testing multiple possible values for a single variable.
Syntax is as follows
switch(expression) {
case constant-expression:
statement(s);
break;
case constant-expression:
statement(s);
break;
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}
there are sevaral things that have to consider while using the switch statement
• The expression used in a switch statement must have an integral or enumerated type, or be
of a class type in which the class has a single conversion function to an integral or
enumerated type.
• You can have any number of case statements within a switch. Each case is followed by the
value to be compared to and a colon. The values to compare to have to be unique within
each switch statement.
• A switch statement can have an optional default case. The default case can be used for
performing a task when none of the cases is true.
• Each case has to end with a break statement unless it is an empty statement. In that case
execution will continue at the case below it. The break statement can also be omitted when a
return, throw or goto case statement is used.
switch (grade)
{
case 'A':
Console.WriteLine("Excellent!");
break;
case 'B':
case 'C':
Console.WriteLine("Well done");
break;
case 'D':
Console.WriteLine("You passed");
break;
case 'F':
Console.WriteLine("Better try again");
break;
default:
Console.WriteLine("Invalid grade");
break;
}
is exactly equivalent to
in other words, the conditions inside the "if" statement just form an ordinary Boolean expression.
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A common mistake when writing conditional statements is to explicitly compare to true and false:
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Chapter 39: Constructors and Finalizers
Introduction
Constructors are methods in a class that are invoked when an instance of that class is created.
Their main responsibility is to leave the new object in a useful and consistent state.
Destructors/Finalizers are methods in a class that are invoked when an instance of that is
destroyed. In C# they are rarely explicitely written/used.
Remarks
C# does not actually have destructors, but rather Finalizers which use C++ style destructor syntax.
Specifying a destructor overrides the Object.Finalize() method which cannot be called directly.
Unlike other languages with similar syntax, these methods are not called when objects go out of
scope, but are called when the Garbage Collector runs, which occurs under certain conditions. As
such, they are not guaranteed to run in any particular order.
Finalizers should be responsible for cleaning up unmanaged resources only (pointers acquired via
the Marshal class, received through p/Invoke (system calls) or raw pointers used within unsafe
blocks). To clean up managed resources, please review IDisposable, the Dispose pattern and the
using statement.
Examples
Default Constructor
The definition of any constructor for the type will suppress the default constructor generation. If the
type were defined as follows:
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public class Animal
{
public Animal(string name) {}
}
// This is valid
var myAnimal = new Animal("Fluffy");
// This fails to compile
var unnamedAnimal = new Animal();
For the second example, the compiler will display an error message:
If you want a class to have both a parameterless constructor and a constructor that takes a
parameter, you can do it by explicitly implementing both constructors.
The compiler will not be able to generate a default constructor if the class extends another class
which doesn't have a parameterless constructor. For example, if we had a class Creature:
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Static constructor
A static constructor is called the first time any member of a type is initialized, a static class
member is called or a static method. The static constructor is thread safe. A static constructor is
commonly used to:
• Initialize static state, that is state which is shared across different instances of the same
class.
• Create a singleton
Example:
class Animal
{
// * A static constructor is executed only once,
// when a class is first accessed.
// * A static constructor cannot have any access modifiers
// * A static constructor cannot have any parameters
static Animal()
{
Console.WriteLine("Animal initialized");
}
Output:
Animal initialized
Animal created
Animal created
View Demo
If the first call is to a static method, the static constructor is invoked without the instance
constructor. This is OK, because the static method can't access instance state anyways.
Animal.Yawn();
Animal initialized
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Yawn!
Singleton example:
static SessionManager()
{
Instance = new SessionManager();
}
}
A constructor of a base class is called before a constructor of a derived class is executed. For
example, if Mammal extends Animal, then the code contained in the constructor of Animal is called
first when creating an instance of a Mammal.
If a derived class doesn't explicitly specify which constructor of the base class should be called,
the compiler assumes the parameterless constructor.
In this case, instantiating a Mammal by calling new Mammal("George the Cat") will print
View Demo
Calling a different constructor of the base class is done by placing : base(args) between the
constructor's signature and its body:
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Console.WriteLine(name + " is a mammal.");
}
}
View Demo
When an object graph is finalized, the order is the reverse of the construction. E.g. the super-type
is finalized before the base-type as the following code demonstrates:
class TheBaseClass
{
~TheBaseClass()
{
Console.WriteLine("Base class finalized!");
}
}
private SingletonClass()
{
// Put custom constructor code here
}
}
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Because the constructor is private, no new instances of SingletonClass can be made by consuming
code. The only way to access the single instance of SingletonClass is by using the static property
SingletonClass.Instance.
The Instance property is assigned by a static constructor that the C# compiler generates. The
.NET runtime guarantees that the static constructor is run at most once and is run before Instance
is first read. Therefore, all synchronization and initialization concerns are carried out by the
runtime.
Note, that if the static constructor fails the Singleton class becomes permanently unusable for the
life of the AppDomain.
Also, the static constructor is not guaranteed to run at the time of the first access of Instance.
Rather, it will run at some point before that. This makes the time at which initialization happens
non-deterministic. In practical cases the JIT often calls the static constructor during compilation
(not execution) of a method referencing Instance. This is a performance optimization.
See the Singleton Implementations page for other ways to implement the singleton pattern.
While static constructors are always called before the first usage of a type it's sometimes useful to
be able to force them to be called and the RuntimeHelpers class provide an helper for it:
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
// ...
RuntimeHelpers.RunClassConstructor(typeof(Foo).TypeHandle);
Remark: All static initialization (fields initializers for example) will run, not only the constructor
itself.
Potential usages: Forcing initialization during the splash screen in an UI application or ensuring
that a static constructor doesn't fail in an unit test.
Unlike C++ in C# you can call a virtual method from class constructor (OK, you can also in C++
but behavior at first is surprising). For example:
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private readonly AnotherBase _obj;
}
If you come from a C++ background this is surprising, base class constructor already sees derived
class virtual method table!
Be careful: derived class may not been fully initialized yet (its constructor will be executed after
base class constructor) and this technique is dangerous (there is also a StyleCop warning for this).
Usually this is regarded as bad practice.
If the type on which the static constructor is declared is generic, the static constructor will be called
once for each unique combination of generic arguments.
class Animal<T>
{
static Animal()
{
Console.WriteLine(typeof(T).FullName);
}
Animal<Object>.Yawn();
Animal<String>.Yawn();
System.Object
System.String
If a static constructor throws an exception, it is never retried. The type is unusable for the lifetime
of the AppDomain. Any further usages of the type will raise a TypeInitializationException wrapped
around the original exception.
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public class Animal
{
static Animal()
{
Console.WriteLine("Static ctor");
throw new Exception();
}
try
{
Animal.Yawn();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
}
try
{
Animal.Yawn();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Console.WriteLine(e.ToString());
}
Static ctor
[...]
where you can see that the actual constructor is only executed once, and the exception is re-used.
Shall the property value's assignment be executed before or after the class' constructor?
public TestClass()
{
if (TestProperty == 1)
{
Console.WriteLine("Shall this be executed?");
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}
if (TestProperty == 2)
{
Console.WriteLine("Or shall this be executed");
}
}
}
In the example above, shall the TestProperty value be 1 in the class' constructor or after the class
constructor?
Will be executed after the constructor is run. However, initializing the property value in the class'
property in C# 6.0 like this:
public TestClass()
{
}
}
public TestClass()
{
if (TestProperty == 1)
{
Console.WriteLine("Shall this be executed?");
}
if (TestProperty == 2)
{
Console.WriteLine("Or shall this be executed");
}
}
}
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var testInstance = new TestClass() { TestProperty = 1 };
Console.WriteLine(testInstance.TestProperty); //resulting in 1
}
Final result:
Explanation:
The TestProperty value will first be assigned as 2, then the TestClass constructor will be run,
resulting in printing of
And then the TestProperty will be assigned as 1 due to new TestClass() { TestProperty = 1 },
making the final value for the TestProperty printed by Console.WriteLine(testInstance.TestProperty)
to be
"1"
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Chapter 40: Creating a Console Application
using a Plain-Text Editor and the C# Compiler
(csc.exe)
Examples
Creating a Console application using a Plain-Text Editor and the C# Compiler
In order to use a plain-text editor to create a Console application that is written in C#, you'll need
the C# Compiler. The C# Compiler (csc.exe), can be found at the following location:
%WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\csc.exe
N.B. Depending upon which version of the .NET Framework that is installed on your system, you
may need to change the path above, accordingly.
1. Open the Run dialog, by using the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + R
2. Type notepad, then hit Enter
3. Paste the example code below, into Notepad
4. Save the file as ConsoleApp.cs, by going to File → Save As..., then entering ConsoleApp.cs in
the 'File Name' text field, then selecting All Files as the file-type.
5. Click Save
%WINDIR%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\csc.exe /t:exe
/out:"C:\Users\yourUserName\Documents\ConsoleApp.exe"
"C:\Users\yourUserName\Documents\ConsoleApp.cs"
Now, go back to where you originally saved your ConsoleApp.cs file. You should now see an
executable file (ConsoleApp.exe). Double-click ConsoleApp.exe to open it.
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That's it! Your console application has been compiled. An executable file has been created and
you now have a working Console app.
using System;
namespace ConsoleApp
{
class Program
{
private static string input = String.Empty;
DisplayGreeting:
{
Console.WriteLine("Hello! What is your name?");
input = Console.ReadLine();
if (input.Length >= 1)
{
Console.WriteLine(
"Hello, " +
input +
", enter 'Exit' at any time to exit this app.");
goto AwaitFurtherInstruction;
}
else
{
goto DisplayGreeting;
}
}
AwaitFurtherInstruction:
{
input = Console.ReadLine();
if(input.ToLower() == "exit")
{
input = String.Empty;
Environment.Exit(0);
}
else
{
goto AwaitFurtherInstruction;
}
}
}
}
}
Read Creating a Console Application using a Plain-Text Editor and the C# Compiler (csc.exe)
online: https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/6676/creating-a-console-application-using-a-plain-text-
editor-and-the-csharp-compiler--csc-exe-
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Chapter 41: Creating Own MessageBox in
Windows Form Application
Introduction
First we need to know what a MessageBox is...
The MessageBox control displays a message with specified text, and can be customised by
specifying a custom image, title and button sets (These button sets allow the user to choose more
than a basic yes/no answer).
By creating our own MessageBox we can re-use that MessageBox Control in any new applications
just by using the generated dll, or copying the file containing the class.
Syntax
• 'static DialogResult result = DialogResult.No; //DialogResult is returned by dialogs after
dismissal.'
Examples
Creating Own MessageBox Control.
To create our own MessageBox control simply follow the guide below...
2. Go to the toolbar at the top and click File -> New Project --> Windows Forms Application -->
Give the project a name and then click ok.
3. Once loaded, drag and drop a button control from the Toolbox (found on the left) onto the
form (as shown below).
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4. Double click the button and the Integrated Development Environment will automatically
generate the click event handler for you.
5. Edit the code for the form so that it looks like the following (You can right-click the form and
click Edit Code):
namespace MsgBoxExample {
public partial class MsgBoxExampleForm : Form {
//Constructor, called when the class is initialised.
public MsgBoxExampleForm() {
InitializeComponent();
}
6. Solution Explorer -> Right Click on your project --> Add --> Windows Form and set the name
as "CustomMsgBox.cs"
7. Drag in a button & label control from the Toolbox to the form (It'll look something like the
form below after doing it):
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8. Now write out the code below into the newly created form:
9. Now run the program by just pressing F5 Key. Congratulations, you've made a reusable
control.
To find your existing .cs files, right click on the project in your instance of Visual Studio, and click
Open Folder in File Explorer.
1. Visual Studio --> Your current project (Windows Form) --> Solution Explorer --> Project
Name --> Right Click --> Add --> Existing Item --> Then locate your existing .cs file.
2. Now there's one last thing to do in order to use the control. Add a using statement to your
code, so that your assembly knows about its dependencies.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
.
.
.
using CustomMsgBox; //Here's the using statement for our dependency.
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3. To display the messagebox, simply use the following...
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Chapter 42: Creational Design Patterns
Remarks
The creational patterns aim to separate a system from how its objects are created, composed, and
represented. They increase the system's flexibility in terms of the what, who, how, and when of
object creation. Creational patterns encapsulate the knowledge about which classes a system
uses, but they hide the details of how the instances of these classes are created and put together.
Programmers have come to realize that composing systems with inheritance makes those
systems too rigid. The creational patterns are designed to break this close coupling.
Examples
Singleton Pattern
The Singleton pattern is designed to restrict creation of a class to exactly one single instance.
This pattern is used in a scenario where it makes sense to have only one of something, such as:
• a single class that orchestrates other objects' interactions, ex. Manager class
• or one class that represents a unique, single resource, ex. Logging component
One of the most common ways to implement the Singleton pattern is via a static factory method
such as a CreateInstance() or GetInstance() (or a static property in C#, Instance), which is then
designed to always return the same instance.
The first call to the method or property creates and returns the Singleton instance. Thereafter, the
method always returns the same instance. This way, there is only ever one instance of the
singleton object.
Preventing creation of instances via new can be accomplished by making the class constructor(s)
private.
class Singleton
{
// Because the _instance member is made private, the only way to get the single
// instance is via the static Instance property below. This can also be similarly
// achieved with a GetInstance() method instead of the property.
private static Singleton _instance = null;
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public static Singleton Instance
{
get
{
// The first call will create the one and only instance.
if (_instance == null)
{
_instance = new Singleton();
}
// Every call afterwards will return the single instance created above.
return _instance;
}
}
}
To illustrate this pattern further, the code below checks whether an identical instance of the
Singleton is returned when the Instance property is called more than once.
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Singleton s1 = Singleton.Instance;
Singleton s2 = Singleton.Instance;
// Both Singleton objects above should now reference the same Singleton instance.
if (Object.ReferenceEquals(s1, s2))
{
Console.WriteLine("Singleton is working");
}
else
{
// Otherwise, the Singleton Instance property is returning something
// other than the unique, single instance when called.
Console.WriteLine("Singleton is broken");
}
}
}
To see more examples, including how to make this thread-safe, visit: Singleton Implementation
Singletons are conceptually similar to a global value, and cause similar design flaws and
concerns. Because of this, the Singleton pattern is widely regarded as an anti-pattern.
Visit "What is so bad about Singletons?" for more information on the problems that arise with their
use.
In C#, you have the ability to make a class static, which makes all members static, and the class
cannot be instantiated. Given this, it is common to see static classes used in place of the Singleton
pattern.
For key differences between the two, visit C# Singleton Pattern Versus Static Class.
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Factory Method pattern
Factory Method is one of creational design patterns. It is used to deal with the problem of creating
objects without specifying exact result type. This document will teach you how to use Factory
Method DP properly.
Let me explain the idea of it to you on a simple example. Imagine you're working in a factory that
produces three types of devices - Ammeter, Voltmeter and resistance meter. You are writing a
program for a central computer that will create selected device, but you don't know final decision
of your boss on what to produce.
Let's create an interface IDevice with some common functions that all devices have:
Now, we can create classes that represent our devices. Those classes must implement IDevice
interface:
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Now we have to define factory method. Let's create DeviceFactory class with static method inside:
device = DeviceFactory.CreateDevice(Device.VOLT);
device.TurnOn();
Console.WriteLine(device.Measure());
Console.WriteLine(device.Measure());
Console.WriteLine(device.Measure());
Console.WriteLine(device.Measure());
Console.WriteLine(device.Measure());
device.TurnOff();
Console.WriteLine();
device = DeviceFactory.CreateDevice(Device.OHM);
device.TurnOn();
Console.WriteLine(device.Measure());
Console.WriteLine(device.Measure());
Console.WriteLine(device.Measure());
Console.WriteLine(device.Measure());
Console.WriteLine(device.Measure());
device.TurnOff();
Console.WriteLine();
}
}
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This is the example output you might see after running this code:
36
33
43
24
102
-61
85
138
36
723828
368536
685412
800266
578595
Builder Pattern
Separate the construction of a complex object from its representation so that the same
construction process can create different representations and and provides a high level of control
over the assembly of the objects.
In this example demonstrates the Builder pattern in which different vehicles are assembled in a
step-by-step fashion. The Shop uses VehicleBuilders to construct a variety of Vehicles in a series
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of sequential steps.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
namespace GangOfFour.Builder
{
/// <summary>
/// MainApp startup class for Real-World
/// Builder Design Pattern.
/// </summary>
public class MainApp
{
/// <summary>
/// Entry point into console application.
/// </summary>
public static void Main()
{
VehicleBuilder builder;
/// <summary>
/// The 'Director' class
/// </summary>
class Shop
{
// Builder uses a complex series of steps
public void Construct(VehicleBuilder vehicleBuilder)
{
vehicleBuilder.BuildFrame();
vehicleBuilder.BuildEngine();
vehicleBuilder.BuildWheels();
vehicleBuilder.BuildDoors();
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'Builder' abstract class
/// </summary>
abstract class VehicleBuilder
{
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protected Vehicle vehicle;
/// <summary>
/// The 'ConcreteBuilder1' class
/// </summary>
class MotorCycleBuilder : VehicleBuilder
{
public MotorCycleBuilder()
{
vehicle = new Vehicle("MotorCycle");
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'ConcreteBuilder2' class
/// </summary>
class CarBuilder : VehicleBuilder
{
public CarBuilder()
{
vehicle = new Vehicle("Car");
}
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public override void BuildEngine()
{
vehicle["engine"] = "2500 cc";
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'ConcreteBuilder3' class
/// </summary>
class ScooterBuilder : VehicleBuilder
{
public ScooterBuilder()
{
vehicle = new Vehicle("Scooter");
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'Product' class
/// </summary>
class Vehicle
{
private string _vehicleType;
private Dictionary<string,string> _parts =
new Dictionary<string,string>();
// Constructor
public Vehicle(string vehicleType)
{
this._vehicleType = vehicleType;
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}
// Indexer
public string this[string key]
{
get { return _parts[key]; }
set { _parts[key] = value; }
}
Output
Prototype Pattern
Specify the kind of objects to create using a prototypical instance, and create new objects by
copying this prototype.
In this example demonstrates the Prototype pattern in which new Color objects are created by
copying pre-existing, user-defined Colors of the same type.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
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namespace GangOfFour.Prototype
{
/// <summary>
/// MainApp startup class for Real-World
/// Prototype Design Pattern.
/// </summary>
class MainApp
{
/// <summary>
/// Entry point into console application.
/// </summary>
static void Main()
{
ColorManager colormanager = new ColorManager();
/// <summary>
/// The 'Prototype' abstract class
/// </summary>
abstract class ColorPrototype
{
public abstract ColorPrototype Clone();
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'ConcretePrototype' class
/// </summary>
class Color : ColorPrototype
{
private int _red;
private int _green;
private int _blue;
// Constructor
public Color(int red, int green, int blue)
{
this._red = red;
this._green = green;
this._blue = blue;
}
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// Create a shallow copy
public override ColorPrototype Clone()
{
Console.WriteLine(
"Cloning color RGB: {0,3},{1,3},{2,3}",
_red, _green, _blue);
/// <summary>
/// Prototype manager
/// </summary>
class ColorManager
{
private Dictionary<string, ColorPrototype> _colors =
new Dictionary<string, ColorPrototype>();
// Indexer
public ColorPrototype this[string key]
{
get { return _colors[key]; }
set { _colors.Add(key, value); }
}
}
}
Output:
Provide an interface for creating families of related or dependent objects without specifying their
concrete classes.
In this example demonstrates the creation of different animal worlds for a computer game using
different factories. Although the animals created by the Continent factories are different, the
interactions among the animals remain the same.
using System;
namespace GangOfFour.AbstractFactory
{
/// <summary>
/// MainApp startup class for Real-World
/// Abstract Factory Design Pattern.
/// </summary>
class MainApp
{
/// <summary>
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/// Entry point into console application.
/// </summary>
public static void Main()
{
// Create and run the African animal world
ContinentFactory africa = new AfricaFactory();
AnimalWorld world = new AnimalWorld(africa);
world.RunFoodChain();
/// <summary>
/// The 'AbstractFactory' abstract class
/// </summary>
abstract class ContinentFactory
{
public abstract Herbivore CreateHerbivore();
public abstract Carnivore CreateCarnivore();
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'ConcreteFactory1' class
/// </summary>
class AfricaFactory : ContinentFactory
{
public override Herbivore CreateHerbivore()
{
return new Wildebeest();
}
public override Carnivore CreateCarnivore()
{
return new Lion();
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'ConcreteFactory2' class
/// </summary>
class AmericaFactory : ContinentFactory
{
public override Herbivore CreateHerbivore()
{
return new Bison();
}
public override Carnivore CreateCarnivore()
{
return new Wolf();
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'AbstractProductA' abstract class
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/// </summary>
abstract class Herbivore
{
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'AbstractProductB' abstract class
/// </summary>
abstract class Carnivore
{
public abstract void Eat(Herbivore h);
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'ProductA1' class
/// </summary>
class Wildebeest : Herbivore
{
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'ProductB1' class
/// </summary>
class Lion : Carnivore
{
public override void Eat(Herbivore h)
{
// Eat Wildebeest
Console.WriteLine(this.GetType().Name +
" eats " + h.GetType().Name);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'ProductA2' class
/// </summary>
class Bison : Herbivore
{
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'ProductB2' class
/// </summary>
class Wolf : Carnivore
{
public override void Eat(Herbivore h)
{
// Eat Bison
Console.WriteLine(this.GetType().Name +
" eats " + h.GetType().Name);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// The 'Client' class
/// </summary>
class AnimalWorld
{
private Herbivore _herbivore;
private Carnivore _carnivore;
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// Constructor
public AnimalWorld(ContinentFactory factory)
{
_carnivore = factory.CreateCarnivore();
_herbivore = factory.CreateHerbivore();
}
Output:
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Chapter 43: Cryptography
(System.Security.Cryptography)
Examples
Modern Examples of Symmetric Authenticated Encryption of a string
Cryptography is something very hard and after spending a lot of time reading different examples
and seeing how easy it is to introduce some form of vulnerability I found an answer originally
written by @jbtule that I think is very good. Enjoy reading:
"The general best practice for symmetric encryption is to use Authenticated Encryption with
Associated Data (AEAD), however this isn't a part of the standard .net crypto libraries. So the first
example uses AES256 and then HMAC256, a two step Encrypt then MAC, which requires more
overhead and more keys.
The second example uses the simpler practice of AES256-GCM using the open source Bouncy
Castle (via nuget).
Both examples have a main function that takes secret message string, key(s) and an optional non-
secret payload and return and authenticated encrypted string optionally prepended with the non-
secret data. Ideally you would use these with 256bit key(s) randomly generated see NewKey().
Both examples also have a helper methods that use a string password to generate the keys.
These helper methods are provided as a convenience to match up with other examples, however
they are far less secure because the strength of the password is going to be far weaker than a 256
bit key.
Update: Added byte[] overloads, and only the Gist has the full formatting with 4 spaces indent
and api docs due to StackOverflow answer limits."
/*
* This work (Modern Encryption of a String C#, by James Tuley),
* identified by James Tuley, is free of known copyright restrictions.
* https://gist.github.com/4336842
* http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
*/
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;
namespace Encryption
{
public static class AESThenHMAC
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{
private static readonly RandomNumberGenerator Random = RandomNumberGenerator.Create();
/// <summary>
/// Helper that generates a random key on each call.
/// </summary>
/// <returns></returns>
public static byte[] NewKey()
{
var key = new byte[KeyBitSize / 8];
Random.GetBytes(key);
return key;
}
/// <summary>
/// Simple Encryption (AES) then Authentication (HMAC) for a UTF8 Message.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="secretMessage">The secret message.</param>
/// <param name="cryptKey">The crypt key.</param>
/// <param name="authKey">The auth key.</param>
/// <param name="nonSecretPayload">(Optional) Non-Secret Payload.</param>
/// <returns>
/// Encrypted Message
/// </returns>
/// <exception cref="System.ArgumentException">Secret Message
Required!;secretMessage</exception>
/// <remarks>
/// Adds overhead of (Optional-Payload + BlockSize(16) + Message-Padded-To-Blocksize +
HMac-Tag(32)) * 1.33 Base64
/// </remarks>
public static string SimpleEncrypt(string secretMessage, byte[] cryptKey, byte[] authKey,
byte[] nonSecretPayload = null)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(secretMessage))
throw new ArgumentException("Secret Message Required!", "secretMessage");
/// <summary>
/// Simple Authentication (HMAC) then Decryption (AES) for a secrets UTF8 Message.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="encryptedMessage">The encrypted message.</param>
/// <param name="cryptKey">The crypt key.</param>
/// <param name="authKey">The auth key.</param>
/// <param name="nonSecretPayloadLength">Length of the non secret payload.</param>
/// <returns>
/// Decrypted Message
/// </returns>
/// <exception cref="System.ArgumentException">Encrypted Message
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Required!;encryptedMessage</exception>
public static string SimpleDecrypt(string encryptedMessage, byte[] cryptKey, byte[]
authKey,
int nonSecretPayloadLength = 0)
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(encryptedMessage))
throw new ArgumentException("Encrypted Message Required!", "encryptedMessage");
/// <summary>
/// Simple Encryption (AES) then Authentication (HMAC) of a UTF8 message
/// using Keys derived from a Password (PBKDF2).
/// </summary>
/// <param name="secretMessage">The secret message.</param>
/// <param name="password">The password.</param>
/// <param name="nonSecretPayload">The non secret payload.</param>
/// <returns>
/// Encrypted Message
/// </returns>
/// <exception cref="System.ArgumentException">password</exception>
/// <remarks>
/// Significantly less secure than using random binary keys.
/// Adds additional non secret payload for key generation parameters.
/// </remarks>
public static string SimpleEncryptWithPassword(string secretMessage, string password,
byte[] nonSecretPayload = null)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(secretMessage))
throw new ArgumentException("Secret Message Required!", "secretMessage");
/// <summary>
/// Simple Authentication (HMAC) and then Descryption (AES) of a UTF8 Message
/// using keys derived from a password (PBKDF2).
/// </summary>
/// <param name="encryptedMessage">The encrypted message.</param>
/// <param name="password">The password.</param>
/// <param name="nonSecretPayloadLength">Length of the non secret payload.</param>
/// <returns>
/// Decrypted Message
/// </returns>
/// <exception cref="System.ArgumentException">Encrypted Message
Required!;encryptedMessage</exception>
/// <remarks>
/// Significantly less secure than using random binary keys.
/// </remarks>
public static string SimpleDecryptWithPassword(string encryptedMessage, string password,
int nonSecretPayloadLength = 0)
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(encryptedMessage))
throw new ArgumentException("Encrypted Message Required!", "encryptedMessage");
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var plainText = SimpleDecryptWithPassword(cipherText, password, nonSecretPayloadLength);
return plainText == null ? null : Encoding.UTF8.GetString(plainText);
}
byte[] cipherText;
byte[] iv;
//Use random IV
aes.GenerateIV();
iv = aes.IV;
cipherText = cipherStream.ToArray();
}
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binaryWriter.Write(nonSecretPayload);
//Prepend IV
binaryWriter.Write(iv);
//Write Ciphertext
binaryWriter.Write(cipherText);
binaryWriter.Flush();
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BlockSize = BlockBitSize,
Mode = CipherMode.CBC,
Padding = PaddingMode.PKCS7
})
{
byte[] cryptKey;
byte[] authKey;
//Use Random Salt to prevent pre-generated weak password attacks.
using (var generator = new Rfc2898DeriveBytes(password, SaltBitSize / 8, Iterations))
{
var salt = generator.Salt;
//Generate Keys
cryptKey = generator.GetBytes(KeyBitSize / 8);
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payloadIndex += salt.Length;
}
//Generate Keys
authKey = generator.GetBytes(KeyBitSize / 8);
byte[] cryptKey;
byte[] authKey;
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/*
* This work (Modern Encryption of a String C#, by James Tuley),
* identified by James Tuley, is free of known copyright restrictions.
* https://gist.github.com/4336842
* http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
*/
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
using Org.BouncyCastle.Crypto;
using Org.BouncyCastle.Crypto.Engines;
using Org.BouncyCastle.Crypto.Generators;
using Org.BouncyCastle.Crypto.Modes;
using Org.BouncyCastle.Crypto.Parameters;
using Org.BouncyCastle.Security;
namespace Encryption
{
/// <summary>
/// Helper that generates a random new key on each call.
/// </summary>
/// <returns></returns>
public static byte[] NewKey()
{
var key = new byte[KeyBitSize / 8];
Random.NextBytes(key);
return key;
}
/// <summary>
/// Simple Encryption And Authentication (AES-GCM) of a UTF8 string.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="secretMessage">The secret message.</param>
/// <param name="key">The key.</param>
/// <param name="nonSecretPayload">Optional non-secret payload.</param>
/// <returns>
/// Encrypted Message
/// </returns>
/// <exception cref="System.ArgumentException">Secret Message
Required!;secretMessage</exception>
/// <remarks>
/// Adds overhead of (Optional-Payload + BlockSize(16) + Message + HMac-Tag(16)) * 1.33
Base64
/// </remarks>
public static string SimpleEncrypt(string secretMessage, byte[] key, byte[]
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nonSecretPayload = null)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(secretMessage))
throw new ArgumentException("Secret Message Required!", "secretMessage");
/// <summary>
/// Simple Decryption & Authentication (AES-GCM) of a UTF8 Message
/// </summary>
/// <param name="encryptedMessage">The encrypted message.</param>
/// <param name="key">The key.</param>
/// <param name="nonSecretPayloadLength">Length of the optional non-secret
payload.</param>
/// <returns>Decrypted Message</returns>
public static string SimpleDecrypt(string encryptedMessage, byte[] key, int
nonSecretPayloadLength = 0)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(encryptedMessage))
throw new ArgumentException("Encrypted Message Required!", "encryptedMessage");
/// <summary>
/// Simple Encryption And Authentication (AES-GCM) of a UTF8 String
/// using key derived from a password (PBKDF2).
/// </summary>
/// <param name="secretMessage">The secret message.</param>
/// <param name="password">The password.</param>
/// <param name="nonSecretPayload">The non secret payload.</param>
/// <returns>
/// Encrypted Message
/// </returns>
/// <remarks>
/// Significantly less secure than using random binary keys.
/// Adds additional non secret payload for key generation parameters.
/// </remarks>
public static string SimpleEncryptWithPassword(string secretMessage, string password,
byte[] nonSecretPayload = null)
{
if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(secretMessage))
throw new ArgumentException("Secret Message Required!", "secretMessage");
/// <summary>
/// Simple Decryption and Authentication (AES-GCM) of a UTF8 message
/// using a key derived from a password (PBKDF2)
/// </summary>
/// <param name="encryptedMessage">The encrypted message.</param>
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/// <param name="password">The password.</param>
/// <param name="nonSecretPayloadLength">Length of the non secret payload.</param>
/// <returns>
/// Decrypted Message
/// </returns>
/// <exception cref="System.ArgumentException">Encrypted Message
Required!;encryptedMessage</exception>
/// <remarks>
/// Significantly less secure than using random binary keys.
/// </remarks>
public static string SimpleDecryptWithPassword(string encryptedMessage, string password,
int nonSecretPayloadLength = 0)
{
if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(encryptedMessage))
throw new ArgumentException("Encrypted Message Required!", "encryptedMessage");
//Assemble Message
using (var combinedStream = new MemoryStream())
{
using (var binaryWriter = new BinaryWriter(combinedStream))
{
//Prepend Authenticated Payload
binaryWriter.Write(nonSecretPayload);
//Prepend Nonce
binaryWriter.Write(nonce);
//Write Cipher Text
binaryWriter.Write(cipherText);
}
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return combinedStream.ToArray();
}
}
//Grab Nonce
var nonce = cipherReader.ReadBytes(NonceBitSize / 8);
try
{
var len = cipher.ProcessBytes(cipherText, 0, cipherText.Length, plainText, 0);
cipher.DoFinal(plainText, len);
}
catch (InvalidCipherTextException)
{
//Return null if it doesn't authenticate
return null;
}
return plainText;
}
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if (secretMessage == null || secretMessage.Length == 0)
throw new ArgumentException("Secret Message Required!", "secretMessage");
generator.Init(
PbeParametersGenerator.Pkcs5PasswordToBytes(password.ToCharArray()),
salt,
Iterations);
//Generate Key
var key = (KeyParameter)generator.GenerateDerivedMacParameters(KeyBitSize);
generator.Init(
PbeParametersGenerator.Pkcs5PasswordToBytes(password.ToCharArray()),
salt,
Iterations);
//Generate Key
var key = (KeyParameter)generator.GenerateDerivedMacParameters(KeyBitSize);
You can improve the security for data transit or storing by implementing encrypting techniques.
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Basically there are two approaches when using System.Security.Cryptography: symmetric and
asymmetric.
Symmetric Encryption
This method uses a private key in order to perform the data transformation.
Pros:
• Symmetric algorithms consume less resources and are faster than asymmetric ones.
• The amount of data you can encrypt is unlimited.
Cons:
• Encryption and decryption use the same key. Someone will be able to decrypt your data if
the key is compromised.
• You could end up with many different secret keys to manage if you choose to use a different
secret key for different data.
Asymmetric Encryption
This method uses a combination of public and private keys in order to perform the data
transformation.
Pros:
• It uses larger keys than symmetric algorithms, thus they are less susceptible to being
cracked by using brute force.
• It is easier to guarantee who is able to encrypt and decrypt the data because it relies on two
keys (public and private).
Cons:
• There is a limit on the amount of data that you can encrypt. The limit is different for each
algorithm and is typically proportional with the key size of the algorithm. For example, an
RSACryptoServiceProvider object with a key length of 1,024 bits can only encrypt a
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message that is smaller than 128 bytes.
• Asymmetric algorithms are very slow in comparison to symmetric algorithms.
Password Hashing
Passwords should never be stored as plain text! They should be hashed with a randomly
generated salt (to defend against rainbow table attacks) using a slow password hashing algorithm.
A high number of iterations (> 10k) can be used to slow down brute force attacks. A delay of
~100ms is acceptable to a user logging in, but makes breaking a long password difficult. When
choosing a number of iterations you should use the maximum tolerable value for your application
and increase it as computer performance improves. You will also need to consider stopping
repeated requests which could be used as a DoS attack.
When hashing for the first time a salt can be generated for you, the resulting hash and salt can
then be stored to a file.
Checking an existing users password, read their hash and salt from a file and compare to the hash
of the entered password
The following code sample demonstrates a quick and easy means of encrypting and decrypting
files using the AES symmetric encryption algorithm.
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The code randomly generates the Salt and Initialization Vectors each time a file is encrypted,
meaning that encrypting the same file with the same password will always lead to different output.
The salt and IV are written to the output file so that only the password is required to decrypt it.
public static void ProcessFile(string inputPath, string password, bool encryptMode, string
outputPath)
{
using (var cypher = new AesManaged())
using (var fsIn = new FileStream(inputPath, FileMode.Open))
using (var fsOut = new FileStream(outputPath, FileMode.Create))
{
const int saltLength = 256;
var salt = new byte[saltLength];
var iv = new byte[cypher.BlockSize / 8];
if (encryptMode)
{
// Generate random salt and IV, then write them to file
using (var rng = new RNGCryptoServiceProvider())
{
rng.GetBytes(salt);
rng.GetBytes(iv);
}
fsOut.Write(salt, 0, salt.Length);
fsOut.Write(iv, 0, iv.Length);
}
else
{
// Read the salt and IV from the file
fsIn.Read(salt, 0, saltLength);
fsIn.Read(iv, 0, iv.Length);
}
There are times when the framework's Random() class may not be considered random enough,
given that it is based on a psuedo-random number generator. The framework's Crypto classes do,
however, provide something more robust in the form of RNGCryptoServiceProvider.
The following code samples demonstrate how to generate Cryptographically Secure byte arrays,
strings and numbers.
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Random Byte Array
Random String
In order to provide both security AND performance, a hybrid approach can be taken. This entails
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the cryptographically random generation of a key and initialization vector for Symmetric
encryption. These values are then encrypted using an Asymmetric algorithm and written to the
output file, before being used to encrypt the source data Symmetrically and appending it to the
output.
This approach provides a high degree of both performance and security, in that the data is
encrypted using a symmetric algorithm (fast) and the key and iv, both randomly generated
(secure) are encrypted by an asymmetric algorithm (secure). It also has the added advantage that
the same payload encrypted on different occasions will have very different cyphertext, because
the symmetric keys are randomly generated each time.
The following class demonstrates asymmetric encryption of strings and byte arrays, as well as
hybrid file encryption.
#endregion
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}
#endregion
// Symmetrically encrypt the data and write it to the file, along with the
encrypted key and iv
using (var cypherKey = symmetricCypher.CreateEncryptor(key, iv))
using (var fsIn = new FileStream(inputFilePath, FileMode.Open))
using (var fsOut = new FileStream(outputFilePath, FileMode.Create))
using (var cs = new CryptoStream(fsOut, cypherKey, CryptoStreamMode.Write))
{
fsOut.Write(bufLen,0, bufLen.Length);
fsOut.Write(buf, 0, buf.Length);
fsIn.CopyTo(cs);
}
}
}
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fsIn.Read(buf, 0, buf.Length);
var bufLen = BitConverter.ToInt32(buf, 0);
// Read the encrypted key and IV data from the file and decrypt using the
asymmetric algorithm
buf = new byte[bufLen];
fsIn.Read(buf, 0, buf.Length);
buf = DecryptData(buf, privateKey);
#endregion
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public static void WritePrivateKey(string privateKeyFilePath, string privateKey, string
password)
{
var salt = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(SymmetricSalt);
using (var cypher = new AesManaged())
{
var pdb = new Rfc2898DeriveBytes(password, salt);
var key = pdb.GetBytes(cypher.KeySize / 8);
var iv = pdb.GetBytes(cypher.BlockSize / 8);
#endregion
}
Example of use:
if (!File.Exists(privateKeyPath))
{
var keys = AsymmetricProvider.GenerateNewKeyPair(2048);
AsymmetricProvider.WritePublicKey(publicKeyPath, keys.PublicKey);
AsymmetricProvider.WritePrivateKey(privateKeyPath, keys.PrivateKey,
privateKeyPassword);
}
if (source.Length != dest.Length)
throw new Exception("Length does not match");
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Read Cryptography (System.Security.Cryptography) online:
https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/2988/cryptography--system-security-cryptography-
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Chapter 44: Data Annotation
Examples
DisplayNameAttribute (display attribute)
DisplayName sets display name for a property, event or public void method having zero (0)
arguments.
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:wpfApplication="clr-namespace:WpfApplication"
Height="100" Width="360" Title="Display name example">
<Window.Resources>
<wpfApplication:DisplayNameConverter x:Key="DisplayNameConverter"/>
</Window.Resources>
<StackPanel Margin="5">
<!-- Label (DisplayName attribute) -->
<Label Content="{Binding Employee, Converter={StaticResource DisplayNameConverter},
ConverterParameter=FirstName}" />
<!-- TextBox (FirstName property value) -->
<TextBox Text="{Binding Employee.FirstName, Mode=TwoWay,
UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}" />
</StackPanel>
</Window>
namespace WpfApplication
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
private Employee _employee = new Employee();
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = this;
}
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public Employee Employee
{
get { return _employee; }
set { _employee = value; }
}
}
}
namespace WpfApplication
{
public class DisplayNameConverter : IValueConverter
{
public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo
culture)
{
// Get display name for given instance type and property name
var attribute = value.GetType()
.GetProperty(parameter.ToString())
.GetCustomAttributes(false)
.OfType<DisplayNameAttribute>()
.FirstOrDefault();
EditableAttribute sets whether users should be able to change the value of the class property.
<Window x:Class="WpfApplication.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
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xmlns:wpfApplication="clr-namespace:WpfApplication"
Height="70" Width="360" Title="Display name example">
<Window.Resources>
<wpfApplication:EditableConverter x:Key="EditableConverter"/>
</Window.Resources>
<StackPanel Margin="5">
<!-- TextBox Text (FirstName property value) -->
<!-- TextBox IsEnabled (Editable attribute) -->
<TextBox Text="{Binding Employee.FirstName, Mode=TwoWay,
UpdateSourceTrigger=PropertyChanged}"
IsEnabled="{Binding Employee, Converter={StaticResource EditableConverter},
ConverterParameter=FirstName}"/>
</StackPanel>
</Window>
namespace WpfApplication
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for MainWindow.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
private Employee _employee = new Employee() { FirstName = "This is not editable"};
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
DataContext = this;
}
namespace WpfApplication
{
public class EditableConverter : IValueConverter
{
public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo
culture)
{
// return editable attribute's value for given instance property,
// defaults to true if not found
var attribute = value.GetType()
.GetProperty(parameter.ToString())
.GetCustomAttributes(false)
.OfType<EditableAttribute>()
.FirstOrDefault();
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public object ConvertBack(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo
culture)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
}
Validation Attributes
Validation attributes are used to enforce various validation rules in a declarative fashion on
classes or class members. All validation attributes derive from the ValidationAttribute base class.
Example: RequiredAttribute
When validated through the ValidationAttribute.Validate method, this attribute will return an error
if the Name property is null or contains only whitespace.
Example: StringLengthAttribute
The StringLengthAttribute validates if a string is less than the maximum length of a string. It can
optionally specify a minimum length. Both values are inclusive.
Example: RangeAttribute
The RangeAttribute gives the maximum and minimum value for a numeric field.
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{
[Range(0.01, 100.00,ErrorMessage = "Price must be between 0.01 and 100.00")]
public decimal Price { get; set; }
}
Example: CustomValidationAttribute
The CustomValidationAttribute class allows a custom static method to be invoked for validation.
The custom method must be static ValidationResult [MethodName] (object input).
Method declaration:
if (input?.ToString()?.ToUpperInvariant() == "APPLE")
{
result = new ValidationResult("Apples are not allowed.");
}
return result;
}
}
Custom validation attributes can be created by deriving from the ValidationAttribute base class,
then overriding virtual methods as needed.
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(inputValue))
{
isValid = inputValue.ToUpperInvariant() != "BANANA";
}
return isValid;
}
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}
Data annotations are a way of adding more contextual information to classes or members of a
class. There are three main categories of annotations:
Usage
Here is an example where two ValidationAttribute and one DisplayAttribute are used:
class Kid
{
[Range(0, 18)] // The age cannot be over 18 and cannot be negative
public int Age { get; set; }
[StringLength(MaximumLength = 50, MinimumLength = 3)] // The name cannot be under 3 chars
or more than 50 chars
public string Name { get; set; }
[DataType(DataType.Date)] // The birthday will be displayed as a date only (without the
time)
public DateTime Birthday { get; set; }
}
Data annotations are mostly used in frameworks such as ASP.NET. For example, in ASP.NET MVC,
when a model is received by a controller method, ModelState.IsValid() can be used to tell if the
received model respects all its ValidationAttribute. DisplayAttribute is also used in ASP.NET MVC to
determine how to display values on a web page.
Most of the times, validation attributes are use inside frameworks (such as ASP.NET). Those
frameworks take care of executing the validation attributes. But what if you want to execute
validation attributes manually? Just use the Validator class (no reflection needed).
Validation Context
Any validation needs a context to give some information about what is being validated. This can
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include various information such as the object to be validated, some properties, the name to
display in the error message, etc.
Once the context is created, there are multiple ways of doing validation.
And More
To learn more about manual validation see:
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Chapter 45: DateTime Methods
Examples
DateTime.Add(TimeSpan)
DateTime.AddDays(Double)
DateTime.AddHours(Double)
DateTime.AddMilliseconds(Double)
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date2 - date1, date2.Ticks - date1.Ticks);
if (result < 0)
relationship = "is earlier than";
else if (result == 0)
relationship = "is the same time as";
else relationship = "is later than";
DateTime.DaysInMonth(Int32,Int32)
// daysInFeb gets 28 because the year 1998 was not a leap year.
int daysInFeb = System.DateTime.DaysInMonth(1998, Feb);
Console.WriteLine(daysInFeb);
DateTime.AddYears(Int32)
Console.WriteLine();
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Console.WriteLine("{0,2} year(s) from now: {1:d}",
ctr, baseDate.AddYears(ctr));
1. The function always evaluates the same result value given the same argument value(s). The
function result value cannot depend on any hidden information or state that may change
while program execution proceeds or between different executions of the program, nor can it
depend on any external input from I/O devices .
2. Evaluation of the result does not cause any semantically observable side effect or output,
such as mutation of mutable objects or output to I/O devices
As a developer you need to be aware of pure methods and you will stumble upon these a lot in
many areas. One I have seen that bites many junior developers is working with DateTime class
methods. A lot of these are pure and if you are unaware of these you can be in for a suprise. An
example:
Given the example above one may expect the result printed to console to be '26/12/2016' but in
reality you end up with the same date. This is because AddDays is a pure method and does not
affect the original date. To get the expected output you would have to modify the AddDays call to
the following:
sample = sample.AddDays(1);
DateTime.Parse(String)
// Converts the string representation of a date and time to its DateTime equivalent
Console.WriteLine(dateTime.ToString());
DateTime.TryParse(String, DateTime)
// Converts the specified string representation of a date and time to its DateTime equivalent
and returns a value that indicates whether the conversion succeeded
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DateTime dateTime;
Console.WriteLine(result);
}
You might want to use it when parsing DateTimes from different cultures (languages), following
example parses Dutch date.
DateTime dateResult;
var dutchDateString = "31 oktober 1999 04:20";
var dutchCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("nl-NL");
DateTime.TryParse(dutchDateString, dutchCulture, styles, out dateResult);
// output {31/10/1999 04:20:00}
Example of Parse:
DateTime.Parse(dutchDateString, dutchCulture)
// output {31/10/1999 04:20:00}
using System;
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{
public static void Main()
{
var date = new DateTime(2016,12,31);
Current Date
To get the current date you use the DateTime.Today property. This returns a DateTime object with
today's date. When this is then converted .ToString() it is done so in your system's locality by
default.
For example:
Console.WriteLine(DateTime.Today);
DateTime Formating
DateTimeFormatInfo specifies a set of specifiers for simple date and time formating. Every
specifier correspond to a particular DateTimeFormatInfo format pattern.
//Create datetime
DateTime dt = new DateTime(2016,08,01,18,50,23,230);
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There are following custom format specifiers:
• y (year)
• M (month)
• d (day)
• h (hour 12)
• H (hour 24)
• m (minute)
• s (second)
• f (second fraction)
• F (second fraction, trailing zeroes are trimmed)
• t (P.M or A.M)
• z (time zone).
var year = String.Format("{0:y yy yyy yyyy}", dt); // "16 16 2016 2016" year
var month = String.Format("{0:M MM MMM MMMM}", dt); // "8 08 Aug August" month
var day = String.Format("{0:d dd ddd dddd}", dt); // "1 01 Mon Monday" day
var hour = String.Format("{0:h hh H HH}", dt); // "6 06 18 18" hour 12/24
var minute = String.Format("{0:m mm}", dt); // "50 50" minute
var secound = String.Format("{0:s ss}", dt); // "23 23" second
var fraction = String.Format("{0:f ff fff ffff}", dt); // "2 23 230 2300" sec.fraction
var fraction2 = String.Format("{0:F FF FFF FFFF}", dt); // "2 23 23 23" without zeroes
var period = String.Format("{0:t tt}", dt); // "P PM" A.M. or P.M.
var zone = String.Format("{0:z zz zzz}", dt); // "+0 +00 +00:00" time zone
You can use also date separator / (slash) and time sepatator : (colon).
DateTime.ParseExact(String,String,IFormatProvider)
Converts the specified string representation of a date and time to its DateTime equivalent using
the specified format and culture-specific format information. The format of the string representation
must match the specified format exactly.
Let's say we have a culture-specific DateTime string 08-07-2016 11:30:12 PM as MM-dd-yyyy hh:mm:ss
tt format and we want it to convert to equivalent DateTime object
Convert a date time string to equivalent DateTime object without any specific culture format
Let's say we have a DateTime string in dd-MM-yy hh:mm:ss tt format and we want it to convert to
equivalent DateTime object, without any specific culture information
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string str = "17-06-16 11:30:12 PM";
DateTime date = DateTime.ParseExact(str, "dd-MM-yy hh:mm:ss tt",
CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
Convert a date time string to equivalent DateTime object without any specific culture
format with different format
Let's say we have a Date string , example like '23-12-2016' or '12/23/2016' and we want it to
convert to equivalent DateTime object, without any specific culture information
DateTime.TryParseExact(String,String,IFormatProvider,DateTimeStyles,DateTime)
Converts the specified string representation of a date and time to its DateTime equivalent using
the specified format, culture-specific format information, and style. The format of the string
representation must match the specified format exactly. The method returns a value that indicates
whether the conversion succeeded.
For Example
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Use custom formats with M and MM.
dateString = "2008-06-11T16:11:20.0904778Z";
if(DateTime.TryParseExact(dateString, "o", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None,
out dateValue))
{
Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1} ({2}).", dateString, dateValue, dateValue.Kind);
}
else
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{
Console.WriteLine("'{0}' is not in an acceptable format.", dateString);
}
Outputs
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Chapter 46: Delegates
Remarks
Summary
A delegate type is a type representing a particular method signature. An instance of this type
refers to a particular method with a matching signature. Method parameters may have delegate
types, and so this one method to be passed a reference to another method, which may then be
invoked
Func represents methods with a return type matching TResult, and Action represents methods
without a return value (void). In both cases, the additional generic type parameters match, in
order, the method parameters.
Invoking delegates
Delegates can be invoked using the same syntax as methods: the name of the delegate instance,
followed by parentheses containing any parameters.
Assigning to delegates
Delegates can be assigned to in the following ways:
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Combining delegates
Multiple delegate objects can be assigned to one delegate instance by using the + operator. The -
operator can be used to remove a component delegate from another delegate.
Examples
Underlying references of named method delegates
When assigning named methods to delegates, they will refer to the same underlying object if:
• They are the same instance method, on the same instance of a class
// ...
Console.WriteLine(instance1.Equals(instance2)); // False
Console.WriteLine(instance1.Equals(instance1Again)); // True
Console.WriteLine(@static.Equals(staticAgain)); // True
The following syntax creates a delegate type with name NumberInOutDelegate, representing a
method which takes an int and returns an int.
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This can be used as follows:
The example delegate instance is executed in the same way as the Square method. A delegate
instance literally acts as a delegate for the caller: the caller invokes the delegate, and then the
delegate calls the target method. This indirection decouples the caller from the target method.
You can declare a generic delegate type, and in that case you may specify that the type is
covariant (out) or contravariant (in) in some of the type arguments. For example:
Like other generic types, generic delegate types can have constraints, such as where TFrom :
struct, IConvertible where TTo : new().
Avoid co- and contravariance for delegate types that are meant to be used for multicast delegates,
such as event handler types. This is because concatenation (+) can fail if the run-time type is
different from the compile-time type because of the variance. For example, avoid:
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Also supported are delegates where some parameters are modified by ref or out, as in:
The System namespace contains Func<..., TResult> delegate types with between 0 and 15
generic parameters, returning type TResult.
The System namespace also contains Action<...> delegate types with different number of generic
parameters (from 0 to 16). It is similar to Func<T1, .., Tn>, but it always returns void.
Predicate<T> is also a form of Func but it will always return bool. A predicate is a way of specifying a
custom criteria. Depending on the value of the input and the logic defined within the predicate, it
will return either true or false. Predicate<T> therefore behaves in the same way as Func<T, bool>
and both can be initialized and used in the same way.
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// Both of these return false
var predicateReturnsFalse = predicate("xyz");
var funcReturnsFalse = func("xyz");
The choice of whether to use Predicate<T> or Func<T, bool> is really a matter of opinion.
Predicate<T> is arguably more expressive of the author's intent, while Func<T, bool> is likely to be
familiar to a greater proportion of C# developers.
In addition to that, there are some cases where only one of the options is available, especially
when interacting with another API. For example List<T> and Array<T> generally take Predicate<T>
for their methods, while most LINQ extensions only accept Func<T, bool>.
Example.AddOne takes an int and returns an int, its signature matches the delegate Func<int,int>.
Example.AddOne can be directly assigned to addOne because they have matching signatures.
Delegate Equality
Console.WriteLine(action1.Equals(action1)) // True
Console.WriteLine(action1.Equals(action2)) // False
Console.WriteLine(action1Again.Equals(action1)) // True
These rules also apply when doing += or -= on a multicast delegate, for example when subscribing
and unsubscribing from events.
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Note that the explicit declaration of type is required when creating a variable this way:
class FuncAsParameters
{
public void Run()
{
DoSomething(ErrorHandler1);
DoSomething(ErrorHandler2);
}
Addition + and subtraction - operations can be used to combine delegate instances. The delegate
contains a list of the assigned delegates.
using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Reflection.Emit;
namespace DelegatesExample {
class MainClass {
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private delegate void MyDelegate(int a);
// Output:
// 1
d1(1);
// Output:
// System.Int32
d2(1);
MyDelegate d3 = d1 + d2;
// Output:
// 1
// System.Int32
d3(1);
MyDelegate d4 = d3 - d2;
// Output:
// 1
d4(1);
// Output:
// True
Console.WriteLine(d1 == d4);
}
}
}
In this example d3 is a combination of d1 and d2 delegates, so when called the program outputs
both 1 and System.Int32 strings.
If a multicast delegate has a nonvoid return type, the caller receives the return value from the last
method to be invoked. The preceding methods are still called, but their return values are
discarded.
class Program
{
public delegate int Transformer(int x);
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t += Cube;
Console.WriteLine(t(2)); // O/P 8
}
t(2) will call first Square and then Cube. The return value of Square is discarded and return value of
the last method i.e. Cube is retained.
Ever wanted to call a multicast delegate but you want the entire invokation list to be called even if
an exception occurs in any in the chain. Then you are in luck, I have created an extension method
that does just that, throwing an AggregateException only after execution of the entire list completes:
if(exceptions.Any())
{
throw new AggregateException(exceptions);
}
}
}
try
{
delegateInstance.SafeInvoke();
}
catch(AggregateException ex)
{
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// Do any exception handling here
}
}
This outputs:
Target 2 executed
Target 1 executed
Closures are inline anonymous methods that have the ability to use Parent method variables and
other anonymous methods which are defined in the parent's scope.
In essence, a closure is a block of code which can be executed at a later time, but
which maintains the environment in which it was first created - i.e. it can still use the
local variables etc of the method which created it, even after that method has finished
executing. -- Jon Skeet
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myObject.TestDate > DateTime.Now;
//or this:
if(DateIsValid(this)){
CallAnotherMethod();
}
}
}
In the spirit of clean coding, encapsulating checks and transformations like the one above as a
Func can make your code easier to read and understand. While the above example is very simple,
what if there were multiple DateTime properties each with their own differing validation rules and
we wanted to check different combinations? Simple, one-line Funcs that each have established
return logic can be both readable and reduce the apparent complexity of your code. Consider the
below Func calls and imagine how much more code would be cluttering up the method:
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Chapter 47: Dependency Injection
Remarks
Wikipedia definition of dependency injection is:
**This site features an answer to the question How to explain Dependency Injection to a 5-
year old. The most highly rated answer, provided by John Munsch provides a surprisingly
accurate analogy targeted at the (imaginary) five-year-old inquisitor: When you go and get
things out of the refrigerator for yourself, you can cause problems. You might leave the
door open, you might get something Mommy or Daddy doesn’t want you to have. You
might even be looking for something we don’t even have or which has expired. What you
should be doing is stating a need, “I need something to drink with lunch,” and then we will
make sure you have something when you sit down to eat. What this means in terms of
object-oriented software development is this: collaborating classes (the five-year-olds)
should rely on the infrastructure (the parents) to provide
** This code uses MEF to dynamically load the dll and resolve the dependencies. ILogger
dependency is resolved by MEF and injectd into the user class. User class never receives
Concrete implementation of ILogger and it has no idea of what or which type of logger its using.**
Examples
Dependency injection using MEF
[Export(typeof(ILogger))]
[ExportMetadata("Name", "Console")]
public class ConsoleLogger:ILogger
{
public void Log(string message)
{
Console.WriteLine(message);
}
}
[Export(typeof(ILogger))]
[ExportMetadata("Name", "File")]
public class FileLogger:ILogger
{
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public void Log(string message)
{
//Write the message to file
}
}
[ImportMany]
private IEnumerable<Lazy<ILogger, ILoggerMetaData>> _loggers;
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this._container.ComposeParts(this);
}
catch (CompositionException compositionException)
{
throw new CompositionException(compositionException.Message);
}
}
}
First why we should use depedency injection in our code ? We want to decouple other
components from other classes in our program. For example we have class AnimalController
which have code like this :
public AnimalController(){
Console.WriteLine("");
}
}
We look at this code and we think everything is ok but now our AnimalController is reliant on
object _SantaAndHisReindeer. Automatically my Controller is bad to testing and reusability of my
code will be very hard.
Very good explanation why we should use Depedency Injection and interfaces here.
If we want Unity to handle DI, the road to achieve this is very simple :) With NuGet( package
manager) we can easily import unity to our code.
in Visual Studio Tools -> NuGet Package Manager -> Manage Packages for Solution -
> in search input write unity -> choose our project-> click install
UnityConfig - in RegisterTypes method, we can see type that will be injection in our
constructors.
namespace Vegan.WebUi.App_Start
{
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return container;
});
/// <summary>
/// Gets the configured Unity container.
/// </summary>
public static IUnityContainer GetConfiguredContainer()
{
return container.Value;
}
#endregion
container.RegisterType<ISanta, SantaAndHisReindeer>();
}
}
}
UnityMvcActivator - > also with nice comments which say that this class integrates
Unity with ASP.NET MVC
using System.Linq;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using Microsoft.Practices.Unity.Mvc;
[assembly:
WebActivatorEx.PreApplicationStartMethod(typeof(Vegan.WebUi.App_Start.UnityWebActivator),
"Start")]
[assembly:
WebActivatorEx.ApplicationShutdownMethod(typeof(Vegan.WebUi.App_Start.UnityWebActivator),
"Shutdown")]
namespace Vegan.WebUi.App_Start
{
/// <summary>Provides the bootstrapping for integrating Unity with ASP.NET MVC.</summary>
public static class UnityWebActivator
{
/// <summary>Integrates Unity when the application starts.</summary>
public static void Start()
{
var container = UnityConfig.GetConfiguredContainer();
FilterProviders.Providers.Remove(FilterProviders.Providers.OfType<FilterAttributeFilterProvider>().Firs
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FilterProviders.Providers.Add(new UnityFilterAttributeFilterProvider(container));
DependencyResolver.SetResolver(new UnityDependencyResolver(container));
/// <summary>Disposes the Unity container when the application is shut down.</summary>
public static void Shutdown()
{
var container = UnityConfig.GetConfiguredContainer();
container.Dispose();
}
}
}
_SantAndHisReindeer = SantaAndHisReindeer;
}
}
In Global.asax.cs we must add new line: UnityWebActivator.Start() which will start, configure Unity
and register our types.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Optimization;
using System.Web.Routing;
using Vegan.WebUi.App_Start;
namespace Vegan.WebUi
{
public class MvcApplication : System.Web.HttpApplication
{
protected void Application_Start()
{
AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
BundleConfig.RegisterBundles(BundleTable.Bundles);
UnityWebActivator.Start();
}
}
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}
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Chapter 48: Diagnostics
Examples
Debug.WriteLine
Writes to the trace listeners in the Listeners collection when the application is compiled in debug
configuration.
In Visual Studio or Xamarin Studio this will appear in the Application Output window. This is due to
the presence of the default trace listener in the TraceListenerCollection.
You can redirect the debug output to a text file by adding a TextWriterTraceListener to the
Debug.Listeners collection.
myWriter.Flush();
}
You can redirect the debug output to a console application's out stream using a
ConsoleTraceListener.
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Chapter 49: Dynamic type
Remarks
The dynamic keyword declares a variable whose type is not known at compile time. A dynamic
variable can contain any value, and the type of the value can change during runtime.
As noted in the book "Metaprogramming in .NET", C# does not have a backing type for the dynamic
keyword:
The functionality enabled by the dynamic keyword is a clever set of compiler actions that
emit and use CallSite objects in the site container of the local execution scope. The
compiler manages what programmers perceive as dynamic object references through
those CallSite instances. The parameters, return types, fields, and properties that get
dynamic treatment at compile time may be marked with some metadata to indicate that
they were generated for dynamic use, but the underlying data type for them will always
be System.Object.
Examples
Creating a dynamic variable
foo = "123";
Console.WriteLine(foo + 234);
// 123234
Console.WriteLine(foo.ToUpper()):
// NOW A STRING
Returning dynamic
using System;
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Creating a dynamic object with properties
using System;
using System.Dynamic;
Console.WriteLine(info.Another);
// 456
Console.WriteLine(info.DoesntExist);
// Throws RuntimeBinderException
class IfElseExample
{
public string DebugToString(object a)
{
if (a is StringBuilder)
{
return DebugToStringInternal(a as StringBuilder);
}
else if (a is List<string>)
{
return DebugToStringInternal(a as List<string>);
}
else
{
return a.ToString();
}
}
class DynamicExample
{
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public string DebugToString(object a)
{
return DebugToStringInternal((dynamic)a);
}
The advantage to the dynamic, is adding a new Type to handle just requires adding an overload of
DebugToStringInternal of the new type. Also eliminates the need to manually cast it to the type as
well.
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Chapter 50: Enum
Introduction
An enum can derive from any of the following types: byte, sbyte, short, ushort, int, uint, long,
ulong. The default is int, and can be changed by specifying the type in the enum definition:
This is useful when P/Invoking to native code, mapping to data sources, and similar
circumstances. In general, the default int should be used, because most developers expect an
enum to be an int.
Syntax
• enum Colors { Red, Green, Blue } // Enum declaration
• enum Colors : byte { Red, Green, Blue } // Declaration with specific type
• enum Colors { Red = 23, Green = 45, Blue = 12 } // Declaration with defined values
• Colors.Red // Access an element of an Enum
• int value = (int)Colors.Red // Get the int value of an enum element
• Colors color = (Colors)intValue // Get an enum element from int
Remarks
An Enum (short for "enumerated type") is a type consisting of a set of named constants,
represented by a type-specific identifier.
Enums are most useful for representing concepts that have a (usually small) number of possible
discrete values. For example, they can be used to represent a day of the week or a month of the
year. They can be also be used as flags which can be combined or checked for, using bitwise
operations.
Examples
Get all the members values of an enum
enum MyEnum
{
One,
Two,
Three
}
foreach(MyEnum e in Enum.GetValues(typeof(MyEnum)))
Console.WriteLine(e);
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This will print:
One
Two
Three
Enum as flags
The FlagsAttribute can be applied to an enum changing the behaviour of the ToString() to match
the nature of the enum:
[Flags]
enum MyEnum
{
//None = 0, can be used but not combined in bitwise operations
FlagA = 1,
FlagB = 2,
FlagC = 4,
FlagD = 8
//you must use powers of two or combinations of powers of two
//for bitwise operations to work
}
// This will enumerate all the flags in the variable: "FlagA, FlagB".
Console.WriteLine(twoFlags);
Because FlagsAttribute relies on the enumeration constants to be powers of two (or their
combinations) and enum values are ultimately numeric values, you are limited by the size of the
underlying numeric type. The largest available numeric type that you can use is UInt64, which
allows you to specify 64 distinct (non-combined) flag enum constants. The enum keyword defaults
to the underlying type int, which is Int32. The compiler will allow the declaration of values wider
than 32 bit. Those will wrap around without a warning and result in two or more enum members of
the same value. Therefore, if an enum is meant to accomodate a bitset of more than 32 flags, you
need to specify a bigger type explicitely:
Although flags are often only a single bit, they can be combined into named "sets" for easier use.
[Flags]
enum FlagsEnum
{
None = 0,
Option1 = 1,
Option2 = 2,
Option3 = 4,
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All = Option1 | Option2 | Option3,
}
To avoid spelling out the decimal values of powers of two, the left-shift operator (<<) can also be
used to declare the same enum
[Flags]
enum FlagsEnum
{
None = 0,
Option1 = 1 << 0,
Option2 = 1 << 1,
Option3 = 1 << 2,
To check if the value of enum variable has a certain flag set, the HasFlag method can be used.
Let's say we have
[Flags]
enum MyEnum
{
One = 1,
Two = 2,
Three = 4
}
And a value
if(value.HasFlag(MyEnum.One))
Console.WriteLine("Enum has One");
if(value.HasFlag(MyEnum.Two))
Console.WriteLine("Enum has Two");
if(value.HasFlag(MyEnum.Three))
Console.WriteLine("Enum has Three");
Also we can iterate through all values of enum to get all flags that are set
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if (value.HasFlag(item))
Console.WriteLine("Enum has " + name);
}
Or
A flags-style enum value needs to be tested with bitwise logic because it may not match any single
value.
[Flags]
enum FlagsEnum
{
Option1 = 1,
Option2 = 2,
Option3 = 4,
Option2And3 = Option2 | Option3;
The Default value is actually a combination of two others merged with a bitwise OR. Therefore to
test for the presence of a flag we need to use a bitwise AND.
Assert.True(isOption2And3Set);
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Wednesday,
Thursday,
Friday,
Saturday
}
// Enum to string
string thursday = DayOfWeek.Thursday.ToString(); // "Thursday"
// String to enum (.NET 4.0+ only - see below for alternative syntax for earlier .NET
versions)
DayOfWeek tuesday;
Enum.TryParse("Tuesday", out tuesday); // DayOfWeek.Tuesday
DayOfWeek sunday;
bool matchFound1 = Enum.TryParse("SUNDAY", out sunday); // Returns false (case-sensitive
match)
DayOfWeek wednesday;
bool matchFound2 = Enum.TryParse("WEDNESDAY", true, out wednesday); // Returns true;
DayOfWeek.Wednesday (case-insensitive match)
The default value for an enum is zero. If an enum does not define an item with a value of zero,
its default value will be zero.
if (e == EnumExample.one)
Console.WriteLine("defaults to one");
else
Console.WriteLine("Unknown");
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}
}
Example: https://dotnetfiddle.net/l5Rwie
Enum basics
From MSDN:
Essentially, an enum is a type that only allows a set of finite options, and each option corresponds
to a number. By default, those numbers are increasing in the order the values are declared,
starting from zero. For example, one could declare an enum for the days of the week:
By default the underlying type of each element in the enum is int, but byte, sbyte, short, ushort, uint,
long and ulong can be used as well. If you use a type other than int, you must specify the type
using a colon after the enum name:
The numbers after the name are now bytes instead of integers. You could get the underlying type
of the enum as follows:
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Enum.GetUnderlyingType(typeof(Days)));
Output:
System.Byte
The FlagsAttribute should be used whenever the enumerable represents a collection of flags,
rather than a single value. The numeric value assigned to each enum value helps when
manipulating enums using bitwise operators.
[Flags]
enum Colors
{
Red=1,
Blue=2,
Green=4,
Yellow=8
}
prints Red,Blue
enum Colors
{
Red=1,
Blue=2,
Green=4,
Yellow=8
}
var color = Colors.Red | Colors.Blue;
Console.WriteLine(color.ToString());
prints 3
The left-shift operator (<<) can be used in flag enum declarations to ensure that each flag has
exactly one 1 in binary representation, as flags should.
This also helps to improve readability of large enums with plenty of flags in them.
[Flags]
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public enum MyEnum
{
None = 0,
Flag1 = 1 << 0,
Flag2 = 1 << 1,
Flag3 = 1 << 2,
Flag4 = 1 << 3,
Flag5 = 1 << 4,
...
Flag31 = 1 << 30
}
It is obvious now that MyEnum contains proper flags only and not any messy stuff like Flag30 =
1073741822 (or 111111111111111111111111111110 in binary) which is inappropriate.
In some cases you might want to add an additional description to an enum value, for instance
when the enum value itself is less readable than what you might want to display to the user. In
such cases you can use the System.ComponentModel.DescriptionAttribute class.
For example:
Now, if you would like to return the description of a specific enum value you can do the following:
This can also be easily transformed to an extension method for all enums:
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return
((DescriptionAttribute)Attribute.GetCustomAttribute((enumValue.GetType().GetField(enumValue.ToString())
typeof(DescriptionAttribute))).Description;
}
}
[Flags]
public enum MyEnum
{
Flag1 = 1 << 0,
Flag2 = 1 << 1,
Flag3 = 1 << 2
}
// remove flag
value &= ~MyEnum.Flag2; //value is now Flag1, Flag3
Since an enum can be cast to and from its underlying integral type, the value may fall outside the
range of values given in the definition of the enum type.
Although the below enum type DaysOfWeek only has 7 defined values, it can still hold any int value.
DaysOfWeek d = (DaysOfWeek)31;
Console.WriteLine(d); // prints 31
DaysOFWeek s = DaysOfWeek.Sunday;
s++; // No error
There is currently no way to define an enum which does not have this behavior.
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However, undefined enum values can be detected by using the method Enum.IsDefined. For
example,
DaysOfWeek d = (DaysOfWeek)31;
Console.WriteLine(Enum.IsDefined(typeof(DaysOfWeek),d)); // prints False
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Chapter 51: Equality Operator
Examples
Equality kinds in c# and equality operator
In C#, there are two different kinds of equality: reference equality and value equality. Value
equality is the commonly understood meaning of equality: it means that two objects contain the
same values. For example, two integers with the value of 2 have value equality. Reference
equality means that there are not two objects to compare. Instead, there are two object
references, both of which refer to the same object.
For predefined value types, the equality operator (==) returns true if the values of its operands are
equal, false otherwise. For reference types other than string, == returns true if its two operands
refer to the same object. For the string type, == compares the values of the strings.
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Chapter 52: Equals and GetHashCode
Remarks
Each implementation of Equals must fulfil the following requirements:
• Transitive: If one object is equal to another object and this one is equal to a third one, the
first has to be equal to the third.
if (x.Equals(y) && y.Equals(z)) returns true, then x.Equals(z) returns true.
• Consistent: If you compare an object to another multiple times, the result is always the
same.
Successive invocations of x.Equals(y) return the same value as long as the objects
referenced by x and y are not modified.
Implementations of GetHashCode:
• Compatible with Equals: If two objects are equal (meaning that Equals returns true), then
GetHashCode must return the same value for each of them.
• Large range: If two objects are not equal (Equals says false), there should be a high
probability their hash codes are distinct. Perfect hashing is often not possible as there is a
limited number of values to choose from.
Examples
Default Equals behavior.
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• If the instance is a reference type, then Equals will return true only if the references are the
same.
• If the instance is a value type, then Equals will return true only if the type and value are the
same.
namespace ConsoleApplication
{
public class Program
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
//areFooClassEqual: False
Foo fooClass1 = new Foo("42");
Foo fooClass2 = new Foo("42");
bool areFooClassEqual = fooClass1.Equals(fooClass2);
Console.WriteLine("fooClass1 and fooClass2 are equal: {0}", areFooClassEqual);
//False
//areFooIntEqual: True
int fooInt1 = 42;
int fooInt2 = 42;
bool areFooIntEqual = fooInt1.Equals(fooInt2);
Console.WriteLine("fooInt1 and fooInt2 are equal: {0}", areFooIntEqual);
//areFooStringEqual: True
string fooString1 = "42";
string fooString2 = "42";
bool areFooStringEqual = fooString1.Equals(fooString2);
Console.WriteLine("fooString1 and fooString2 are equal: {0}", areFooStringEqual);
}
}
if your method returns the same integer (e.g. the constant '999') for each instance,
○
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• should be quick
○ These are NOT cryptographic hashes, where slowness is a feature
○ the slower your hash function, the slower your dictionary
• must return the same HashCode on two instances that Equals evaluates to true
○ if they do not (e.g. because GetHashCode returns a random number), items may not be
found in a List, Dictionary, or similar.
A good method to implement GetHashCode is to use one prime number as a starting value, and add
the hashcodes of the fields of the type multiplied by other prime numbers to that:
Only the fields which are used in the Equals-method should be used for the hash function.
If you have a need to treat the same type in different ways for Dictionary/HashTables, you can use
IEqualityComparer.
var person1 = new Person { Name = "Jon", Age = 20, Clothes = "some clothes" };
var person2 = new Person { Name = "Jon", Age = 20, Clothes = "some other clothes" };
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{
var person = obj as Person;
if(person == null) return false;
return Name == person.Name && Age == person.Age; //the clothes are not important when
comparing two persons
}
var person1 = new Person { Name = "Jon", Age = 20, Clothes = "some clothes" };
var person2 = new Person { Name = "Jon", Age = 20, Clothes = "some other clothes" };
Also using LINQ to make different queries on persons will check both Equals and GetHashCode:
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comparing two persons;
}
Note that for this query, two objects have been considered equal if both the Equals returned true
and the GetHashCode have returned the same hash code for the two persons.
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Chapter 53: Events
Introduction
An event is a notification that something has occurred (such as a mouse click) or, in some cases,
is about to occur (such as a price change).
Classes can define events and their instances (objects) may raise these events. For instance, a
Button may contain a Click event that gets raised when a user has clicked it.
Event handlers are then methods that get called when their corresponding event is raised. A form
may contain a Clicked event handler for every Button it contains, for instance.
Parameters
Parameter Details
EventArgsT The type that derives from EventArgs and contains the event parameters.
EventArguments An instance of the EventArgsT type that contains the event parameters.
Remarks
When raising an event:
• Always check if the delegate is null. A null delegate means the event has no subscribers.
Raising an event with no subscribers will result in a NullReferenceException.
6.0
• Copy the delegate (e.g. EventName) to a local variable (e.g. eventName) before checking for null
/ raising the event. This avoids race conditions in multi-threaded environments:
Wrong:
Right:
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// Cache the "Changed" event as a local. If it is not null, then use
// the LOCAL variable (handler) to raise the event, NOT the event itself.
var handler = Changed;
if(handler != null)
handler(this, args);
6.0
• Use the null-conditional operator (?.) for raising the method instead of null-checking the
delegate for subscribers in an if statement: EventName?.Invoke(SenderObject, new
EventArgsT());
• When using Action<> to declare delegate types, the anonymous method / event handler
signature must be the same as the declared anonymous delegate type in the event
declaration.
Examples
Declaring and Raising Events
Declaring an Event
You can declare an event on any class or struct using the following syntax:
There is an expanded syntax for declaring events, where you hold a private instance of the event,
and define a public instance using add and set accessors. The syntax is very similar to C#
properties. In all cases, the syntax demonstrated above should be preferred, because the compiler
emits code to help ensure that multiple threads can safely add and remove event handlers to the
event on your class.
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6.0
Note that events can only be raised by the declaring type. Clients can only subscribe/unsubscribe.
For C# versions before 6.0, where EventName?.Invoke is not supported, it is a good practice to
assign the event to a temporary variable before invocation, as shown in the example, which
ensures thread-safety in cases where multiple threads execute the same code. Failing to do so
may cause a NullReferenceException to be thrown in certain cases where multiple threads are using
the same object instance. In C# 6.0, the compiler emits code similar to that shown in the code
example for C# 6.
Event declaration:
Dynamically:
EventName += HandlerName;
1. Click the Events button on the control's properties window (Lightening bolt)
2. Double-click the Event name:
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3. Visual Studio will generate the event code:
EventName(SenderObject, EventArguments);
Event declaration:
Event handler declaration using lambda operator => and subscribing to the event:
Declaration & subscription of an event handler that does not use the event's parameter, and so
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can use the above syntax without needing to specify parameters:
EventName?.Invoke(SenderObject, EventArguments);
Events can be of any delegate type, not just EventHandler and EventHandler<T>. For example:
//Declaring an event
public event Action<Param1Type, Param2Type, ...> EventName;
It is possible to declare multiple events of the same type in a single statement, similar to with fields
and local variables (though this may often be a bad idea):
This declares three separate events (Event1, Event2, and Event3) all of type EventHandler.
Note: Although some compilers may accept this syntax in interfaces as well as classes, the C#
specification (v5.0 §13.2.3) provides grammar for interfaces that does not allow it, so using this in
interfaces may be unreliable with different compilers.
Custom events usually need custom event arguments containing information about the event. For
example MouseEventArgs which is used by mouse events like MouseDown or MouseUp events, contains
information about Location or Buttons which used to generate the event.
• Create a class deriving from EventArgs and define properties for necessary data.
• As a convention, the name of the class should ends with EventArgs.
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Example
In the below example, we create a PriceChangingEventArgs event for Price property of a class. The
event data class contains a CurrentPrice and a NewPrice. The event raises when you assign a new
value to Price property and lets the consumer know the value is changing and let them to know
about current price and new price:
PriceChangingEventArgs
Product
int price;
public int Price
{
get { return price; }
set
{
var e = new PriceChangingEventArgs(price, value);
OnPriceChanging(e);
price = value;
}
}
You can enhance the example by allowing the consumer to change the new value and then the
value will be used for property. To do so it's enough to apply these changes in classes.
Change the definition of Price to use e.NewPrice as value of property, after calling OnPriceChanging :
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int price;
public int Price
{
get { return price; }
set
{
var e = new PriceChangingEventArgs(price, value);
OnPriceChanging(e);
price = e.NewPrice;
}
}
A cancelable event can be raised by a class when it is about to perform an action that can be
canceled, such as the FormClosing event of a Form.
• Create a new event arg deriving from CancelEventArgs and add additional properties for event
data.
• Create an event using EventHandler<T> and use the new cancel event arg class which you
created.
Example
In the below example, we create a PriceChangingEventArgs event for Price property of a class. The
event data class contains a Value which let the consumer know about the new . The event raises
when you assign a new value to Price property and lets the consumer know the value is changing
and let them to cancel the event. If the consumer cancels the event, the previous value for Price
will be used:
PriceChangingEventArgs
Product
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{
get { return price; }
set
{
var e = new PriceChangingEventArgs(value);
OnPriceChanging(e);
if (!e.Cancel)
price = value;
}
}
Event Properties
If a class raises a large the number of events, the storage cost of one field per delegate may not
be acceptable. The .NET Framework provides event properties for these cases. This way you can
use another data structure like EventHandlerList to store event delegates:
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This approach is widely used in GUI frameworks like WinForms where controls can have dozens
and even hundreds of events.
Note that EventHandlerList is not thread-safe, so if you expect your class to be used from multiple
threads, you will need to add lock statements or other synchronization mechanism (or use a
storage that provides thread safety).
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Chapter 54: Exception Handling
Examples
Basic Exception Handling
try
{
/* code that could throw an exception */
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
/* handle the exception */
}
Note that handling all exceptions with the same code is often not the best approach.
This is commonly used when any inner exception handling routines fail, as a last resort.
try
{
/* code to open a file */
}
catch (System.IO.FileNotFoundException)
{
/* code to handle the file being not found */
}
catch (System.IO.UnauthorizedAccessException)
{
/* code to handle not being allowed access to the file */
}
catch (System.IO.IOException)
{
/* code to handle IOException or it's descendant other than the previous two */
}
catch (System.Exception)
{
/* code to handle other errors */
}
Be careful that exceptions are evaluated in order and inheritance is applied. So you need to start
with the most specific ones and end with their ancestor. At any given point, only one catch block
will get executed.
You are allowed to create and throw exceptions in your own code. Instantiating an exception is
done the same way that any other C# object.
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Exception ex = new Exception();
You can then use the throw keyword to raise the exception:
try
{
throw new Exception("Error");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.Write(ex.Message); // Logs 'Error' to the output window
}
Note: If you're throwing a new exception inside a catch block, ensure that the original exception is
passed as "inner exception", e.g.
void DoSomething()
{
int b=1; int c=5;
try
{
var a = 1;
b = a - 1;
c = a / b;
a = a / c;
}
catch (DivideByZeroException dEx) when (b==0)
{
// we're throwing the same kind of exception
throw new DivideByZeroException("Cannot divide by b because it is zero", dEx);
}
catch (DivideByZeroException dEx) when (c==0)
{
// we're throwing the same kind of exception
throw new DivideByZeroException("Cannot divide by c because it is zero", dEx);
}
}
void Main()
{
try
{
DoSomething();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// Logs full error information (incl. inner exception)
Console.Write(ex.ToString());
}
}
In this case it is assumed that the exception cannot be handled but some useful information is
added to the message (and the original exception can still be accessed via ex.InnerException by
an outer exception block).
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It will show something like:
If you're trying this example in LinqPad, you'll notice that the line numbers aren't very meaningful
(they don't always help you). But passing a helpful error text as suggested above oftentimes
significantly reduces the time to track down the location of the error, which is in this example
clearly the line
c = a / b;
in function DoSomething().
Finally block
try
{
/* code that could throw an exception */
}
catch (Exception)
{
/* handle the exception */
}
finally
{
/* Code that will be executed, regardless if an exception was thrown / caught or not */
}
The try / catch / finally block can be very handy when reading from files.
For example:
FileStream f = null;
try
{
f = File.OpenRead("file.txt");
/* process the file here */
}
finally
{
f?.Close(); // f may be null, so use the null conditional operator.
}
A try block must be followed by either a catch or a finally block. However, since there is no catch
block, the execution will cause termination. Before termination, the statements inside the finally
block will be executed.
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In the file-reading we could have used a using block as FileStream (what OpenRead returns)
implements IDisposable.
Even if there is a return statement in try block, the finally block will usually execute; there are a
few cases where it will not:
Implementing IErrorHandler for WCF services is a great way to centralize error handling and
logging. The implementation shown here should catch any unhandled exception that is thrown as
a result of a call to one of your WCF services. Also shown in this example is how to return a
custom object, and how to return JSON rather than the default XML.
Implement IErrorHandler:
using System.ServiceModel.Channels;
using System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher;
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Json;
using System.ServiceModel;
using System.ServiceModel.Web;
namespace BehaviorsAndInspectors
{
public class ErrorHandler : IErrorHandler
{
return true;
} // end
// Create the fault message that is returned (note the ref parameter) with
BaseDataResponseContract
fault = Message.CreateMessage(
version,
string.Empty,
new CustomReturnType { ErrorMessage = "An unhandled exception occurred!" },
new DataContractJsonSerializer(typeof(BaseDataResponseContract), new
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List<Type> { typeof(BaseDataResponseContract) }));
if (ex.GetType() == typeof(VariousExceptionTypes))
{
// You might want to catch different types of exceptions here and process
them differently
}
} // end
} // end class
} // end namespace
In this example we attach the handler to the service behavior. You could also attach this to
IEndpointBehavior, IContractBehavior, or IOperationBehavior in a similar way.
using System;
using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
using System.ServiceModel;
using System.ServiceModel.Channels;
using System.ServiceModel.Configuration;
using System.ServiceModel.Description;
using System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher;
namespace BehaviorsAndInspectors
{
public class ErrorHandlerExtension : BehaviorExtensionElement, IServiceBehavior
{
public override Type BehaviorType
{
get { return GetType(); }
}
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var errorHandlerInstance = GetInstance();
} // end class
} // end namespace
Configs in Web.config:
...
<system.serviceModel>
<services>
<service name="WebServices.MyService">
<endpoint binding="webHttpBinding" contract="WebServices.IMyService" />
</service>
</services>
<extensions>
<behaviorExtensions>
<!-- This extension if for the WCF Error Handling-->
<add name="ErrorHandlerBehavior"
type="WebServices.BehaviorsAndInspectors.ErrorHandlerExtensionBehavior, WebServices,
Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null" />
</behaviorExtensions>
</extensions>
<behaviors>
<serviceBehaviors>
<behavior>
<serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true"/>
<serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="true"/>
<ErrorHandlerBehavior />
</behavior>
</serviceBehaviors>
</behaviors>
....
</system.serviceModel>
...
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us/library/system.servicemodel.dispatcher.ierrorhandler(v=vs.100).aspx
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with-a-service-or-client-description-what-methods-do-they-implement-and
Other Examples:
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IErrorHandler returning wrong message body when HTTP status code is 401 Unauthorized
How to make custom WCF error handler return JSON response with non-OK http code?
You are allowed to implement custom exceptions that can be thrown just like any other exception.
This makes sense when you want to make your exceptions distinguishable from other errors
during runtime.
In this example we will create a custom exception for clear handling of problems the application
may have while parsing a complex input.
Custom exception become very useful when you want to provide additional information to the
catcher:
Now, when you catch(ParserException x) you will have additional semantics to fine-tune exception
handling.
Custom classes can implement the following features to support additional scenarios.
re-throwing
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During the parsing process, the original exception is still of interest. In this example it is a
FormatException because the code attempts to parse a piece of string, which is expected to be a
number. In this case the custom exception should support the inclusion of the 'InnerException':
//new constructor:
ParserException(string msg, Exception inner) : base(msg, inner) {
}
serialization
In some cases your exceptions may have to cross AppDomain boundaries. This is the case if your
parser is running in its own AppDomain to support hot reloading of new parser configurations. In
Visual Studio, you can use Exception template to generate code like this.
[Serializable]
public class ParserException : Exception
{
// Constructor without arguments allows throwing your exception without
// providing any information, including error message. Should be included
// if your exception is meaningful without any additional details. Should
// set message by calling base constructor (default message is not helpful).
public ParserException()
: base("Parser failure.")
{}
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}
You may also use custom exceptions for catching and wrapping exceptions. This way many
different errors can be converted into a single error type that is more useful to the application:
try
{
int foo = int.Parse(token);
}
catch (FormatException ex)
{
//Assuming you added this constructor
throw new ParserException(
$"Failed to read {token} as number.",
FileName,
LineNumber,
ex);
}
When handling exceptions by raising your own custom exceptions, you should generally include a
reference the original exception in the InnerException property, as shown above.
Security Concerns
If exposing the reason for the exception might compromise security by allowing users to see the
inner workings of your application it can be a bad idea to wrap the inner exception. This might
apply if you are creating a class library that will be used by others.
Here is how you could raise a custom exception without wrapping the inner exception:
try
{
// ...
}
catch (SomeStandardException ex)
{
// ...
throw new MyCustomException(someMessage);
}
Conclusion
When raising a custom exception (either with wrapping or with an unwrapped new exception), you
should raise an exception that is meaningful to the caller. For instance, a user of a class library
may not know much about how that library does its internal work. The exceptions that are thrown
by the dependencies of the class library are not meaningful. Rather, the user wants an exception
that is relevant to how the class library is using those dependencies in an erroneous way.
try
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{
// ...
}
catch (IOException ex)
{
// ...
throw new StorageServiceException(@"The Storage Service encountered a problem saving
your data. Please consult the inner exception for technical details.
If you are not able to resolve the problem, please call 555-555-1234 for technical
assistance.", ex);
}
Exception Anti-patterns
Swallowing Exceptions
One should always re-throw exception in the following way:
try
{
...
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
...
throw;
}
Re-throwing an exception like below will obfuscate the original exception and will lose the original
stack trace. One should never do this! The stack trace prior to the catch and rethrow will be lost.
try
{
...
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
...
throw ex;
}
try
{
while (AccountManager.HasMoreAccounts())
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{
account = AccountManager.GetNextAccount();
if (account.Name == userName)
{
//We found it
throw new AccountFoundException(account);
}
}
}
catch (AccountFoundException found)
{
Console.Write("Here are your account details: " + found.Account.Details.ToString());
}
catch (Exception)
There are almost no (some say none!) reasons to catch the generic exception type in your code.
You should catch only the exception types you expect to happen, because you hide bugs in your
code otherwise.
try
{
var f = File.Open(myfile);
// do something
}
catch (Exception x)
{
// Assume file not found
Console.Write("Could not open file");
// but maybe the error was a NullReferenceException because of a bug in the file handling
code?
}
Better do:
try
{
var f = File.Open(myfile);
// do something which should normally not throw exceptions
}
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catch (IOException)
{
Console.Write("File not found");
}
// Unfortunatelly, this one does not derive from the above, so declare separatelly
catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
{
Console.Write("Insufficient rights");
}
If any other exception happens, we purposedly let the application crash, so it directly steps in the
debugger and we can fix the problem. We mustn't ship a program where any other exceptions
than these happen anyway, so it's not a problem to have a crash.
The following is a bad example, too, because it uses exceptions to work around a programming
error. That's not what they're designed for.
try
{
DoSomething(myString);
}
catch(ArgumentNullException x)
{
// if this happens, we have a programming error and we should check
// why myString was null in the first place.
}
Who says you cannot throw multiple exceptions in one method. If you are not used to playing
around with AggregateExceptions you may be tempted to create your own data-structure to
represent many things going wrong. There are of course were another data-structure that is not an
exception would be more ideal such as the results of a validation. Even if you do play with
AggregateExceptions you may be on the receiving side and always handling them not realizing
they can be of use to you.
It is quite plausible to have a method execute and even though it will be a failure as a whole you
will want to highlight multiple things that went wrong in the exceptions that are thrown. As an
example this behavior can be seen with how Parallel methods work were a task broken into
multiple threads and any number of them could throw exceptions and this needs to be reported.
Here is a silly example of how you could benefit from this:
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this.SillyMethod(1, 2);
}
catch (AggregateException ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
foreach (Exception innerException in ex.InnerExceptions)
{
Console.WriteLine(innerException.Message);
}
}
}
if (input1 == 1)
{
exceptions.Add(new ArgumentException("I do not like ones"));
}
if (input2 == 2)
{
exceptions.Add(new ArgumentException("I do not like twos"));
}
if (exceptions.Any())
{
throw new AggregateException("Funny stuff happended during execution",
exceptions);
}
}
One is able to nest one exception / try catch block inside the other.
This way one can manage small blocks of code which are capable of working without disrupting
your whole mechanism.
try
{
//some code here
try
{
//some thing which throws an exception. For Eg : divide by 0
}
catch (DivideByZeroException dzEx)
{
//handle here only this exception
//throw from here will be passed on to the parent catch block
}
finally
{
//any thing to do after it is done.
}
//resume from here & proceed as normal;
}
catch(Exception e)
{
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//handle here
}
Note: Avoid Swallowing Exceptions when throwing to the parent catch block
Best Practices
Cheatsheet
DO DON'T
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void DoingSomethingWithMyObject()
{
try
{
Console.WriteLine(myObject.ToString());
}
catch(NullReferenceException ex)
{
// Hmmm, if I create a new instance of object and assign it to myObject:
myObject = new object();
// Nice, now I can continue to work with myObject
DoSomethingElseWithMyObject();
}
}
Since previous snippet only covers logic of exception, what should I do if myObject is not null at this
point? Where should I cover this part of logic? Right after Console.WriteLine(myObject.ToString());?
How about after the try...catch block?
// When execution reaches this point, we are sure that myObject is not null
DoSomethingElseWithMyObject();
}
Mr. Best Practices achieved same logic with fewer code and a clear & understandable logic.
try
{
//Some code that might throw an exception
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
//empty catch block, bad practice
}
Never swallow exceptions. Ignoring exceptions will save that moment but will create a chaos for
maintainability later. When logging exceptions, you should always log the exception instance so
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that the complete stack trace is logged and not the exception message only.
try
{
//Some code that might throw an exception
}
catch(NullException ex)
{
LogManager.Log(ex.ToString());
}
try
{
//Try to save the data to the main database.
}
catch(SqlException ex)
{
//Try to save the data to the alternative database.
}
//If anything other than a SqlException is thrown, there is nothing we can do here. Let the
exception bubble up to a level where it can be handled.
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.UnhandledException += new
UnhandledExceptionEventHandler(UnhandledException);
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}
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.UnhandledException += new
UnhandledExceptionEventHandler(UnhandledException);
Application.ThreadException += new ThreadExceptionEventHandler(ThreadException);
}
Throwing an exception
Your code can, and often should, throw an exception when something unusual has happened.
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Chapter 55: Expression Trees
Introduction
Expression Trees are Expressions arranged in a treelike data structure. Each node in the tree is a
representation of an expression, an expression being code. An In-Memory representation of a
Lambda expression would be an Expression tree, which holds the actual elements (i.e. code) of
the query, but not its result. Expression trees make the structure of a lambda expression
transparent and explicit.
Syntax
• Expression<TDelegate> name = lambdaExpression;
Parameters
Parameter Details
Remarks
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query.
The problem here is that a remote query cannot access our method. We could avoid this problem
if instead, we sent the instructions for the method to the remote query. In our CalculateTotalTaxDue
example, that means we send this information:
With those instructions, the remote query can perform the work as it's creating the data.
There are two challenges to implementing this. How do you transform a compiled .NET method
into a list of instructions, and how do you format the instructions in a way that they can be
consumed by the remote system?
Without expression trees, you could only solve the first problem with MSIL. (MSIL is the
assembler-like code created by the .NET compiler.) Parsing MSIL is possible, but it's not easy.
Even when you do parse it properly, it can be hard to determine what the original programmer's
intent was with a particular routine.
Lambda expressions cannot create every type of expression tree. In those cases, you can use the
Expressions API manually to create the tree you need to. In the Understanding the expressions
API example, we create the CalculateTotalSalesTax expression using the API.
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NOTE: The names get a bit confusing here. A lambda expression (two words, lower case) refers
to the block of code with a => indicator. It represents an anonymous method in C# and is
converted into either a Delegate or Expression. A LambdaExpression (one word, PascalCase) refers to
the node type within the Expression API which represents a method you can execute.
Putting all the pieces together, you can see the real power behind LINQ.
Notes
• Expression trees are immutable. If you want to change an expression tree you need to
create a new one, copy the existing one into the new one (to traverse an expression tree you
can use the ExpressionVisitor) and make the wanted changes.
Examples
Creating Expression Trees by Using the API
using System.Linq.Expressions;
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Expression<Func<int, bool>> expr = num => num < 5;
// Call the Compile method on the expression tree to return a delegate that can be called.
Func<int, bool> result = expr.Compile();
// Prints True.
// You can also combine the compile step with the call/invoke step as below:
Console.WriteLine(expr.Compile()(4));
using System.Linq.Expressions;
To create expression trees 'by hand', one should use Expression class.
We're going to use the expression tree API to create a CalculateSalesTax tree. In plain English,
here's a summary of the steps it takes to create the tree.
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2. If it is, multiply the line total by the applicable tax rate and return that amount
3. Otherwise return 0
//For reference, we're using the API to build this lambda expression
orderLine => orderLine.IsTaxable ? orderLine.Total * orderLine.Order.TaxRate : 0;
//The orderLine parameter we pass in to the method. We specify it's type (OrderLine) and the
name of the parameter.
ParameterExpression orderLine = Expression.Parameter(typeof(OrderLine), "orderLine");
//Check if the parameter is taxable; First we need to access the is taxable property, then
check if it's true
PropertyInfo isTaxableAccessor = typeof(OrderLine).GetProperty("IsTaxable");
MemberExpression getIsTaxable = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(orderLine, isTaxableAccessor);
UnaryExpression isLineTaxable = Expression.IsTrue(getIsTaxable);
//Get the tax rate - notice that we pass the getOrder expression directly to the member
access
PropertyInfo taxRateAccessor = typeof(Order).GetProperty("TaxRate");
MemberExpression getTaxRate = Expression.MakeMemberAccess(getOrder, taxRateAccessor);
//Multiply the two - notice we pass the two operand expressions directly to multiply
BinaryExpression multiplyTotalByRate = Expression.Multiply(getTotal, getTaxRate);
//If the line is not taxable, we'll return a constant value - 0.0 (decimal)
ConstantExpression zero = Expression.Constant(0M);
Expression trees represent code in a tree-like data structure, where each node is an expression
Expression Trees enables dynamic modification of executable code, the execution of LINQ
queries in various databases, and the creation of dynamic queries. You can compile and run code
represented by expression trees.
These are also used in the dynamic language run-time (DLR) to provide interoperability between
dynamic languages and the .NET Framework and to enable compiler writers to emit expression
trees instead of Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL).
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Expression Trees can be created Via
When a lambda expression is assigned to Expression type variable , the compiler emits code to
build an expression tree that represents the lambda expression.
The following code examples shows how to have the C# compiler create an expression tree that
represents the lambda expression num => num < 5.
Expression Trees also created using the Expression Class. This class contains static factory
methods that create expression tree nodes of specific types.
1. ParameterExpression
2. MethodCallExpression
The following code example shows how to create an expression tree that represents the lambda
expression num => num < 5 by using the API.
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Call Visit to use this visitor on an existing expression:
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Chapter 56: Extension Methods
Syntax
• public static ReturnType MyExtensionMethod(this TargetType target)
• public static ReturnType MyExtensionMethod(this TargetType target, TArg1 arg1, ...)
Parameters
Parameter Details
Remarks
Extension methods are syntactic sugar that allow static methods to be invoked on object instances
as if they were a member of the type itself.
Extension methods require an explicit target object. You will need to use the this keyword to
access the method from within the extended type itself.
Extensions methods must be declared static, and must live in a static class.
Which namespace?
The choice of namespace for your extension method class is a trade-off between visibility and
discoverability.
The most commonly mentioned option is to have a custom namespace for your extension
methods. However this will involve a communication effort so that users of your code know that
the extension methods exist, and where to find them.
An alternative is to choose a namespace such that developers will discover your extension
methods via Intellisense. So if you want to extend the Foo class, it is logical to put the extension
methods in the same namespace as Foo.
It is important to realise that nothing prevents you using "someone else's" namespace: Thus
if you want to extend IEnumerable, you can add your extension method in the System.Linq
namespace.
This is not always a good idea. For example, in one specific case, you may want to extend a
common type (bool IsApproxEqualTo(this double value, double other) for example), but not have
that 'pollute' the whole of System. In this case it is preferable to chose a local, specific, namespace.
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Finally, it is also possible to put the extension methods in no namespace at all!
A good reference question: How do you manage the namespaces of your extension methods?
Applicability
Care should be taken when creating extension methods to ensure that they are appropriate for all
possible inputs and are not only relevant to specific situations. For example, it is possible to
extend system classes such as string, which makes your new code available to any string. If your
code needs to perform domain specific logic on a domain specific string format, an extension
method would not be appropriate as its presence would confuse callers working with other strings
in the system.
The following list contains basic features and properties of extension methods
Examples
Extension methods - overview
Extension methods were introduced in C# 3.0. Extension methods extend and add behavior to
existing types without creating a new derived type, recompiling, or otherwise modifying the original
type. They are especially helpful when you cannot modify the source of a type you are looking to
enhance. Extension methods may be created for system types, types defined by third parties, and
types that you have defined yourself. The extension method can be invoked as though it were a
member method of the original type. This allows for Method Chaining used to implement a
Fluent Interface.
An extension method is created by adding a static method to a static class which is distinct from
the original type being extended. The static class holding the extension method is often created for
the sole purpose of holding extension methods.
Extension methods take a special first parameter that designates the original type being extended.
This first parameter is decorated with the keyword this (which constitutes a special and distinct
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use of this in C#—it should be understood as different from the use of this which allows referring
to members of the current object instance).
In the following example, the original type being extended is the class string. String has been
extended by a method Shorten(), which provides the additional functionality of shortening. The
static class StringExtensions has been created to hold the extension method. The extension
method Shorten() shows that it is an extension of string via the specially marked first parameter.
To show that the Shorten() method extends string, the first parameter is marked with this.
Therefore, the full signature of the first parameter is this string text, where string is the original
type being extended and text is the chosen parameter name.
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// This calls method String.ToUpper()
var myString = "Hello World!".ToUpper();
The object passed as the first argument of an extension method (which is accompanied by the
this keyword) is the instance the extension method is called upon.
"some string".Shorten(5);
Note that extension methods are only usable if they are in the same namespace as their definition,
if the namespace is imported explicitly by the code using the extension method, or if the extension
class is namespace-less. The .NET framework guidelines recommend putting extension classes in
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their own namespace. However, this may lead to discovery issues.
This results in no conflicts between the extension methods and the libraries being used, unless
namespaces which might conflict are explicitly pulled in. For example LINQ Extensions:
using System.Linq; // Allows use of extension methods from the System.Linq namespace
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
var ints = new int[] {1, 2, 3, 4};
Since C# 6.0, it is also possible to put a using static directive to the class containing the extension
methods. For example, using static System.Linq.Enumerable;. This makes extension methods from
that particular class available without bringing other types from the same namespace into scope.
When a class method with the same signature is available, the compiler prioritizes it over the
extension method call. For example:
class Test
{
public void Hello()
{
Console.WriteLine("From Test");
}
}
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
Test t = new Test();
t.Hello(); // Prints "From Test"
}
}
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Note that if there are two extension functions with the same signature, and one of them is in the
same namespace, then that one will be prioritized. On the other hand, if both of them are
accessed by using, then a compile time error will ensue with the message:
Extension methods can also be used like ordinary static class methods. This way of calling an
extension method is more verbose, but is necessary in some cases.
Usage:
• Resolving conflict with a member method. This can happen if a new version of a library
introduces a new member method with the same signature. In this case, the member method
will be preferred by the compiler.
• Resolving conflicts with another extension method with the same signature. This can happen
if two libraries include similar extension methods and namespaces of both classes with
extension methods are used in the same file.
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• Passing extension method as a method group into delegate parameter.
• Doing your own binding through Reflection.
• Using the extension method in the Immediate window in Visual Studio.
Using static
If a using static directive is used to bring static members of a static class into global scope,
extension methods are skipped. Example:
If you remove the this modifier from the first argument of the Shorten method, the last line will
compile.
Null checking
Extension methods are static methods which behave like instance methods. However, unlike what
happens when calling an instance method on a null reference, when an extension method is
called with a null reference, it does not throw a NullReferenceException. This can be quite useful in
some scenarios.
Extension methods can only see public (or internal) members of the extended
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class
}
}
Extension methods are just a syntactic sugar, and are not actually members of the class they
extend. This means that they cannot break encapsulation—they only have access to public (or
when implemented in the same assembly, internal) fields, properties and methods.
Just like other methods, extension methods can use generics. For example:
View Demo
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{
TU ret = default(TU);
// do some stuff with obj
return ret;
}
View Demo
You can also create extension methods for partially bound types in multi generic types:
View Demo
Calling code:
int number = 5;
var IsDefault = number.IsDefault();
View Demo
The static (compile-time) type is used rather than the dynamic (run-time type) to match
parameters.
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public class Base
{
public virtual string GetName()
{
return "Base";
}
}
Also the dispatch based on static type does not allow an extension method to be called on a
dynamic object:
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{
return person.Name;
}
}
// Prints True
Console.WriteLine(awesomeString.IsThisAwesome());
dynamicObject.StringValue = awesomeString;
// Prints True
Console.WriteLine(StringExtensions.IsThisAwesome(dynamicObject.StringValue));
The reason [calling extension methods from dynamic code] doesn't work is because in
regular, non-dynamic code extension methods work by doing a full search of all the
classes known to the compiler for a static class that has an extension method that
matches. The search goes in order based on the namespace nesting and available
using directives in each namespace.
That means that in order to get a dynamic extension method invocation resolved
correctly, somehow the DLR has to know at runtime what all the namespace nestings
and using directives were in your source code. We do not have a mechanism handy for
encoding all that information into the call site. We considered inventing such a
mechanism, but decided that it was too high cost and produced too much schedule risk
to be worth it.
Source
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Extension methods as strongly typed wrappers
Extension methods can be used for writing strongly typed wrappers for dictionary-like objects. For
example a cache, HttpContext.Items at cetera...
This approach removes the need of using string literals as keys all over the codebase as well as
the need of casting to the required type during the read operation. Overall it creates a more
secure, strongly typed way of interacting with such loosely typed objects as Dictionaries.
When an extension method returns a value that has the same type as its this argument, it can be
used to "chain" one or more method calls with a compatible signature. This can be useful for
sealed and/or primitive types, and allows the creation of so-called "fluent" APIs if the method
names read like natural human language.
void Main()
{
int result = 5.Increment().Decrement().Increment();
// result is now 6
}
Or like this
void Main()
{
int[] ints = new[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6};
int[] a = ints.WhereEven();
//a is { 2, 4, 6 };
int[] b = ints.WhereEven().WhereGreaterThan(2);
//b is { 4, 6 };
}
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{
public static int[] WhereEven(this int[] array)
{
//Enumerable.* extension methods use a fluent approach
return array.Where(i => (i%2) == 0).ToArray();
}
It is very convenient to use extension methods with interfaces as implementation can be stored
outside of class and all it takes to add some functionality to class is to decorate class with
interface.
use like:
You can use the following extension method for comparing the contents of two IList< T > instances
of the same type.
By default the items are compared based on their order within the list and the items themselves,
passing false to the isOrdered parameter will compare only the items themselves regardless of
their order.
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For this method to work, the generic type (T) must override both Equals and GetHashCode methods.
Usage:
Method:
public static bool Compare<T>(this IList<T> list1, IList<T> list2, bool isOrdered = true)
{
if (list1 == null && list2 == null)
return true;
if (list1 == null || list2 == null || list1.Count != list2.Count)
return false;
if (isOrdered)
{
for (int i = 0; i < list2.Count; i++)
{
var l1 = list1[i];
var l2 = list2[i];
if (
(l1 == null && l2 != null) ||
(l1 != null && l2 == null) ||
(!l1.Equals(l2)))
{
return false;
}
}
return true;
}
else
{
List<T> list2Copy = new List<T>(list2);
//Can be done with Dictionary without O(n^2)
for (int i = 0; i < list1.Count; i++)
{
if (!list2Copy.Remove(list1[i]))
return false;
}
return true;
}
}
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Yes,
No,
}
Now you can quickly convert your enum value to a different type. In this case a bool.
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Extensions and interfaces together enable DRY code and mixin-like
functionality
Extension methods enable you to simplify your interface definitions by only including core required
functionality in the interface itself and allowing you to define convenience methods and overloads
as extension methods. Interfaces with fewer methods are easier to implement in new classes.
Keeping overloads as extensions rather than including them in the interface directly saves you
from copying boilerplate code into every implementation, helping you keep your code DRY. This in
fact is similar to the mixin pattern which C# does not support.
The following is a very simple interface with convenience overloads provided as extensions.
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var formatter = new SecondsTimeFormatter();
// Callers get two method overloads!
Console.WriteLine($"4500ms is rougly {formatter.Format(4500)}");
var span = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5);
Console.WriteLine($"{span} is formatted as {formatter.Format(span)}");
}
}
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Extension methods can be used to "hide" processing of inelegant business rules that would
otherwise require cluttering up a calling function with if/then statements. This is similar to and
analogous to handling nulls with extension methods. For example,
Consider using Extension Methods as Functions which wrap other code, here's a great example
that uses both a static method and and extension method to wrap the Try Catch construct. Make
your code Bullet Proof...
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
namespace Samples
{
/// <summary>
/// Wraps a try catch statement as a static helper which uses
/// Extension methods for the exception
/// </summary>
public static class Bullet
{
/// <summary>
/// Wrapper for Try Catch Statement
/// </summary>
/// <param name="code">Call back for code</param>
/// <param name="error">Already handled and logged exception</param>
public static void Proof(Action code, Action<Exception> error)
{
try
{
code();
}
catch (Exception iox)
{
//extension method used here
iox.Log("BP2200-ERR-Unexpected Error");
//callback, exception already handled and logged
error(iox);
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Example of a logging method helper, this is the extension method
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/// </summary>
/// <param name="error">The Exception to log</param>
/// <param name="messageID">A unique error ID header</param>
public static void Log(this Exception error, string messageID)
{
Trace.WriteLine(messageID);
Trace.WriteLine(error.Message);
Trace.WriteLine(error.StackTrace);
Trace.WriteLine("");
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Shows how to use both the wrapper and extension methods.
/// </summary>
public class UseBulletProofing
{
public UseBulletProofing()
{
var ok = false;
var result = DoSomething();
if (!result.Contains("ERR"))
{
ok = true;
DoSomethingElse();
}
}
/// <summary>
/// How to use Bullet Proofing in your code.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>A string</returns>
public string DoSomething()
{
string result = string.Empty;
//Note that the Bullet.Proof method forces this construct.
Bullet.Proof(() =>
{
//this is the code callback
result = "DST5900-INF-No Exceptions in this code";
}, error =>
{
//error is the already logged and handled exception
//determine the base result
result = "DTS6200-ERR-An exception happened look at console log";
if (error.Message.Contains("SomeMarker"))
{
//filter the result for Something within the exception message
result = "DST6500-ERR-Some marker was found in the exception";
}
});
return result;
}
/// <summary>
/// Next step in workflow
/// </summary>
public void DoSomethingElse()
{
//Only called if no exception was thrown before
}
}
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}
One useful feature of extension methods is that you can create common methods for an interface.
Normally an interface cannot have shared implementations, but with extension methods they can.
In this example, the method FeetDriven can be used on any IVehicle. This logic in this method
would apply to all IVehicles, so it can be done this way so that there doesn't have to be a
FeetDriven in the IVehicle definition which would be implemented the same way for all children.
We can create a better mapper classes with extension methods, Suppose if i have some DTO
classes like
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public static class ViewModelMapper
{
public static UserViewModel ToViewModel(this UserDTO user)
{
return user == null ?
null :
new UserViewModel()
{
Address = user.Address.ToViewModel()
// Job = user.Job.ToViewModel(),
// Contact = user.Contact.ToViewModel() .. and so on
};
}
The beauty here is all the mapping method have a common name (ToViewModel) and we can
reuse it several ways
You can create extension methods to improve usability for nested collections like a Dictionary with
a List<T> value.
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}
list.Add(value);
}
dictList.Add("example", 5);
dictList.Add("example", 10);
dictList.Add("example", 15);
dictList.Remove("example", 5);
dictList.Remove("example", 10);
dictList.Remove("example", 15);
Console.WriteLine(dictList.ContainsKey("example")); // False
View Demo
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Chapter 57: File and Stream I/O
Introduction
Manages files.
Syntax
• new System.IO.StreamWriter(string path)
• new System.IO.StreamWriter(string path, bool append)
• System.IO.StreamWriter.WriteLine(string text)
• System.IO.StreamWriter.WriteAsync(string text)
• System.IO.Stream.Close()
• System.IO.File.ReadAllText(string path)
• System.IO.File.ReadAllLines(string path)
• System.IO.File.ReadLines(string path)
• System.IO.File.WriteAllText(string path, string text)
• System.IO.File.WriteAllLines(string path, IEnumerable<string> contents)
• System.IO.File.Copy(string source, string dest)
• System.IO.File.Create(string path)
• System.IO.File.Delete(string path)
• System.IO.File.Move(string source, string dest)
• System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(string path)
Parameters
Parameter Details
If the file exist, true will add data to the end of the file (append), false will
append
overwrite the file.
Remarks
• Always make sure to close Stream objects. This can be done with a using block as shown
above or by manually calling myStream.Close().
• Make sure the current user has necessary permissions on the path you are trying to create
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the file.
• Verbatim strings should be used when declaring a path string that includes backslashes, like
so: @"C:\MyFolder\MyFile.txt"
Examples
Reading from a file using the System.IO.File class
You can use the System.IO.File.ReadAllText function to read the entire contents of a file into a
string.
You can also read a file as an array of lines using the System.IO.File.ReadAllLines function:
Using the WriteLine method, you can write content line-by-line to a file.
Notice the use of the using keyword which makes sure the StreamWriter object is disposed as
soon as it goes out of scope and thus the file is closed.
string[] lines = { "My first string", "My second string", "and even a third string" };
using (System.IO.StreamWriter sw = new System.IO.StreamWriter(@"C:\MyFolder\OutputText.txt"))
{
foreach (string line in lines)
{
sw.WriteLine(line);
}
}
Note that the StreamWriter can receive a second bool parameter in it's constructor, allowing to
Append to a file instead of overwriting the file:
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You can use the System.IO.File.WriteAllText function to write a string to a file.
string[] lines = { "My first string", "My second string", "and even a third string" };
System.IO.File.WriteAllLines(@"C:\MyFolder\OutputFile.txt", lines);
When working with large files, you can use the System.IO.File.ReadLines method to read all lines
from a file into an IEnumerable<string>. This is similar to System.IO.File.ReadAllLines, except that it
doesn't load the whole file into memory at once, making it more efficient when working with large
files.
The second parameter of File.ReadLines is optional. You may use it when it is required to specify
encoding.
It is important to note that calling ToArray, ToList or another similar function will force all of the lines
to be loaded at once, meaning that the benefit of using ReadLines is nullified. It is best to enumerate
over the IEnumerable using a foreach loop or LINQ if using this method.
Create File
By using Create method of the File static class we can create files. Method creates the file at the
given path, at the same time it opens the file and gives us the FileStream of the file. Make sure you
close the file after you are done with it.
ex1:
ex2:
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ex3:
File.Create("samplePath").Close();
FileStream class
There are many overloads of this classes constructor which is actually well documented here.
Below example is for the one that covers most used functionalities of this class.
You can check the enums for FileMode, FileAccess, and FileShare from those links. What they
basically means are as follows:
FileMode: Answers "Should file be created? opened? create if not exist then open?" kinda
questions.
FileAccess: Answers "Should I be able to read the file, write to the file or both?" kinda questions.
FileShare: Answers "Should other users be able to read, write etc. to the file while I am using it
simultaneously?" kinda questions.
Copy File
File.Copy(@"sourcePath\abc.txt", @"destinationPath\abc.txt");
File.Copy(@"sourcePath\abc.txt", @"destinationPath\xyz.txt");
Remark: By this method, file is copied, meaning that it will be read from the source and then
written to the destination path. This is a resource consuming process, it would take relative time to
the file size, and can cause your program to freeze if you don't utilize threads.
Move File
File.Move(@"sourcePath\abc.txt", @"destinationPath\xyz.txt");
Remark1: Only changes the index of the file (if the file is moved in the same volume). This
operation does not take relative time to the file size.
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Delete File
While Delete does not throw exception if file doesn't exist, it will throw exception e.g. if specified
path is invalid or caller does not have the required permissions. You should always wrap calls to
Delete inside try-catch block and handle all expected exceptions. In case of possible race
conditions, wrap logic inside lock statement.
Returns an array of FileInfo, representing all the files in the specified directory.
Returns an array of FileInfo, representing all the files in the specified directory with the specified
extension.
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Chapter 58: FileSystemWatcher
Syntax
• public FileSystemWatcher()
• public FileSystemWatcher(string path)
• public FileSystemWatcher(string path, string filter)
Parameters
path filter
The directory to monitor, in standard or The type of files to watch. For example,
Universal Naming Convention (UNC) notation. "*.txt" watches for changes to all text files.
Examples
Basic FileWatcher
The following example creates a FileSystemWatcher to watch the directory specified at run time. The
component is set to watch for changes in LastWrite and LastAccess time, the creation, deletion,
or renaming of text files in the directory. If a file is changed, created, or deleted, the path to the file
prints to the console. When a file is renamed, the old and new paths print to the console.
FileSystemWatcher watcher;
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private void OnChanged(object source, FileSystemEventArgs e)
{
//Copies file to another directory or another action.
Console.WriteLine("File: " + e.FullPath + " " + e.ChangeType);
}
IsFileReady
A common mistake a lot of people starting out with FileSystemWatcher does is not taking into
account That the FileWatcher event is raised as soon as the file is created. However, it may take
some time for the file to be finished .
Example:
Take a file size of 1 GB for example . The file apr ask created by another program (Explorer.exe
copying it from somewhere) but it will take minutes to finish that process. The event is raised that
creation time and you need to wait for the file to be ready to be copied.
}
}
catch (Exception)
{
return false;
}
}
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Chapter 59: Func delegates
Syntax
• public delegate TResult Func<in T, out TResult>(T arg)
• public delegate TResult Func<in T1, in T2, out TResult>(T1 arg1, T2 arg2)
• public delegate TResult Func<in T1, in T2, in T3, out TResult>(T1 arg1, T2 arg2, T3 arg3)
• public delegate TResult Func<in T1, in T2, in T3, in T4, out TResult>(T1 arg1, T2 arg2, T3
arg3, T4 arg4)
Parameters
Parameter Details
Examples
Without parameters
This example shows how to create a delegate that encapsulates the method that returns the
current time
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static void Main(string[] args)
{
Func<DateTime> method = UTCNow;
// method points to the UTCNow method
// that retuns current UTC time
DateTime utcNow = method();
method = LocalNow;
// now method points to the LocalNow method
// that returns local time
method = Multiplication;
// now method points to the Multiplication method
In either case, we can now invoke the method stored inside square like this:
var sq = square.Invoke(2);
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Or as a shorthand:
var sq = square(2);
Notice that for the assignment to be type-safe, the parameter types and return type of the
anonymous method must match those of the delegate type:
class Program
{
static Employee FindByTitle(String title)
{
// This is a stub for a method that returns
// an employee that has the specified title.
return new Employee();
}
}
}
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Chapter 60: Function with multiple return
values
Remarks
There is no inherent answer in C# to this - so called - need. Nonetheless there are workarounds to
satisfy this need.
The reason I qualify the need as "so called" is that we only need methods with 2 or more than 2
values to return when we violate good programming principals. Especially the Single
Responsibility Principle.
Hence, it would be better to be alerted when we need functions returning 2 or more values, and
improve our design.
Examples
"anonymous object" + "dynamic keyword" solution
And assign the result to a dynamic object and read the values in it.
Console.WriteLine(x.a);
Console.WriteLine(x.b);
Tuple solution
You can return an instance of Tuple class from your function with two template parameters as
Tuple<string, MyClass>:
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Console.WriteLine(x.Item1);
Console.WriteLine(x.Item2);
The ref keyword is used to pass an Argument as Reference. out will do the same as ref but it
does not require an assigned value by the caller prior to calling the function.
Ref Parameter :-If you want to pass a variable as ref parameter then you need to initialize it
before you pass it as ref parameter to method.
Out Parameter :- If you want to pass a variable as out parameter you don’t need to initialize it
before you pass it as out parameter to method.
private static void AddOrMult(int a, int b, ref int add, ref int mult) //AddOrMult(int a, int
b, out int add, out int mult)
{
add = a + b;
mult = a * b;
}
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Chapter 61: Functional Programming
Examples
Func and Action
Func provides a holder for parameterised anonymous functions. The leading types are the inputs
and the last type is always the return value.
// square a number.
Func<double, double> square = (x) => { return x * x; };
Action objects are like void methods so they only have an input type. No result is placed on the
evaluation stack.
// right-angled triangle.
class Triangle
{
public double a;
public double b;
public double h;
}
// Pythagorean theorem.
Action<Triangle> pythagoras = (x) =>
x.h = squareroot(square(x.a) + square(x.b));
Immutability
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Any piece of code could alter any property in the above object.
Bear in mind that having read-only collections does not respect immutability. For example,
is not immutable, as the user of the object can alter the collection (add or remove elements from
it). In order to make it immutable, one has either to use an interface like IEnumerable, which does
not expose methods to add, or to make it a ReadOnlyCollection.
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Avoid Null References
C# developers get a lot of null reference exceptions to deal with. F# developers don't because
they have the Option type. An Option<> type (some prefer Maybe<> as a name) provides a Some
and a None return type. It makes it explicit that a method may be about to return a null record.
For instance, you can't read the following and know if you will have to deal with a null value.
If you do know about the possible null you can introduce some boilerplate code to deal with it.
The code now makes it explicit that we may have a None record returned and the boilerplate code
to check for Some or None is required:
public T Value
{
get
{
if (!HasValue)
throw new InvalidOperationException();
return _value;
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}
}
As stated, this is a minimal implementation. A search for "Maybe" NuGet packages will turn up a
number of good libraries.
Higher-Order Functions
A higher-order function is one that takes another function as an argument or returns a function (or
both).
This is commonly done with lambdas, for example when passing a predicate to a LINQ Where
clause:
The Where() clause could receive many different predicates which gives it considerable flexibility.
Passing a method into another method is also seen when implementing the Strategy design
pattern. For example, various sorting methods could be chosen from and passed into a Sort
method on an object depending on the requirements at run-time.
Immutable collections
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Creating using the builder
Certain immutable collections have a Builder inner class that can be used to cheaply build large
immutable instances:
• System.Collections.Immutable.ImmutableArray<T>
• System.Collections.Immutable.ImmutableDictionary<TKey,TValue>
• System.Collections.Immutable.ImmutableHashSet<T>
• System.Collections.Immutable.ImmutableList<T>
• System.Collections.Immutable.ImmutableQueue<T>
• System.Collections.Immutable.ImmutableSortedDictionary<TKey,TValue>
• System.Collections.Immutable.ImmutableSortedSet<T>
• System.Collections.Immutable.ImmutableStack<T>
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Chapter 62: Garbage Collector in .Net
Examples
Large Object Heap compaction
By default the Large Object Heap is not compacted unlike the classic Object Heap which can lead
to memory fragmentation and further, can lead to OutOfMemoryExceptions
Starting with .NET 4.5.1 there is an option to explicitly compact the Large Object Heap (along with
a garbage collection):
GCSettings.LargeObjectHeapCompactionMode = GCLargeObjectHeapCompactionMode.CompactOnce;
GC.Collect();
Just as any explicit garbage collection request (it's called request because the CLR is not forced to
conduct it) use with care and by default avoid it if you can since it can de-calibrate GCs statistics,
decreasing its performance.
Weak References
In .NET, the GC allocates objects when there are no references left to them. Therefore, while an
object can still be reached from code (there is a strong reference to it), the GC will not allocate this
object. This can become a problem if there are a lot of large objects.
A weak reference is a reference, that allows the GC to collect the object while still allowing to
access the object. A weak reference is valid only during the indeterminate amount of time until the
object is collected when no strong references exist. When you use a weak reference, the
application can still obtain a strong reference to the object, which prevents it from being collected.
So weak references can be useful for holding on to large objects that are expensive to initialize,
but should be available for garbage collection if they are not actively in use.
Simple usage:
GC.Collect();
So weak references could be used to maintain, for example, a cache of objects. However, it is
important to remember that there is always the risk that the garbage collector will get to the object
before a strong reference is reestablished.
Weak references are also handy for avoiding memory leaks. A typical use case is with events.
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Suppose we have some handler to an event on a source:
This code registers an event handler and creates a strong reference from the event source to the
listening object. If the source object has a longer lifetime than the listener, and the listener doesn't
need the event anymore when there are no other references to it, using normal .NET events
causes a memory leak: the source object holds listener objects in memory that should be garbage
collected.
In this case, it may be a good idea is to use the Weak Event Pattern.
Something like:
add(handler);
}
}
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As MSDN suggests:
• Use long weak references only when necessary as the state of the object is unpredictable
after finalization.
• Avoid using weak references to small objects because the pointer itself may be as large or
larger.
• Avoid using weak references as an automatic solution to memory management problems.
Instead, develop an effective caching policy for handling your application's objects.
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Chapter 63: Generating Random Numbers in
C#
Syntax
• Random()
• Random(int Seed)
• int Next()
Parameters
Parameters Details
A value for generating random numbers. If not set, the default value is
Seed
determined by the current system time.
Generated numbers won't be smaller than this value. If not set, the default
minValue
value is 0.
Generated numbers will be smaller than this value. If not set, the default value
maxValue
is Int32.MaxValue.
Remarks
The random seed generated by the system isn't the same in every different run.
Examples
Generate a random int
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Generate a Random double
Generating the same sequence of random numbers over and over again
When creating Random instances with the same seed, the same numbers will be generated.
int seed = 5;
for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++)
{
Console.WriteLine("Random instance " + i);
Random rnd = new Random(seed);
for (int j = 0; j < 5; j++)
{
Console.Write(rnd.Next());
Console.Write(" ");
}
Console.WriteLine();
}
Output:
Random instance 0
726643700 610783965 564707973 1342984399 995276750
Random instance 1
726643700 610783965 564707973 1342984399 995276750
Two Random class created at the same time will have the same seed value.
Using System.Guid.NewGuid().GetHashCode() can get a different seed even in the same time.
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Console.WriteLine("First 5 random number in rnd2");
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
Console.WriteLine(rnd2.Next());
Another way to achieve different seeds is to use another Random instance to retrieve the seed
values.
This also makes it possible to control the result of all the Random instances by setting only the seed
value for the rndSeeds. All the other instances will be deterministically derived from that single seed
value.
Generate a random letter between a and z by using the Next() overload for a given range of
numbers, then converting the resulting int to a char
A common need for random numbers it to generate a number that is X% of some max value. this
can be done by treating the result of NextDouble() as a percentage:
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Chapter 64: Generic Lambda Query Builder
Remarks
The class is called ExpressionBuilder. It has three properties:
One public method GetExpression that returns the lambda expression, and three private methods:
• Expression GetExpression<T>
• BinaryExpression GetExpression<T>
• ConstantExpression GetConstant
Examples
QueryFilter class
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GreaterThanOrEqual,
LessThan,
LessThanOrEqualTo,
StartsWith,
EndsWith,
Equals,
NotEqual
}
GetExpression Method
// Remove the two just used filters, for the method in the next iteration
finds the next filters
filters.Remove(f1);
filters.Remove(f2);
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filters.RemoveAt(0);
}
}
}
}
else
// It is result from direct call.
exp = GetExpression<T>(param, filters[0]);
//Represents an expression that has a constant value, so here we are accessing for
example:
// the values of the Property "Name".
// Also for clarity sake the GetConstant will be explained in another example.
ConstantExpression constant = GetConstant(member.Type, queryFilter.Value);
case Operator.Contains:
return Expression.Call(member, ContainsMethod, constant);
case Operator.GreaterThan:
return Expression.GreaterThan(member, constant);
case Operator.GreaterThanOrEqual:
return Expression.GreaterThanOrEqual(member, constant);
case Operator.LessThan:
return Expression.LessThan(member, constant);
case Operator.LessThanOrEqualTo:
return Expression.LessThanOrEqual(member, constant);
case Operator.StartsWith:
return Expression.Call(member, StartsWithMethod, constant);
case Operator.EndsWith:
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return Expression.Call(member, EndsWithMethod, constant);
}
return null;
}
ConstantExpression Method
ConstantExpression must be the same type of the MemberExpression. The value in this example is a
string, which is converted before creating the ConstantExpression instance.
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decimal number;
decimal.TryParse(value, out number);
constant = Expression.Constant(number);
}
return constant;
}
Usage
In this case, it is a query against the Food entity, that want to find all foods that start with "Burger"
in the name.
Output:
query = {parm => a.parm.StartsWith("Burger")}
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Chapter 65: Generics
Syntax
• public void SomeMethod <T> () { }
• public void SomeMethod<T, V>() { }
• public T SomeMethod<T>(IEnumerable<T> sequence) { ... }
• public void SomeMethod<T>() where T : new() { }
• public void SomeMethod<T, V>() where T : new() where V : struct { }
• public void SomeMethod<T>() where T: IDisposable { }
• public void SomeMethod<T>() where T: Foo { }
• public class MyClass<T> { public T Data {get; set; } }
Parameters
Parameter(s) Description
Remarks
Generics in C# are supported all the way down to the runtime: generic types built with C# will have
their generic semantics preserved even after compiled to CIL.
This effectively means that, in C#, it is possible to reflect on generic types and see them as they
were declared or check if an object is an instance of a generic type, for example. This is in
contrast with type erasure, where generic type information is removed during compilation. It is also
in contrast with the template approach to generics, where multiple concrete generic types become
multiple non-generic types at runtime, and any metadata required to further instantiate the original
generic type definitions is lost.
Be careful, however, when reflecting on generic types: generic types' names will be altered on
compilation, substituting the angled brackets and the type parameters' names by a backtick
followed by the number of generic type parameters. Thus, a Dictionary<TKey, Tvalue> will be
translated to Dictionary`2.
Examples
Type Parameters (Classes)
Declaration:
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}
Initialisation:
Declaration:
Invocation:
There is no need to supply type arguements to a genric method, because the compiler can
implicitly infer the type.
int x =10;
int y =20;
string z = "test";
MyGenericMethod(x,y,z);
However, if there is an ambiguity, generic methods need to be called with type arguemnts as
Declaration:
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Usage (as the type of a parameter):
When passing formal arguments to a generic method, relevant generic type arguments can
usually be inferred implicitly. If all generic type can be inferred, then specifying them in the syntax
is optional.
Consider the following generic method. It has one formal parameter and one generic type
parameter. There is a very obvious relationship between them -- the type passed as an argument
to the generic type parameter must be the same as the compile-time type of the argument passed
to the formal parameter.
M<object>(new object());
M(new object());
M<string>("");
M("");
M<object>("");
M((object) "");
M("" as object);
Notice that if at least one type argument cannot be inferred, then all of them have to be specified.
Consider the following generic method. The first generic type argument is the same as the type of
the formal argument. But there is no such relationship for the second generic type argument.
Therefore, the compiler has no way of inferring the second generic type argument in any call to
this method.
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X("");
This doesn't work either, because the compiler isn't sure if we are specifying the first or the second
generic parameter (both would be valid as object):
X<object>("");
X<string, object>("");
Type constraints are able to force a type parameter to implement a certain interface or class.
interface IType;
interface IAnotherType;
class NonGeneric
{
// T must be a subtype of IType
public void DoSomething<T>(T arg)
where T : IType
{
}
}
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where T1 : Base, new()
{
}
Type constraints works in the same way as inheritance, in that it is possible to specify multiple
interfaces as constraints on the generic type, but only one class:
class A { /* ... */ }
class B { /* ... */ }
interface I1 { }
interface I2 { }
class Generic<T>
where T : A, I1, I2
{
}
class Generic2<T>
where T : A, B //Compilation error
{
}
Another rule is that the class must be added as the first constraint and then the interfaces:
class Generic<T>
where T : A, I1
{
}
class Generic2<T>
where T : I1, A //Compilation error
{
}
All declared constraints must be satisfied simultaneously for a particular generic instantiation to
work. There is no way to specify two or more alternative sets of constraints.
It is possible to specify whether or not the type argument should be a reference type or a value
type by using the respective constraints class or struct. If these constraints are used, they must be
defined before all other constraints (for example a parent type or new()) can be listed.
// TRef must be a reference type, the use of Int32, Single, etc. is invalid.
// Interfaces are valid, as they are reference types
class AcceptsRefType<TRef>
where TRef : class
{
// TStruct must be a value type.
public void AcceptStruct<TStruct>()
where TStruct : struct
{
}
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// If multiple constraints are used along with class/struct
// then the class or struct constraint MUST be specified first
public void Foo<TComparableClass>()
where TComparableClass : class, IComparable
{
}
}
By using the new() constraint, it is possible to enforce type parameters to define an empty (default)
constructor.
class Foo
{
public Foo () { }
}
class Bar
{
public Bar (string s) { ... }
}
class Factory<T>
where T : new()
{
public T Create()
{
return new T();
}
}
The second call to to Create() will give compile time error with following message:
There is no constraint for a constructor with parameters, only parameterless constructors are
supported.
Developers can be caught out by the fact that type inference doesn't work for constructors:
class Tuple<T1,T2>
{
public Tuple(T1 value1, T2 value2)
{
}
}
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var x = new Tuple(2, "two"); // This WON'T work...
var y = new Tuple<int, string>(2, "two"); // even though the explicit form will.
The first way of creating instance without explicitly specifying type parameters will cause compile
time error which would say:
class NameGetter<T>
{
public string GetTypeName()
{
return typeof(T).Name;
}
}
There are different cases where you must Explicitly specify the type parameters for a generic
method. In both of the below cases, the compiler is not able to infer all of the type parameters from
the specified method parameters.
Second case is when one (or more) of the type parameters is not part of the method parameters:
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return default(K);
}
This is an example of how to use the generic type TFood inside Eat method on the class Animal
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var grass = new Grass();
var sheep = new Herbivore();
var lion = new Carnivore();
sheep.Eat(grass);
//Output: Grass was eaten by: Herbivore
lion.Eat(sheep);
//Output: Herbivore was eaten by: Carnivore
sheep.Eat(lion);
It won't be possible because the object lion does not implement the interface IFood. Attempting to
make the above call will generate a compiler error: "The type 'Carnivore' cannot be used as type
parameter 'TFood' in the generic type or method 'Animal.Eat(TFood)'. There is no implicit
reference conversion from 'Carnivore' to 'IFood'."
Covariance
An instance of a covariant generic type with a given type parameter is implicitly convertible to the
same generic type with a less derived type parameter.
This relationship holds because IEnumerable produces Ts but doesn't consume them. An object that
produces Dogs can be used as if it produces Animals.
Covariant type parameters are declared using the out keyword, because the parameter must be
used only as an output.
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Here's a complete example:
using NUnit.Framework;
namespace ToyStore
{
enum Taste { Bitter, Sweet };
interface IWidget
{
int Weight { get; }
}
public Toy Create() { return new Toy { Weight = StandardWeight, Taste = StandardTaste };
}
}
[TestFixture]
public class GivenAToyFactory
{
[Test]
public static void WhenUsingToyFactoryToMakeWidgets()
{
var toyFactory = new ToyFactory();
Contravariance
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IComparer is contravariant in its T parameter, which means that IComparer's subtype relationship
goes in the opposite direction as T's.
An instance of a contravariant generic type with a given type parameter is implicitly convertible to
the same generic type with a more derived type parameter.
This relationship holds because IComparer consumes Ts but doesn't produce them. An object which
can compare any two Animals can be used to compare two Dogs.
Contravariant type parameters are declared using the in keyword, because the parameter must be
used only as an input.
Invariance
IList<T> is never a subtype of a different IList<T1>. IList is invariant in its type parameter.
There is no subtype relationship for lists because you can put values into a list and take values out
of a list.
If IList was covariant, you'd be able to add items of the wrong subtype to a given list.
If IList was contravariant, you'd be able to extract values of the wrong subtype from a given list.
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IList<Dog> dogs = new List<Animal> { new Dog(), new Giraffe() }; // if this were allowed...
Dog dog = dogs[1]; // ... then this would be allowed, which is bad!
Invariant type parameters are declared by omitting both the in and out keywords.
Variant interfaces
class MyClass
{
public T Bad<out T, in T1>(T1 t1) // not allowed
{
// ...
}
}
The example below shows multiple variance declarations on the same interface
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Variant delegates
This follows from the Liskov Substitution Principle, which states (among other things) that a
method D can be considered more derived than a method B if:
If a covariant type appears as an output, the containing type is covariant. Producing a producer of
Ts is like producing Ts.
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interface IAcceptContravariant<out T>
{
void CompareTs(IComparer<T> tComparer);
}
If logic of generic class or method requires checking equality of values having generic type, use
EqualityComparer<TType>.Default property:
This approach is better than simply calling Object.Equals() method, because default comparer
implementation checks, whether TBar type implements IEquatale<TBar> interface and if yes, calls
IEquatable<TBar>.Equals(TBar other) method. This allows to avoid boxing/unboxing of value types.
/// <summary>
/// Converts a data type to another data type.
/// </summary>
public static class Cast
{
/// <summary>
/// Converts input to Type of default value or given as typeparam T
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">typeparam is the type in which value will be returned, it
could be any type eg. int, string, bool, decimal etc.</typeparam>
/// <param name="input">Input that need to be converted to specified type</param>
/// <param name="defaultValue">defaultValue will be returned in case of value is null
or any exception occures</param>
/// <returns>Input is converted in Type of default value or given as typeparam T and
returned</returns>
public static T To<T>(object input, T defaultValue)
{
var result = defaultValue;
try
{
if (input == null || input == DBNull.Value) return result;
if (typeof (T).IsEnum)
{
result = (T) Enum.ToObject(typeof (T), To(input,
Convert.ToInt32(defaultValue)));
}
else
{
result = (T) Convert.ChangeType(input, typeof (T));
}
}
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catch (Exception ex)
{
Tracer.Current.LogException(ex);
}
return result;
}
/// <summary>
/// Converts input to Type of typeparam T
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">typeparam is the type in which value will be returned, it
could be any type eg. int, string, bool, decimal etc.</typeparam>
/// <param name="input">Input that need to be converted to specified type</param>
/// <returns>Input is converted in Type of default value or given as typeparam T and
returned</returns>
public static T To<T>(object input)
{
return To(input, default(T));
}
Usages:
std.Name = Cast.To<string>(drConnection["Name"]);
std.Age = Cast.To<int>(drConnection["Age"]);
std.IsPassed = Cast.To<bool>(drConnection["IsPassed"]);
/// <summary>
/// Read configuration values from app.config and convert to specified types
/// </summary>
public static class ConfigurationReader
{
/// <summary>
/// Get value from AppSettings by key, convert to Type of default value or typeparam T
and return
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">typeparam is the type in which value will be returned, it
could be any type eg. int, string, bool, decimal etc.</typeparam>
/// <param name="strKey">key to find value from AppSettings</param>
/// <param name="defaultValue">defaultValue will be returned in case of value is null
or any exception occures</param>
/// <returns>AppSettings value against key is returned in Type of default value or
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given as typeparam T</returns>
public static T GetConfigKeyValue<T>(string strKey, T defaultValue)
{
var result = defaultValue;
try
{
if (ConfigurationManager.AppSettings[strKey] != null)
result = (T)Convert.ChangeType(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings[strKey],
typeof(T));
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Tracer.Current.LogException(ex);
}
return result;
}
/// <summary>
/// Get value from AppSettings by key, convert to Type of default value or typeparam T
and return
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">typeparam is the type in which value will be returned, it
could be any type eg. int, string, bool, decimal etc.</typeparam>
/// <param name="strKey">key to find value from AppSettings</param>
/// <returns>AppSettings value against key is returned in Type given as typeparam
T</returns>
public static T GetConfigKeyValue<T>(string strKey)
{
return GetConfigKeyValue(strKey, default(T));
}
Usages:
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Chapter 66: Getting Started: Json with C#
Introduction
The following topic will introduce a way to work with Json using C# language and concepts of
Serialization and Deserialization.
Examples
Simple Json Example
{
"id": 89,
"name": "Aldous Huxley",
"type": "Author",
"books":[{
"name": "Brave New World",
"date": 1932
},
{
"name": "Eyeless in Gaza",
"date": 1936
},
{
"name": "The Genius and the Goddess",
"date": 1955
}]
}
To work with Json using C#, it is need to use Newtonsoft (.net library). This library provides
methods that allows the programmer serialize and deserialize objects and more. There is a tutorial
if you want to know details about its methods and usages.
If you use Visual Studio, go to Tools/Nuget Package Manager/Manage Package to Solution/ and
type "Newtonsoft" into the search bar and install the package. If you don't have NuGet, this
detailed tutorial might help you.
C# Implementation
Before reading some code, it is important to undersand the main concepts that will help to
program applications using json.
Serialization: Process of converting a object into a stream of bytes that can be sent
through applications. The following code can be serialized and converted into the
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previous json.
To work this out, it is important to turn the json structure into classes in order to use processes
already described. If you use Visual Studio, you can turn a json into a class automatically just by
selecting "Edit/Paste Special/Paste JSON as Classes" and pasting the json structure.
using Newtonsoft.Json;
class Author
{
[JsonProperty("id")] // Set the variable below to represent the json attribute
public int id; //"id"
[JsonProperty("name")]
public string name;
[JsonProperty("type")]
public string type;
[JsonProperty("books")]
public Book[] books;
class Book
{
[JsonProperty("name")]
public string name;
[JsonProperty("date")]
public DateTime date;
}
Serialization
The method ".SerializeObject" receives as parameter a type object, so you can put anything into it.
Deserialization
You can receive a json from anywhere, a file or even a server so it is not included in the following
code.
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static void Main(string[] args)
{
string jsonExample; // Has the previous json
Author author = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Author>(jsonExample);
}
The method ".DeserializeObject" deserializes 'jsonExample' into an "Author" object. This is why it
is important to set the json variables in the classes definition, so the method access it in order to
fill it.
This sample used to common function for all type object serialization and deserialization.
using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary;
using System.Xml.Serialization;
namespace Framework
{
public static class IGUtilities
{
public static string Serialization(this T obj)
{
string data = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj);
return data;
}
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Chapter 67: Guid
Introduction
GUID (or UUID) is an acronym for 'Globally Unique Identifier' (or 'Universally Unique Identifier'). It
is a 128-bit integer number used to identify resources.
Remarks
Guids are Globally Unique Identifiers, also known as UUID's, Universally Unique Identifiers.
They are 128-bit pseudorandom values. There are so many valid Guids (about 10^18 Guids for
each cell of every people on Earth) that if they are generated by a good pseudorandom algorithm,
they can be considered unique in the whole universe by all practical means.
Guids are most often used as primary keys in databases. Their advantage is that you don't have to
call the database to get a new ID that is (almost) guaranteed to be unique.
Examples
Getting the string representation of a Guid
A string representation of a Guid can be obtained by using the built in ToString method
Depending on your needs you can also format the Guid, by adding a format type argument to the
ToString call.
// None "7febf16f651b43b0a5e30da8da49e90d"
Console.WriteLine(guid.ToString("N"));
// Hyphens "7febf16f-651b-43b0-a5e3-0da8da49e90d"
Console.WriteLine(guid.ToString("D"));
// Braces "{7febf16f-651b-43b0-a5e3-0da8da49e90d}"
Console.WriteLine(guid.ToString("B"));
// Parentheses "(7febf16f-651b-43b0-a5e3-0da8da49e90d)"
Console.WriteLine(guid.ToString("P"));
// Hex "{0x7febf16f,0x651b,0x43b0{0xa5,0xe3,0x0d,0xa8,0xda,0x49,0xe9,0x0d}}"
Console.WriteLine(guid.ToString("X"));
Creating a Guid
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These are the most common ways to create an instance of Guid:
Guid g = Guid.Empty;
Guid g2 = new Guid();
Guid g = Guid.NewGuid();
Like other value types, GUID also has a nullable type which can take null value.
Declaration :
This is particularly useful when retrieving data from the data base when there is a possibility that
value from a table is NULL.
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Chapter 68: Handling FormatException when
converting string to other types
Examples
Converting string to integer
There are various methods available for explicitly converting a string to an integer, such as:
1. Convert.ToInt16();
2. Convert.ToInt32();
3. Convert.ToInt64();
4. int.Parse();
But all these methods will throw a FormatException, if the input string contains non-numeric
characters. For this, we need to write an additional exception handling(try..catch) to deal them in
such cases.
Example 1: Convert.ToInt32()
Note: Same goes for the other mentioned methods namely - Convert.ToInt16(); and
Convert.ToInt64();
Example 2: int.Parse()
int convertedInt = int.Parse(inputString); // Same result "Input string was not in a correct
format.
As told earlier, for handling the exceptions we usually need a try..catch as shown below:
try
{
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string inputString = "10.2";
int convertedInt = int.Parse(inputString);
}
catch (Exception Ex)
{
//Display some message, that the conversion has failed.
}
But, using the try..catch everywhere will not be a good practice, and there may be some
scenarios where we wanted to give 0 if the input is wrong, (If we follow the above method we need
to assign 0 to convertedInt from the catch block). To handle such scenarios we can make use of a
special method called .TryParse().
The .TryParse() method having an internal Exception handling, which will give you the output to
the out parameter, and returns a Boolean value indicating the conversion status (true if the
conversion was successful; false if it failed). Based on the return value we can determine the
conversion status. Lets see one Example:
We can check The variable isSuccessConversion after the Execution to check the conversion status.
If it is false then the value of convertedInt will be 0(no need to check the return value if you want 0
for conversion failure).
Usage 3: Without checking the return value you can use the following, if you don't care about the
return value (converted or not, 0 will be ok)
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Chapter 69: Hash Functions
Remarks
MD5 and SHA1 are insecure and should be avoided. The examples exist for educational purposes
and due to the fact that legacy software may still use these algorithms.
Examples
MD5
Hash functions map binary strings of an arbitrary length to small binary strings of a fixed length.
The MD5 algorithm is a widely used hash function producing a 128-bit hash value (16 Bytes, 32
Hexdecimal characters).
The ComputeHash method of the System.Security.Cryptography.MD5 class returns the hash as an array
of 16 bytes.
Example:
using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;
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Security Issues:
Like most hash functions, MD5 is neither encryption nor encoding. It can be reversed by brute-
force attack and suffers from extensive vulnerabilities against collision and preimage attacks.
SHA1
using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string source = "Hello World!";
using (SHA1 sha1Hash = SHA1.Create())
{
//From String to byte array
byte[] sourceBytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(source);
byte[] hashBytes = sha1Hash.ComputeHash(sourceBytes);
string hash = BitConverter.ToString(hashBytes).Replace("-",String.Empty);
Output:
SHA256
using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string source = "Hello World!";
using (SHA256 sha256Hash = SHA256.Create())
{
//From String to byte array
byte[] sourceBytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(source);
byte[] hashBytes = sha256Hash.ComputeHash(sourceBytes);
string hash = BitConverter.ToString(hashBytes).Replace("-", String.Empty);
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}
}
}
Output:
SHA384
using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string source = "Hello World!";
using (SHA384 sha384Hash = SHA384.Create())
{
//From String to byte array
byte[] sourceBytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(source);
byte[] hashBytes = sha384Hash.ComputeHash(sourceBytes);
string hash = BitConverter.ToString(hashBytes).Replace("-", String.Empty);
Output:
SHA512
using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string source = "Hello World!";
using (SHA512 sha512Hash = SHA512.Create())
{
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//From String to byte array
byte[] sourceBytes = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(source);
byte[] hashBytes = sha512Hash.ComputeHash(sourceBytes);
string hash = BitConverter.ToString(hashBytes).Replace("-", String.Empty);
PBKDF2 ("Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2") is one of the recommended hash-
functions for password-hashing. It is part of rfc-2898.
using System.Security.Cryptography;
...
Iterations:
A high number of iterations will slow the algorithm down, which makes password cracking a lot
harder. A high number of iterations is therefor recommended. PBKDF2 is order of magnitudes
slower than MD5 for example.
Salt:
A salt will prevent the lookup of hash values in rainbow tables. It has to be stored alongside the
password hash. One salt per password (not one global salt) is recommended.
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Complete Password Hashing Solution using Pbkdf2
using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
namespace YourCryptoNamespace
{
/// <summary>
/// Salted password hashing with PBKDF2-SHA1.
/// Compatibility: .NET 3.0 and later.
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>See http://crackstation.net/hashing-security.htm for much more on password
hashing.</remarks>
public static class PasswordHashProvider
{
/// <summary>
/// The salt byte size, 64 length ensures safety but could be increased / decreased
/// </summary>
private const int SaltByteSize = 64;
/// <summary>
/// The hash byte size,
/// </summary>
private const int HashByteSize = 64;
/// <summary>
/// High iteration count is less likely to be cracked
/// </summary>
private const int Pbkdf2Iterations = 10000;
/// <summary>
/// Creates a salted PBKDF2 hash of the password.
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>
/// The salt and the hash have to be persisted side by side for the password. They could
be persisted as bytes or as a string using the convenience methods in the next class to
convert from byte[] to string and later back again when executing password validation.
/// </remarks>
/// <param name="password">The password to hash.</param>
/// <returns>The hash of the password.</returns>
public static PasswordHashContainer CreateHash(string password)
{
// Generate a random salt
using (var csprng = new RNGCryptoServiceProvider())
{
// create a unique salt for every password hash to prevent rainbow and dictionary
based attacks
var salt = new byte[SaltByteSize];
csprng.GetBytes(salt);
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/// <returns>the generated hash based on the password and salt</returns>
public static byte[] CreateHash(string password, byte[] salt)
{
// Extract the parameters from the hash
return Pbkdf2(password, salt, Pbkdf2Iterations, HashByteSize);
}
/// <summary>
/// Validates a password given a hash of the correct one.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="password">The password to check.</param>
/// <param name="salt">The existing stored salt.</param>
/// <param name="correctHash">The hash of the existing password.</param>
/// <returns><c>true</c> if the password is correct. <c>false</c> otherwise. </returns>
public static bool ValidatePassword(string password, byte[] salt, byte[] correctHash)
{
// Extract the parameters from the hash
byte[] testHash = Pbkdf2(password, salt, Pbkdf2Iterations, HashByteSize);
return CompareHashes(correctHash, testHash);
}
/// <summary>
/// Compares two byte arrays (hashes)
/// </summary>
/// <param name="array1">The array1.</param>
/// <param name="array2">The array2.</param>
/// <returns><c>true</c> if they are the same, otherwise <c>false</c></returns>
public static bool CompareHashes(byte[] array1, byte[] array2)
{
if (array1.Length != array2.Length) return false;
return !array1.Where((t, i) => t != array2[i]).Any();
}
/// <summary>
/// Computes the PBKDF2-SHA1 hash of a password.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="password">The password to hash.</param>
/// <param name="salt">The salt.</param>
/// <param name="iterations">The PBKDF2 iteration count.</param>
/// <param name="outputBytes">The length of the hash to generate, in bytes.</param>
/// <returns>A hash of the password.</returns>
private static byte[] Pbkdf2(string password, byte[] salt, int iterations, int
outputBytes)
{
using (var pbkdf2 = new Rfc2898DeriveBytes(password, salt))
{
pbkdf2.IterationCount = iterations;
return pbkdf2.GetBytes(outputBytes);
}
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Container for password hash and salt and iterations.
/// </summary>
public sealed class PasswordHashContainer
{
/// <summary>
/// Gets the hashed password.
/// </summary>
public byte[] HashedPassword { get; private set; }
/// <summary>
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/// Gets the salt.
/// </summary>
public byte[] Salt { get; private set; }
/// <summary>
/// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="PasswordHashContainer" /> class.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="hashedPassword">The hashed password.</param>
/// <param name="salt">The salt.</param>
public PasswordHashContainer(byte[] hashedPassword, byte[] salt)
{
this.HashedPassword = hashedPassword;
this.Salt = salt;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Convenience methods for converting between hex strings and byte array.
/// </summary>
public static class ByteConverter
{
/// <summary>
/// Converts the hex representation string to an array of bytes
/// </summary>
/// <param name="hexedString">The hexed string.</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public static byte[] GetHexBytes(string hexedString)
{
var bytes = new byte[hexedString.Length / 2];
for (var i = 0; i < bytes.Length; i++)
{
var strPos = i * 2;
var chars = hexedString.Substring(strPos, 2);
bytes[i] = Convert.ToByte(chars, 16);
}
return bytes;
}
/// <summary>
/// Gets a hex string representation of the byte array passed in.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="bytes">The bytes.</param>
public static string GetHexString(byte[] bytes)
{
return BitConverter.ToString(bytes).Replace("-", "").ToUpper();
}
}
}
/*
* Password Hashing With PBKDF2 (http://crackstation.net/hashing-security.htm).
* Copyright (c) 2013, Taylor Hornby
* All rights reserved.
*
* Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
* modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
*
* 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
* this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
*
* 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
* this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
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* and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
*
* THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
* AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
* IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
* ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
* LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
* CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
* SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
* INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
* CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
* ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
* POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
*/
Please see this excellent resource Crackstation - Salted Password Hashing - Doing it Right for
more information. Part of this solution (the hashing function) was based on the code from that site.
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Chapter 70: How to use C# Structs to create a
Union type (Similar to C Unions)
Remarks
Union types are used in several languages, notably C-language, to contain several different types
which can "overlap" in the same memory space. In other words, they might contain different fields
all of which start at the same memory offset, even when they might have different lengths and
types. This has the benefit of both saving memory, and doing automatic conversion.
Please, note the comments in the constructor of the Struct. The order in which the fields are
initialized is extremely important. You want to first initialize all of the other fields and then set the
value that you intend to change as the last statement. Because the fields overlap, the last value
setup is the one that counts.
Examples
C-Style Unions in C#
Union types are used in several languages, like C-language, to contain several different types
which can "overlap". In other words, they might contain different fields all of which start at the
same memory offset, even when they might have different lengths and types. This has the benefit
of both saving memory, and doing automatic conversion. Think of an IP address, as an example.
Internally, an IP address is represented as an integer, but sometimes we want to access the
different Byte component, as in Byte1.Byte2.Byte3.Byte4. This works for any value types, be it
primitives like Int32 or long, or for other structs that you define yourself.
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
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}
Having defined out Struct in this way, we can use it as we would use a Union in C. For example,
let's create an IP address as a Random Integer and then modify the first token in the address to
'100', by changing it from 'A.B.C.D' to '100.B.C.D':
Output:
75.49.5.32 = 537211211
100.49.5.32 = 537211236
View Demo
Apart from primitives, the Explicit Layout structs (Unions) in C#, can also contain other Structs. As
long as a field is a Value type and not a Reference, it can be contained in a Union:
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
// The Service struct will hold the Address, the Port and the Protocol
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit)]
struct Service
{
[FieldOffset(0)] public IpAddress Address;
[FieldOffset(4)] public ushort Port;
[FieldOffset(6)] public Protocol AppProtocol;
[FieldOffset(0)] public long Payload;
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Address = address;
Port = port;
AppProtocol = protocol;
}
We can now verify that the whole Service Union fits into the size of a long (8 bytes).
View Demo
Read How to use C# Structs to create a Union type (Similar to C Unions) online:
https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/5626/how-to-use-csharp-structs-to-create-a-union-type---
similar-to-c-unions-
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Chapter 71: ICloneable
Syntax
• object ICloneable.Clone() { return Clone(); } // Private implementation of interface method
which uses our custom public Clone() function.
• public Foo Clone() { return new Foo(this); } // Public clone method should utilize the copy
constructor logic.
Remarks
The CLR requires a method definition object Clone() which is not type safe. It is common practice to
override this behavior and define a type safe method that returns a copy of the containing class.
It is up to the author to decide if cloning means only shallow copy, or deep copy. For immutable
structures containing references it is recommended to do a deep copy. For classes being
references themselves it is probably fine to implement a shallow copy.
NOTE: In C# an interface method can be implemented privately with the syntax shown above.
Examples
Implementing ICloneable in a class
Implement ICloneable in a class with a twist. Expose a public type safe Clone() and implement
object Clone() privately.
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{
return Clone();
}
#endregion
}
{
Person bob=new Person("Bob", 25);
Person bob_clone=bob.Clone();
Debug.Assert(bob_clone.Name==bob.Name);
bob.Age=56;
Debug.Assert(bob.Age!=bob.Age);
}
Notice that changing the age of bob does not change the age of bob_clone. This is because the
design uses cloning instead of assigning of (reference) variables.
The implementation of ICloneable for a struct is not generally needed because structs do a
memberwise copy with the assignment operator =. But the design might require the
implementation of another interface that inherits from ICloneable.
Another reason would be if the struct contains a reference type (or an array) which would need
copying also.
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}
#endregion
}
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Chapter 72: IComparable
Examples
Sort versions
Class:
Test:
Version a, b;
a = new Version("4.2.1");
b = new Version("4.2.6");
a.CompareTo(b); // a < b : -1
a = new Version("2.8.4");
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b = new Version("2.8.0");
a.CompareTo(b); // a > b : 1
a = new Version("5.2");
b = null;
a.CompareTo(b); // a > b : 1
a = new Version("3");
b = new Version("3.6");
a.CompareTo(b); // a < b : -1
versions.Sort();
Output:
NULL
1
1.0.1
1.1.5
2.0
3.0.10
Demo:
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Chapter 73: IDisposable interface
Remarks
• It's up to clients of the class implementing IDisposable to make sure they call the Dispose
method when they are finished using the object. There is nothing in the CLR that directly
searches objects for a Dispose method to invoke.
• It's not necessary to implement a finalizer if your object only contains managed resources.
Be sure to call Dispose on all of the objects that your class uses when you implement your
own Dispose method.
• It's recommended to make the class safe against multiple calls to Dispose, although it should
ideally be called only once. This can be achieved by adding a private bool variable to your
class and setting the value to true when the Dispose method has run.
Examples
In a class that contains only managed resources
Managed resources are resources that the runtime's garbage collector is aware and under control
of. There are many classes available in the BCL, for example, such as a SqlConnection that is a
wrapper class for an unmanaged resource. These classes already implement the IDisposable
interface -- it's up to your code to clean them up when you are done.
It's not necessary to implement a finalizer if your class only contains managed resources.
It's important to let finalization ignore managed resources. The finalizer runs on another thread --
it's possible that the managed objects don't exist anymore by the time the finalizer runs.
Implementing a protected Dispose(bool) method is a common practice to ensure managed
resources do not have their Dispose method called from a finalizer.
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private UnmanagedHandle unmanagedHandle = Win32.SomeUnmanagedResource();
private bool disposed;
unmanagedHandle.Release();
disposed = true;
}
}
~ManagedAndUnmanagedObject()
{
Dispose(false);
}
}
IDisposable, Dispose
Dispose() is primarily used for cleaning up resources, like unmanaged references. However, it can
also be useful to force the disposing of other resources even though they are managed. Instead of
waiting for the GC to eventually also clean up your database connection, you can make sure it's
done in your own Dispose() implementation.
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When you need to directly access unmanaged resources such as unmanaged pointers or win32
resources, create a class inheriting from SafeHandle and use that class’s conventions/tools to do
so.
It's fairly common that you may create a class that implements IDisposable, and then derive
classes that also contain managed resources. It is recommendeded to mark the Dispose method
with the virtual keyword so that clients have the ability to cleanup any resources they may own.
using keyword
When an object implements the IDisposable interface, it can be created within the using syntax:
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View demo
using is syntatic sugar for a try/finally block; the above usage would roughly translate into:
{
var foo = new Foo();
try
{
// do foo stuff
}
finally
{
if (foo != null)
((IDisposable)foo).Dispose();
}
}
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Chapter 74: IEnumerable
Introduction
is the base interface for all non-generic collections like ArrayList that can be
IEnumerable
enumerated. IEnumerator<T> is the base interface for all generic enumerators like List<>.
IEnumerable is an interface which implements the method GetEnumerator. The GetEnumerator method
returns an IEnumerator which provides options to iterate through the collection like foreach.
Remarks
IEnumerable is the base interface for all non-generic collections that can be enumerated
Examples
IEnumerable
In its most basic form, an object that implements IEnumerable represents a series of objects. The
objects in question can be iterated using the c# foreach keyword.
In the example below, the object sequenceOfNumbers implements IEnumerable. It represents a series
of integers. The foreach loop iterates through each in turn.
Implementing the IEnumerable interface allows classes to be enumerated in the same way as BCL
collections. This requires extending the Enumerator class which tracks the state of the
enumeration.
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foreach (var coffee in new CoffeeCollection()) {
Console.WriteLine(coffee);
}
}
public CoffeeCollection() {
enumerator = new CoffeeEnumerator();
}
return false;
}
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Chapter 75: ILGenerator
Examples
Creates a DynamicAssembly that contains a UnixTimestamp helper method
This example shows the usage of the ILGenerator by generating code that makes use of already
existing and new created members as well as basic Exception handling. The following code emits
a DynamicAssembly that contains an equivalent to this c# code:
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TypeAttributes.Abstract | TypeAttributes.Sealed | TypeAttributes.Public);
var cctor =
dynType.DefineConstructor(
MethodAttributes.Private | MethodAttributes.HideBySig | MethodAttributes.SpecialName |
MethodAttributes.RTSpecialName | MethodAttributes.Static, CallingConventions.Standard,
Type.EmptyTypes);
dynType.CreateType();
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dynAsm.Save(an.Name + ".dll");
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Chapter 76: Immutability
Examples
System.String class
In C# (and .NET) a string is represented by class System.String. The string keyword is an alias for
this class.
The System.String class is immutable, i.e once created its state cannot be altered.
So all the operations you perform on a string like Substring, Remove, Replace, concatenation
using + operator etc will create a new string and return it.
Immutable types are types that when changed create a new version of the object in memory,
rather than changing the existing object in memory. The simplest example of this is the built-in
string type.
Taking the following code, that appends " world" onto the word "Hello"
What is happening in memory in this case is that a new object is created when you append to the
string in the second line. If you do this as part of a large loop, there is the potential for this to
cause performance issues in your application.
When you run this, you are modifying the StringBuilder object itself in memory.
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Read Immutability online: https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/1863/immutability
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Chapter 77: Implementing Decorator Design
Pattern
Remarks
Pros of using Decorator:
Examples
Simulating cafeteria
Decorator is one of structural design patterns. It is used to add, remove or change behaviour of
object. This document will teach you how to use Decorator DP properly.
Let me explain the idea of it to you on a simple example. Imagine you're now in Starbobs, famous
coffee company. You can place an order for any coffee you want - with cream and sugar, with
cream and topping and much more combinations! But, the base of all drinks is coffee - dark, bitter
drink, you can modify. Let's write a simple program that simulates coffee machine.
First, we need to create and abstract class that describes our base drink:
public AbstractCoffee(AbstractCoffee k)
{
this.k = k;
}
Now, let's create some extras, like sugar, milk and topping. Created classes must implement
AbstractCoffee - they will decorate it:
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}
}
public class Sugar : AbstractCoffee
{
public Sugar(AbstractCoffee c) : base(c) { }
}
}
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Chapter 78: Implementing Flyweight Design
Pattern
Examples
Implementing map in RPG game
Flyweight is one of structural design patterns. It is used to decrease the amount of used memory
by sharing as much data as possible with similiar objects. This document will teach you how to use
Flyweight DP properly.
Let me explain the idea of it to you on a simple example. Imagine you're working on a RPG game
and you need to load huge file that contains some characters. For example:
Sample of a map:
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@############@@@@@######@#$@@@
@#############@@@######@###@@@
@#######%######@###########@@@
@############################@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Since those objects have similiar characteristic, you don't need to create separate object for each
map field. I will show you how to use flyweight.
Now we can create classes that represent our fields. We also have to identify them somehow (I
used an enumeration):
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public enum FieldType
{
GRASS,
ROCK,
START,
CHEST
}
public class Grass : IField
{
public string Name { get { return "Grass"; } }
public char Mark { get { return '#'; } }
public bool CanWalk { get { return true; } }
public FieldType Type { get { return FieldType.GRASS; } }
}
public class StartingPoint : IField
{
public string Name { get { return "Starting Point"; } }
public char Mark { get { return '$'; } }
public bool CanWalk { get { return true; } }
public FieldType Type { get { return FieldType.START; } }
}
public class Rock : IField
{
public string Name { get { return "Rock"; } }
public char Mark { get { return '@'; } }
public bool CanWalk { get { return false; } }
public FieldType Type { get { return FieldType.ROCK; } }
}
public class TreasureChest : IField
{
public string Name { get { return "Treasure Chest"; } }
public char Mark { get { return '%'; } }
public bool CanWalk { get { return true; } } // you can approach it
public FieldType Type { get { return FieldType.CHEST; } }
}
Like I said, we don't need to create separate instance for each field. We have to create a
repository of fields. The essence of Flyweight DP is that we dynamically create an object only if
we need it and it doesn't exist yet in our repo, or return it if it already exists. Let's write simple class
that will handle this for us:
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}
public IField GetField(FieldType type)
{
IField f = lstFields.Find(x => x.Type == type);
if (f != null) return f;
else return AddField(type);
}
}
But why grass appears only one time if we wanted to get it twice? That's because first time we call
GetField grass instance does not exist in our repository, so it's created, but next time we need
grass it already exist, so we only return it.
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Chapter 79: Import Google Contacts
Remarks
The user contacts data will be received in JSON format, we extract it and finally we loop through
this data and thus we get the google contacts.
Examples
Requirements
To Import Google(Gmail) contacts in ASP.NET MVC application, first download "Google API
setup" This will grant the following references:
using Google.Contacts;
using Google.GData.Client;
using Google.GData.Contacts;
using Google.GData.Extensions;
using Google.Contacts;
using Google.GData.Client;
using Google.GData.Contacts;
using Google.GData.Extensions;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Net;
using System.Text;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Mvc;
namespace GoogleContactImport.Controllers
{
public class HomeController : Controller
{
public ActionResult Index()
{
return View();
}
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redirectUrl + "&&response_type=code&&client_id=" + clientId +
"&&scope=https://www.google.com/m8/feeds/&approval_prompt=force&access_type=offline");
return View();
}
HttpWebRequest webRequest =
(HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/token");
webRequest.Method = "POST";
string parameters = "code=" + code + "&client_id=" + google_client_id +
"&client_secret=" + google_client_sceret + "&redirect_uri=" + google_redirect_url +
"&grant_type=authorization_code";
byte[] byteArray = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(parameters);
webRequest.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
webRequest.ContentLength = byteArray.Length;
Stream postStream = webRequest.GetRequestStream();
// Add the post data to the web request
postStream.Write(byteArray, 0, byteArray.Length);
postStream.Close();
WebResponse response = webRequest.GetResponse();
postStream = response.GetResponseStream();
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(postStream);
string responseFromServer = reader.ReadToEnd();
GooglePlusAccessToken serStatus =
JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<GooglePlusAccessToken>(responseFromServer);
/*End*/
return GetContacts(serStatus);
}
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string google_client_sceret = ""; //secret key
/*Get Google Contacts From Access Token and Refresh Token*/
// string refreshToken = serStatus.refresh_token;
string accessToken = serStatus.access_token;
string scopes = "https://www.google.com/m8/feeds/contacts/default/full/";
OAuth2Parameters oAuthparameters = new OAuth2Parameters()
{
ClientId = google_client_id,
ClientSecret = google_client_sceret,
RedirectUri = "http://localhost:1713/Home/AddGoogleContacts",
Scope = scopes,
AccessToken = accessToken,
// RefreshToken = refreshToken
};
public GooglePlusAccessToken()
{ }
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{
get { return _token_type; }
set { _token_type = value; }
}
private string _token_type;
}
}
}
The only action method you need to add is to add an action link present below
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Chapter 80: Including Font Resources
Parameters
Parameter Details
Examples
Instantiate 'Fontfamily' from Resources
Integration method
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return pfc.Families[0];
}
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Chapter 81: Indexer
Syntax
• public ReturnType this[IndexType index] { get { ... } set { ... }}
Remarks
Indexer allows array-like syntax to access a property of an object with an index.
Examples
A simple indexer
class Foo
{
private string[] cities = new[] { "Paris", "London", "Berlin" };
Usage:
// access a value
string berlin = foo[2];
// assign a value
foo[0] = "Rome";
View Demo
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interface ITable {
// an indexer can be declared in an interface
object this[int x, int y] { get; set; }
}
/// <summary>
/// implementation of the indexer declared in the interface
/// </summary>
/// <param name="x">X-Index</param>
/// <param name="y">Y-Index</param>
/// <returns>Content of this cell</returns>
public object this[int x, int y]
{
get
{
return cells[x, y];
}
set
{
cells[x, y] = value;
}
}
}
By overloading the indexer you can create a class that looks and feels like an array but isn't. It will
have O(1) get and set methods, can access an element at index 100, and yet still have the size of
the elements inside of it. The SparseArray class
class SparseArray
{
Dictionary<int, string> array = new Dictionary<int, string>();
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Chapter 82: Inheritance
Syntax
• class DerivedClass : BaseClass
• class DerivedClass : BaseClass, IExampleInterface
• class DerivedClass : BaseClass, IExampleInterface, IAnotherInterface
Remarks
Classes can inherit directly from only one class, but (instead or at the same time) can implement
one or more interfaces.
Structs can implement interfaces but cannot explicitly inherit from any type. They implicitly inherit
from System.ValueType, which in turn inherits directly from System.Object.
Examples
Inheriting from a base class
To avoid duplicating code, define common methods and attributes in a general class as a base:
Now that you have a class that represents Animal in general, you can define a class that describes
the peculiarities of specific animals:
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Name = "Cat";
}
// Methods for scratching furniture and ignoring owner
public void Scratch(Object furniture)
{
// ...
}
}
The Cat class gets access to not only the methods described in its definition explicitly, but also all
the methods defined in the general Animal base class. Any Animal (whether or not it was a Cat)
could Eat, Stare, or Roll. An Animal would not be able to Scratch, however, unless it was also a
Cat. You could then define other classes describing other animals. (Such as Gopher with a
method for destroying flower gardens and Sloth with no extra methods at all.)
//Note that in C#, the base class name must come before the interface names
public class Cat : Animal, INoiseMaker
{
public Cat()
{
Name = "Cat";
}
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}
//Note that in C#, the base class name must come before the interface names
public class Cat : LivingBeing, IAnimal, INoiseMaker
{
public Cat()
{
Name = "Cat";
HasHair = true;
}
interface BaseInterface {}
class BaseClass : BaseInterface {}
interface DerivedInterface {}
class DerivedClass : BaseClass, DerivedInterface {}
Console.WriteLine(derivedType.BaseType.Name); //BaseClass
Console.WriteLine(baseType.BaseType.Name); //Object
Console.WriteLine(typeof(object).BaseType); //null
Console.WriteLine(baseType.IsInstanceOfType(derivedInstance)); //True
Console.WriteLine(derivedType.IsInstanceOfType(baseInstance)); //False
Console.WriteLine(
string.Join(",",
derivedType.GetInterfaces().Select(t => t.Name).ToArray()));
//BaseInterface,DerivedInterface
Console.WriteLine(baseInterfaceType.IsAssignableFrom(derivedType)); //True
Console.WriteLine(derivedInterfaceType.IsAssignableFrom(derivedType)); //True
Console.WriteLine(derivedInterfaceType.IsAssignableFrom(baseType)); //False
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Extending an abstract base class
Unlike interfaces, which can be described as contracts for implementation, abstract classes act as
contracts for extension.
An abstract class cannot be instantiated, it must be extended and the resulting class (or derived
class) can then be instantiated.
The above example shows how any class extending Car will automatically receive the HonkHorn
method with the implementation. This means that any developer creating a new Car will not need
to worry about how it will honk it's horn.
Constructors In A Subclass
When you make a subclass of a base class, you can construct the base class by using : base after
the subclass constructor's parameters.
class Instrument
{
string type;
bool clean;
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Inheritance. Constructors' calls sequence
class Animal
{
public Animal()
{
Console.WriteLine("In Animal's constructor");
}
}
When creating an instance of Dog class, the base classes's default constructor (without
parameters) will be called if there is no explicit call to another constructor in the parent
class. In our case, first will be called Object's constructor, then Animal's and at the end Dog's
constructor.
Output will be
In Animal's constructor
In Dog's constructor
View Demo
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In the above examples, our Dog class constructor calls the default constructor of the Animal class.
If you want, you can specify which constructor should be called: it is possible to call any
constructor which is defined in the parent class.
class Animal
{
protected string name;
public Animal()
{
Console.WriteLine("Animal's default constructor");
}
base is a reference to the parent class. In our case, when we create an instance of Dog class like
this
The runtime first calls the Dog(), which is the parameterless constructor. But its body doesn't work
immediately. After the parentheses of the constructor we have a such call: base(), which means
that when we call the default Dog constructor, it will in turn call the parent's default constructor.
After the parent's constructor runs, it will return and then, finally, run the Dog() constructor body.
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Animal's default constructor
Dog's default constructor
View Demo
You know that members in the parent class which are not private are inherited by the child class,
meaning that Dog will also have the name field.
In this case we passed an argument to our constructor. It in his turn passes the argument to the
parent class' constructor with a parameter, which initializes the name field.
Output will be
Summary:
Every object creation starts from the base class. In the inheritance, the classes which are in the
hierarchy are chained. As all classes derive from Object, the first constructor to be called when any
object is created is the Object class constructor; Then the next constructor in the chain is called
and only after all of them are called the object is created
base keyword
1. The base keyword is used to access members of the base class from within a derived class:
2. Call a method on the base class that has been overridden by another method. Specify which
base-class constructor should be called when creating instances of the derived class.
Inheriting methods
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public class Mustang : Car
{
// Before any code is added to the Mustang class, it already contains
// implementations of HonkHorn and ChangeGear.
Inheritance Anti-patterns
Improper Inheritance
Lets say there are 2 classes class Foo and Bar. Foo has two features Do1 and Do2. Bar needs to use
Do1 from Foo, but it doesn't need Do2 or needs feature that is equivalent to Do2 but does something
completely different.
Bad way: make Do2() on Foo virtual then override it in Bar or just throw Exception in Bar for Do2()
Good way
Take out Do1() from Foo and put it into new class Baz then inherit both Foo and Bar from Baz and
implement Do2() separately
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{
// foo way
}
}
Now why first example is bad and second is good: When developer nr2 has to do a change in Foo,
chances are he will break implementation of Bar because Bar is now inseparable from Foo. When
doing it by latter example Foo and Bar commonalty has been moved to Baz and they do not affect
each other (like the shouldn't).
One time definition of a generic base class with recursive type specifier. Each node has one
parent and multiple children.
/// <summary>
/// Generic base class for a tree structure
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="T">The node type of the tree</typeparam>
public abstract class Tree<T> where T : Tree<T>
{
/// <summary>
/// Constructor sets the parent node and adds this node to the parent's child nodes
/// </summary>
/// <param name="parent">The parent node or null if a root</param>
protected Tree(T parent)
{
this.Parent=parent;
this.Children=new List<T>();
if(parent!=null)
{
parent.Children.Add(this as T);
}
}
public T Parent { get; private set; }
public List<T> Children { get; private set; }
public bool IsRoot { get { return Parent==null; } }
public bool IsLeaf { get { return Children.Count==0; } }
/// <summary>
/// Returns the number of hops to the root object
/// </summary>
public int Level { get { return IsRoot ? 0 : Parent.Level+1; } }
}
The above can be re-used every time a tree hierarchy of objects needs to be defined. The node
object in the tree has to inherit from the base class with
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{
// stuff
}
each node class knows where it is in the hierarchy, what the parent object is as well as what the
children objects are. Several built in types use a tree structure, like Control or XmlElement and the
above Tree<T> can be used as a base class of any type in your code.
For example, to create a hierarchy of parts where the total weight is calculated from the weight of
all the children, do the following:
to be used as
// 2.5+(4.2+0.4)+0.9 = 8.0
float weight = Q.TotalWeight;
Another example would in the definition of relative coordinate frames. In this case the true position
of the coordinate frame depends on the positions of all the parent coordinate frames.
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{
if(IsRoot) return LocalPosition;
var parent_pos = Parent.GlobalPosition;
return new PointF(parent_pos.X+LocalPosition.X, parent_pos.Y+LocalPosition.Y);
}
}
public float TotalDistance
{
get
{
float dist =
(float)Math.Sqrt(LocalPosition.X*LocalPosition.X+LocalPosition.Y*LocalPosition.Y);
return IsRoot ? dist : Parent.TotalDistance+dist;
}
}
public RelativeCoordinate Add(PointF local_position)
{
return new RelativeCoordinate(this, local_position);
}
public RelativeCoordinate Add(float x, float y)
{
return Add(new PointF(x, y));
}
}
to be used as
var A1 = RelativeCoordinate.Start;
var B1 = A1.Add(100, 20);
var B2 = A1.Add(160, 10);
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Chapter 83: Initializing Properties
Remarks
When deciding on how to create a property, start with an auto-implemented property for simplicity
and brevity.
Switch to a property with a backing field only when circumstances dictate. If you need other
manipulations beyond a simple set and get, you may need to introduce a backing field.
Examples
C# 6.0: Initialize an Auto-Implemented Property
Create a property with getter and/or setter and initialize all in one line:
class Example
{
public string Foobar { get; set; }
public List<string> Names { get; set; }
public Example()
{
Foobar = "xyz";
Names = new List<string>(){"carrot","fox","ball"};
}
}
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Color = Color.Red
};
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Chapter 84: INotifyPropertyChanged interface
Remarks
The interface INotifyPropertyChanged is needed whenever you need to make your class report the
changes happening to its properties. The interface defines a single event PropertyChanged.
With XAML Binding the PropertyChanged event is wired up automatically so you only need to
implement the INotifyPropertyChanged interface on your view model or data context classes to
work with XAML Binding.
Examples
Implementing INotifyPropertyChanged in C# 6
class C : INotifyPropertyChanged
{
// backing field
int offset;
// property
public int Offset
{
get
{
return offset;
}
set
{
if (offset == value)
return;
offset = value;
RaisePropertyChanged();
}
}
// interface implemetation
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
}
If you have several classes implementing INotifyPropertyChanged, you may find it useful to refactor
out the interface implementation and the helper method to the common base class:
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{
protected void RaisePropertyChanged([CallerMemberName] string propertyName = null) =>
PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
// interface implemetation
public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
}
class C : NotifyPropertyChangedImpl
{
int offset;
public int Offset
{
get { return offset; }
set { if (offset != value) { offset = value; RaisePropertyChanged(); } }
}
}
The NotifyPropertyChangedBaseclass below defines a generic Set method that can be called from
any derived type.
To use this generic Set method, you simply need to create a class that derives from
NotifyPropertyChangedBase.
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get { return _bar; }
set { Set(ref _bar, value); }
}
}
As shown above, you can call Set(ref _fieldName, value); in a property's setter and it will
automatically raise a PropertyChanged event if it is needed.
You can then register to the PropertyChanged event from another class that needs to handle
property changes.
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Chapter 85: Interfaces
Examples
Implementing an interface
An interface is used to enforce the presence of a method in any class that 'implements' it. The
interface is defined with the keyword interface and a class can 'implement' it by adding :
InterfaceName after the class name. A class can implement multiple interfaces by separating each
interface with a comma.
: InterfaceName, ISecondInterface
Because they implement INoiseMaker, both cat and dog are required to include the string
MakeNoise() method and will fail to compile without it.
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}
Explicit interface implementation is necessary when you implement multiple interfaces who define
a common method, but different implementations are required depending on which interface is
being used to call the method (note that you don't need explicit implementations if multiple
interfaces share the same method and a common implementation is possible).
interface IChauffeur
{
string Drive();
}
interface IGolfPlayer
{
string Drive();
}
string IGolfPlayer.Drive()
{
return "Took a swing...";
}
}
Console.WriteLine(obj.Drive()); // Vroom!
Console.WriteLine(chauffeur.Drive()); // Vroom!
Console.WriteLine(golfer.Drive()); // Took a swing...
The implementation cannot be called from anywhere else except by using the interface:
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public void Swing()
{
Drive(); // Compiler error: No such method
}
}
An explicit interface implementation can of course only be used for methods that actually exist for
that interface:
Similarly, using an explicit interface implementation without declaring that interface on the class
causes an error, too.
Hint:
Implementing interfaces explicitly can also be used to avoid dead code. When a method is no
longer needed and gets removed from the interface, the compiler will complain about each still
existing implementation.
Note:
Programmers expect the contract to be the same regardless of the context of the type and explicit
implementation should not expose different behavior when called. So unlike the example above,
IGolfPlayer.Drive and Drive should do the same thing when possible.
An interface is a definition of a contract between the user of the interface and the class that
implement it. One way to think of an interface is as a declaration that an object can perform certain
functions.
Let's say that we define an interface IShape to represent different type of shapes, we expect a
shape to have an area, so we will define a method to force the interface implementations to return
their area :
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}
Let's that we have the following two shapes : a Rectangle and a Circle
Each one of them have its own definition of its area, but both of them are shapes. So it's only
logical to see them as IShape in our program :
Console.ReadKey();
}
// Output:
// Area : 50.00
// Area : 78.54
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Interface Basics
• Can't be instantiated
• Can't have any functionality
• Can only contain methods * (Properties and Events are methods internally)
• Inheriting an interface is called "Implementing"
• You can inherit from 1 class, but you can "Implement" multiple Interfaces
Things to notice:
// ok
obj.TheThingICanDo();
// ok
obj.SomeValueProperty = 5;
// in order to access the property in the class you must "down cast" it
((MyClass)obj).SomeValueNotImplemtingAnything = 5; // ok
This is especially useful when you're working with UI frameworks such as WinForms or WPF
because it's mandatory to inherit from a base class to create user control and you loose the ability
to create abstraction over different control types. An example? Coming up:
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public class MyTextBlock : TextBlock {
public void SetText(string str){
this.Text = str;
}
}
The problem proposed is that both contain some concept of "Text" but the property names differ.
And you can't create create a abstract base class because they have a mandatory inheritance to 2
different classes. An interface can alleviate that
// Runtime Error because 1 class is in fact not a button which makes this cast invalid
((MyButton)ctrl).Clicks = 0;
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}
Don't you hate it when interfaces pollute you class with too many members you don't even care
about? Well I got a solution! Explicit Implementations
Answer: I don't. So neither should it be declared public but simply declaring the members as
private will make the compiler throw an error
void IMessageService.SendMessage() {
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int IMessageService.Encoding { get; set; }
}
So now you have implemented the members as required and they wont expose any members in
as public.
If you seriously still want to access the member even though is explicitly implement all you have to
do is cast the object to the interface and you good to go.
((IMessageService)obj).OnMessageRecieve();
Interfaces can seem abstract until you seem them in practice. The IComparable and IComparable<T>
are great examples of why interfaces can be helpful to us.
Let's say that in a program for a online store, we have a variety of items you can buy. Each item
has a name, an ID number, and a price.
public string name; // though public variables are generally bad practice,
public int idNumber; // to keep this example simple we will use them instead
public decimal price; // of a property.
We have our Items stored inside of a List<Item>, and in our program somewhere, we want to sort
our list by ID number from smallest to largest. Instead of writing our own sorting algorithm, we can
instead use the Sort() method that List<T> already has. However, as our Item class is right now,
there is no way for the List<T> to understand what order to sort the list. Here is where the
IComparable interface comes in.
To correctly implement the CompareTo method, CompareTo should return a positive number if the
parameter is "less than" the current one, zero if they are equal, and a negative number if the
parameter is "greater than".
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Item diamond = new Item();
diamond.idNumber = 18;
Console.WriteLine(apple.CompareTo(banana)); // 11
Console.WriteLine(apple.CompareTo(cow)); // 0
Console.WriteLine(apple.CompareTo(diamond)); // -3
On a surface level, the CompareTo method in our item simply returns the difference in their ID
numbers, but what does the above do in practice?
Now, when we call Sort() on a List<Item> object, the List will automatically call the Item's CompareTo
method when it needs to determine what order to put objects in. Furthermore, besides List<T>, any
other objects that need the ability to compare two objects will work with the Item because we have
defined the ability for two different Items to be compared with one another.
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Chapter 86: Interoperability
Remarks
Working with Win32 API using C#
Windows exposes lots of functionality in the form of Win32 API. Using these API you can perform
direct operation in windows, which increases performance of your application.Source Click here
Windows exposes a broad range of API. To get information about various APIs you can check
sites like pinvoke.
Examples
Import function from unmanaged C++ DLL
Here is an example of how to import a function that is defined in an unmanaged C++ DLL. In the
C++ source code for "myDLL.dll", the function add is defined:
class Program
{
// This line will import the C++ method.
// The name specified in the DllImport attribute must be the DLL name.
// The names of parameters are unimportant, but the types must be correct.
[DllImport("myDLL.dll")]
private static extern int add(int left, int right);
See Calling conventions and C++ name mangling for explanations about why extern "C" and
__stdcall are necessary.
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DLL. For more information about where is searched to find the DLL, and how you can influence
the search locations see this stackoverflow question.
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
namespace ComLibrary
{
[ComVisible(true)]
public interface IMainType
{
int GetInt();
void StartTime();
int StopTime();
}
[ComVisible(true)]
[ClassInterface(ClassInterfaceType.None)]
public class MainType : IMainType
{
private Stopwatch stopWatch;
C++ compilers encode additional information in the names of exported functions, such as
argument types, to make overloads with different arguments possible. This process is called name
mangling. This causes problems with importing functions in C# (and interop with other languages
in general), as the name of int add(int a, int b) function is no longer add, it can be ?add@@YAHHH@Z,
_add@8 or anything else, depending on the compiler and the calling convention.
• Exporting functions using extern "C" to switch to C external linkage which uses C name
mangling:
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extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) int __stdcall add(int a, int b)
[DllImport("myDLL.dll")]
Function name will still be mangled (_add@8), but StdCall+extern "C" name mangling is
recognized by C# compiler.
EXPORTS
add
[DllImport("myDLL.dll")]
• Importing mangled name. You'll need some DLL viewer to see the mangled name, then you
can specify it explicitly:
Calling conventions
There're several conventions of calling functions, specifying who (caller or callee) pops arguments
from the stack, how arguments are passed and in what order. C++ uses Cdecl calling convention
by default, but C# expects StdCall, which is usually used by Windows API. You need to change
one or the other:
[DllImport("myDLL.dll")]
If you want to use a function with Cdecl calling convention and a mangled name, your code will
look like this:
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__declspec(dllexport) int add(int a, int b)
• When a function uses thiscall(__thiscall) , a pointer to the class is passed down as the first
parameter.
When using the DllImport attribute you have to know the correct dll and method name at compile
time. If you want to be more flexible and decide at runtime which dll and methods to load, you can
use the Windows API methods LoadLibrary(), GetProcAddress() and FreeLibrary(). This can be
helpful if the library to use depends on runtime conditions.
The following code sample demonstrates this with the myDLL.dll from the previous examples:
class Program
{
// import necessary API as shown in other examples
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
public static extern IntPtr LoadLibrary(string lib);
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
public static extern void FreeLibrary(IntPtr module);
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
public static extern IntPtr GetProcAddress(IntPtr module, string proc);
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AddDelegate add = (AddDelegate)Marshal.GetDelegateForFunctionPointer(method,
typeof(AddDelegate));
// use function
int result = add(750, 300);
// unload library
FreeLibrary(module);
}
}
When using interop methods, you can use GetLastError API to get additional information on you
API calls.
SetLastError=true
Indicates that the callee will call SetLastError (Win32 API function).
SetLastError=false
Indicates that the callee will not call SetLastError (Win32 API function), therefore you will not get
an error information.
Example:
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError=true)]
public static extern IntPtr OpenMutex(uint access, bool handle, string lpName);
If you trying to open mutex which does not exist, GetLastError will return
ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND.
if (lastErrorCode == (uint)ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND)
{
//Deal with error
}
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GetLastError API
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There is a native GetLastError API which you can use as well :
[DllImport("coredll.dll", SetLastError=true)]
static extern Int32 GetLastError();
• When calling Win32 API from managed code, you must always use the
Marshal.GetLastWin32Error.
Here's why:
Between your Win32 call which sets the error (calls SetLastError), the CLR can call other Win32
calls which could call SetLastError as well, this behavior can override your error value. In this
scenario, if you call GetLastError you can obtain an invalid error.
Setting SetLastError = true, makes sure that the CLR retrieves the error code before it executes
other Win32 calls.
Pinned Object
While GC cleans our garbage, he removes the unused objects from the managed heap which
cause heap fragmentation. When GC is done with the removal, it performs a heap compression
(defragmintation) which involves moving objects on the heap.
Since GC isn't deterministic, when passing managed object reference/pointer to native code, GC
can kick in at any time, if it occurs just after Inerop call, there is a very good possibility that object
(which reference passed to native) will be moved on the managed heap - as a result, we get an
invalid reference on managed side.
In this scenario, you should pin the object before passing it to native code.
Pinned Object
Gc Pinned Handle
• Obtaining a pinned GCHandle to managed object marks a specific object as one that cannot
be moved by GC, until freeing the handle
Example:
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[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
public static extern void LeaveCriticalSection(IntPtr ptr);
Precautions
• When pinning (especially large ones) object try to release the pinned GcHandle as fast as
possible, since it interrupt heap defragmentation.
• If you forget to free GcHandle nothing will. Do it in a safe code section (such as finaly)
Marshal class contains a function named PtrToStructure, this function gives us the ability of
reading structures by an unmanaged pointer.
PtrToStructure function got many overloads, but they all have the same intention.
Generic PtrToStructure:
T - structure type.
Example:
• If you dealing with managed objects while reading native structures, don't forget to pin your
object :)
T Read<T>(byte[] buffer)
{
T result = default(T);
try
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{
result = Marshal.PtrToStructure<T>(gch.AddrOfPinnedObject());
}
finally
{
gch.Free();
}
return result;
}
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Chapter 87: IQueryable interface
Examples
Translating a LINQ query to a SQL query
The IQueryable and IQueryable<T> interfaces allows developers to translate a LINQ query (a
'language-integrated' query) to a specific datasource, for example a relational database. Take this
LINQ query written in C#:
If the variable books is of a type that implements IQueryable<Book> then the query above gets
passed to the provider (set on the IQueryable.Provider property) in the form of an expression tree,
a data structure that reflects the structure of the code.
• that there is a predicate for the Author property of the Book class;
• that the comparison method used is 'equals' (==);
• that the value it should equal is "Stephen King".
With this information the provider can translate the C# query to a SQL query at runtime and pass
that query to a relational database to fetch only those books that match the predicate:
select *
from Books
where Author = 'Stephen King'
The provider gets called when the query variable is iterated over (IQueryable implements
IEnumerable).
(The provider used in this example would require some extra metadata to know which table to
query and to know how to match properties of the C# class to columns of the table, but such
metadata is outside of the scope of the IQueryable interface.)
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Chapter 88: Iterators
Remarks
An iterator is a method, get accessor, or operator that performs a custom iteration over an array or
collection class by using the yield keyword
Examples
Simple Numeric Iterator Example
A common use-case for iterators is to perform some operation over a collection of numbers. The
example below demonstrates how each element within an array of numbers can be individually
printed out to the console.
This is possible because arrays implement the IEnumerable interface, allowing clients to obtain an
iterator for the array using the GetEnumerator() method. This method returns an enumerator, which
is a read-only, forward-only cursor over each number in the array.
int[] numbers = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
while (iterator.MoveNext())
{
Console.WriteLine(iterator.Current);
}
Output
1
2
3
4
5
It's also possible to achieve the same results using a foreach statement:
Iterators produce enumerators. In C#, enumerators are produced by defining methods, properties
or indexers that contain yield statements.
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Most methods will return control to their caller through normal return statements, which disposes
all state local to that method. In contrast, methods that use yield statements allow them to return
multiple values to the caller on request while preserving local state in-between returning those
values. These returned values constitute a sequence. There are two types of yield statements
used within iterators:
• yield return,which returns control to the caller but preserves state. The callee will continue
execution from this line when control is passed back to it.
• yield break,
which functions similarly to a normal return statement - this signifies the end of
the sequence. Normal return statements themselves are illegal within an iterator block.
This example below demonstrates an iterator method that can be used to generate the Fibonacci
sequence:
This iterator can then be used to produce an enumerator of the Fibonacci sequence that can be
consumed by a calling method. The code below demonstrates how the first ten terms within the
Fibonacci sequence can be enumerated:
void Main()
{
foreach (int term in Fibonacci(10))
{
Console.WriteLine(term);
}
}
Output
1
1
2
3
5
8
13
21
34
55
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Read Iterators online: https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/4243/iterators
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Chapter 89: Keywords
Introduction
Keywords are predefined, reserved identifiers with special meaning to the compiler. They cannot
be used as identifiers in your program without the @ prefix. For example @if is a legal identifier but
not the keyword if.
Remarks
C# has a predefined collection of "keywords" (or reserved words) which each have a special
function. These words can not be used as identifiers (names for variables, methods, classes, etc.)
unless prefixed with @.
• 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
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• 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 (directive)
• using (statement)
• virtual
• void
• volatile
• when
• while
Apart from these, C# also uses some keywords to provide specific meaning in code. They are
called contextual keywords. Contextual keywords can be used as identifiers and doesn't need to
be prefixed with @ when used as identifiers.
• add
• alias
• ascending
• async
• await
• descending
• dynamic
• from
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• get
• global
• group
• into
• join
• let
• nameof
• orderby
• partial
• remove
• select
• set
• value
• var
• where
• yield
Examples
stackalloc
The stackalloc keyword creates a region of memory on the stack and returns a pointer to the start
of that memory. Stack allocated memory is automatically removed when the scope it was created
in is exited.
As with all pointers in C# there is no bounds checking on reads and assignments. Reading beyond
the bounds of the allocated memory will have unpredictable results - it may access some arbitrary
location within memory or it may cause an access violation exception.
//Allocate 1 byte
byte* ptr = stackalloc byte[1];
//Unpredictable results...
ptr[10] = 1;
ptr[-1] = 2;
Stack allocated memory is automatically removed when the scope it was created in is exited. This
means that you should never return the memory created with stackalloc or store it beyond the
lifetime of the scope.
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//Allocate some memory on the stack
var ptr = stackalloc byte[1024];
stackalloc can only be used when declaring and initialising variables. The following is not valid:
byte* ptr;
...
ptr = stackalloc byte[1024];
Remarks:
stackalloc should only be used for performance optimizations (either for computation or interop).
This is due to the fact that:
• The garbage collector is not required as the memory is allocated on the stack rather than the
heap - the memory is released as soon as the variable goes out of scope
• It is faster to allocate memory on the stack rather than the heap
• Increase the chance of cache hits on the CPU due to the locality of data
volatile
Adding the volatile keyword to a field indicates to the compiler that the field's value may be
changed by multiple separate threads. The primary purpose of the volatile keyword is to prevent
compiler optimizations that assume only single-threaded access. Using volatile ensures that the
value of the field is the most recent value that is available, and the value is not subject to the
caching that non-volatile values are.
It is good practice to mark every variable that may be used by multiple threads as volatile to
prevent unexpected behavior due to behind-the-scenes optimizations. Consider the following code
block:
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/* the value of x will always be the current value, but y will always be "15" */
Debug.WriteLine("x = " + x + ", y = " + y);
}
}
In the above code-block, the compiler reads the statements x = 5 and y = x + 10 and determines
that the value of y will always end up as 15. Thus, it will optimize the last statement as y = 15.
However, the variable x is in fact a public field and the value of x may be modified at runtime
through a different thread acting on this field separately. Now consider this modified code-block.
Do note that the field x is now declared as volatile.
Now, the compiler looks for read usages of the field x and ensures that the current value of the
field is always retrieved. This ensures that even if multiple threads are reading and writing to this
field, the current value of x is always retrieved.
volatile can only be used on fields within classes or structs. The following is not valid:
Remarks:
• The volatile modifier is usually used for a field that is accessed by multiple threads without
using the lock statement to serialize access.
• The volatile keyword can be applied to fields of reference types
• The volatile keyword will not make operating on 64-bit primitives on a 32-bit platform
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atomic. Interlocked operations such as Interlocked.Read and Interlocked.Exchange must still
be used for safe multi-threaded access on these platforms.
fixed
The fixed statement fixes memory in one location. Objects in memory are usually moving arround,
this makes garbage collection possible. But when we use unsafe pointers to memory addresses,
that memory must not be moved.
• We use the fixed statement to ensure that the garbage collector does not relocate the string
data.
Fixed Variables
fixed can only be used on fields in a struct (must also be used in an unsafe context).
default
For classes, interfaces, delegate, array, nullable (such as int?) and pointer types, default(TheType)
returns null:
class MyClass {}
Debug.Assert(default(MyClass) == null);
Debug.Assert(default(string) == null);
For structs and enums, default(TheType) returns the same as new TheType():
struct Coordinates
{
public int X { get; set; }
public int Y { get; set; }
}
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struct MyStruct
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public Coordinates Location { get; set; }
public Coordinates? SecondLocation { get; set; }
public TimeSpan Duration { get; set; }
}
default(T) can be particularly useful when T is a generic parameter for which no constraint is
present to decide whether T is a reference type or a value type, for example:
readonly
The readonly keyword is a field modifier. When a field declaration includes a readonly modifier,
assignments to that field can only occur as part of the declaration or in a constructor in the same
class.
The readonly keyword is different from the const keyword. A const field can only be initialized at the
declaration of the field. A readonly field can be initialized either at the declaration or in a
constructor. Therefore, readonly fields can have different values depending on the constructor
used.
class Person
{
readonly string _name;
readonly string _surname = "Surname";
Person(string name)
{
_name = name;
}
void ChangeName()
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{
_name = "another name"; // Compile error
_surname = "another surname"; // Compile error
}
}
Note: Declaring a field readonly does not imply immutability. If the field is a reference
type then the content of the object can be changed. Readonly is typically used to
prevent having the object being overwritten and assigned only during instantiation of
that object.
//In code
as
The as keyword is an operator similar to a cast. If a cast is not possible, using as produces null
rather than resulting in an InvalidCastException.
For the expansion above, the compiler generates code such that expression will only be evaluated
once and use single dynamic type check (unlike the two in the sample above).
ascan be useful when expecting an argument to facilitate several types. Specifically it grants the
user multiple options - rather than checking every possibility with is before casting, or just casting
and catching exceptions. It is best practice to use 'as' when casting/checking an object which will
cause only one unboxing penalty. Using is to check, then casting will cause two unboxing
penalties.
Because a call to as may produce null, always check the result to avoid a NullReferenceException.
Example usage
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object something = "Hello";
Console.WriteLine(something as string); //Hello
Console.Writeline(something as Nullable<int>); //null
Console.WriteLine(something as int?); //null
class MyCustomClass
{
is
Checks if an object is compatible with a given type, i.e. if an object is an instance of the
BaseInterface type, or a type that derives from BaseInterface:
interface BaseInterface {}
class BaseClass : BaseInterface {}
class DerivedClass : BaseClass {}
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Console.WriteLine(b is BaseInterface); // True
Console.WriteLine(b is object); // True
Console.WriteLine(b is string); // False
If the intent of the cast is to use the object, it is best practice to use the as keyword'
interface BaseInterface {}
class BaseClass : BaseInterface {}
class DerivedClass : BaseClass {}
if(d is BaseClass){
var castedD = (BaseClass)d;
castedD.Method(); // valid, but not best practice
}
if(asD!=null){
asD.Method(); //prefered method since you incur only one unboxing penalty
}
But, from C# 7 pattern matching feature extends the is operator to check for a type and declare a
new variable at the same time. Same code part with C# 7 :
7.0
typeof
const
const is used to represent values that will never change throughout the lifetime of the program.
Its value is constant from compile-time, as opposed to the readonly keyword, whose value is
constant from run-time.
For example, since the speed of light will never change, we can store it in a constant.
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double CalculateEnergy(double mass)
{
return mass * c * c;
}
This is essentially the same as having return mass * 299792458 * 299792458, as the compiler will
directly substitute c with its constant value.
As a result, c cannot be changed once declared. The following will produce a compile-time error:
const members are static by nature. However using static explicitly is not permitted.
These can not be prefixed with a private or public keyword, since they are implicitly local to the
method they are defined in.
Not all types can be used in a const declaration. The value types that are allowed, are the pre-
defined types sbyte, byte, short, ushort, int, uint, long, ulong, char, float, double, decimal, bool, and
all enum types. Trying to declare const members with other value types (such as TimeSpan or Guid)
will fail at compile-time.
For the special pre-defined reference type string, constants can be declared with any value. For
all other reference types, constants can be declared but must always have the value null.
Because const values are known at compile-time, they are allowed as case labels in a switch
statement, as standard arguments for optional parameters, as arguments to attribute
specifications, and so on.
If const values are used across different assemblies, care must be taken with versioning. For
example, if assembly A defines a public const int MaxRetries = 3;, and assembly B uses that
constant, then if the value of MaxRetries is later changed to 5 in assembly A (which is then re-
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compiled), that change will not be effective in assembly B unless assembly B is also re-compiled
(with a reference to the new version of A).
For that reason, if a value might change in future revisions of the program, and if the value needs
to be publicly visible, do not declare that value const unless you know that all dependent
assemblies will be re-compiled whenever something is changed. The alternative is using static
readonly instead of const, which is resolved at runtime.
namespace
The namespace keyword is an organization construct that helps us understand how a codebase is
arranged. Namespaces in C# are virtual spaces rather than being in a physical folder.
namespace StackOverflow
{
namespace Documentation
{
namespace CSharp.Keywords
{
public class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
Console.WriteLine(typeof(Program).Namespace);
//StackOverflow.Documentation.CSharp.Keywords
}
}
}
}
}
Namespaces in C# can also be written in chained syntax. The following is equivalent to above:
namespace StackOverflow.Documentation.CSharp.Keywords
{
public class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
Console.WriteLine(typeof(Program).Namespace);
//StackOverflow.Documentation.CSharp.Keywords
}
}
}
try, catch, finally, and throw allow you to handle exceptions in your code.
// The code within the try block will be executed. If an exception occurs during execution of
// this code, execution will pass to the catch block corresponding to the exception type.
try
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{
processor.Process(input);
}
// If a FormatException is thrown during the try block, then this catch block
// will be executed.
catch (FormatException ex)
{
// Throw is a keyword that will manually throw an exception, triggering any catch block
that is
// waiting for that exception type.
throw new InvalidOperationException("Invalid input", ex);
}
// catch can be used to catch all or any specific exceptions. This catch block,
// with no type specified, catches any exception that hasn't already been caught
// in a prior catch block.
catch
{
LogUnexpectedException();
throw; // Re-throws the original exception.
}
// The finally block is executed after all try-catch blocks have been; either after the try
has
// succeeded in running all commands or after all exceptions have been caught.
finally
{
processor.Dispose();
}
Note: The return keyword can be used in try block, and the finally block will still be executed
(just before returning). For example:
try
{
connection.Open();
return connection.Get(query);
}
finally
{
connection.Close();
}
continue
Immediately pass control to the next iteration of the enclosing loop construct (for, foreach, do,
while):
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}
Output:
5
6
7
8
9
Output:
a
b
c
d
ref, out
The ref and out keywords cause an argument to be passed by reference, not by value. For value
types, this means that the value of the variable can be changed by the callee.
int x = 5;
ChangeX(ref x);
// The value of x could be different now
For reference types, the instance in the variable can not only be modified (as is the case without
ref), but it can also be replaced altogether:
The main difference between the out and ref keyword is that ref requires the variable to be
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initialized by the caller, while out passes that responsibility to the callee.
To use an out parameter, both the method definition and the calling method must explicitly use the
out keyword.
int number = 1;
Console.WriteLine("Before AddByRef: " + number); // number = 1
AddOneByRef(ref number);
Console.WriteLine("After AddByRef: " + number); // number = 2
SetByOut(out number);
Console.WriteLine("After SetByOut: " + number); // number = 34
The following does not compile, because out parameters must have a value assigned before the
method returns (it would compile using ref instead):
out keyword can also be used in generic type parameters when defining generic interfaces and
delegates. In this case, the out keyword specifies that the type parameter is covariant.
Covariance enables you to use a more derived type than that specified by the generic
parameter. This allows for implicit conversion of classes that implement variant
interfaces and implicit conversion of delegate types. Covariance and contravariance
are supported for reference types, but they are not supported for value types. - MSDN
checked, unchecked
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The checked and unchecked keywords define how operations handle mathematical overflow.
"Overflow" in the context of the checked and unchecked keywords is when an integer arithmetic
operation results in a value which is greater in magnitude than the target data type can represent.
When overflow occurs within a checked block (or when the compiler is set to globally use checked
arithmetic), an exception is thrown to warn of undesired behavior. Meanwhile, in an unchecked
block, overflow is silent: no exceptions are thrown, and the value will simply wrap around to the
opposite boundary. This can lead to subtle, hard to find bugs.
Since most arithmetic operations are done on values that are not large or small enough to
overflow, most of the time, there is no need to explicitly define a block as checked. Care needs to
be taken when doing arithmetic on unbounded input that may cause overflow, for example when
doing arithmetic in recursive functions or while taking user input.
When a block or expression is declared as unchecked, any arithmetic operations inside it are
allowed to overflow without causing an error. An example where this behavior is desired would be
the calculation of a checksum, where the value is allowed to "wrap around" during calculation:
One of the most common uses for unchecked is implementing a custom override for
object.GetHashCode(), a type of checksum. You can see the keyword's use in the answers to this
question: What is the best algorithm for an overridden System.Object.GetHashCode?.
When a block or expression is declared as checked, any arithmetic operation that causes an
overflow results in an OverflowException being thrown.
Checked and unchecked blocks do not affect called methods, only operators called directly in the
current method. For example, Enum.ToObject(), Convert.ToInt32(), and user-defined operators are
not affected by custom checked/unchecked contexts.
Note: The default overflow default behavior (checked vs. unchecked) may be changed in the
Project Properties or through the /checked[+|-] command line switch. It is common to default to
checked operations for debug builds and unchecked for release builds. The checked and unchecked
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keywords would then be used only where a default approach does not apply and you need an
explicit behavior to ensure correctness.
goto
goto can be used to jump to a specific line inside the code, specified by a label.
goto as a:
Label:
void InfiniteHello()
{
sayHello:
Console.WriteLine("Hello!");
goto sayHello;
}
Case statement:
switch (GetRequestedPermission())
{
case Permissions.Read:
GrantReadAccess();
break;
case Permissions.Write:
GrantWriteAccess();
goto case Permissions.Read; //People with write access also get read
}
This is particularly useful in executing multiple behaviors in a switch statement, as C# does not
support fall-through case blocks.
Exception Retry
var exCount = 0;
retry:
try
{
//Do work
}
catch (IOException)
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{
exCount++;
if (exCount < 3)
{
Thread.Sleep(100);
goto retry;
}
throw;
}
Similar to many languages, use of goto keyword is discouraged except the cases below.
• Multi-level break. LINQ can often be used instead, but it usually has worse performance.
• Resource deallocation when working with unwrapped low-level objects. In C#, low-level
objects should usually be wrapped in separate classes.
• Finite state machines, for example, parsers; used internally by compiler generated
async/await state machines.
enum
The enum keyword tells the compiler that this class inherits from the abstract class Enum, without the
programmer having to explicitly inherit it. Enum is a descendant of ValueType, which is intended for
use with distinct set of named constants.
You can optionally specify a specific value for each one (or some of them):
In this example I omitted a value for 0, this is usually a bad practice. An enum will always have a
default value produced by explicit conversion (YourEnumType) 0, where YourEnumType is your
declared enume type. Without a value of 0 defined, an enum will not have a defined value at initiation.
The default underlying type of enum is int, you can change the underlying type to any integral type
including byte, sbyte, short, ushort, int, uint, long and ulong. Below is an enum with underlying type
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byte:
Also note that you can convert to/from underlying type simply with a cast:
For these reasons you'd better always check if an enum is valid when you're exposing library
functions:
// ...
}
base
The base keyword is used to access members from a base class. It is commonly used to call base
implementations of virtual methods, or to specify which base constructor should be called.
Choosing a constructor
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Calling base implementation of virtual method
It is possible to use the base keyword to call a base implementation from any method. This ties the
method call directly to the base implementation, which means that even if new child classes
override a virtual method, the base implementation will still be called so this needs to be used with
caution.
Assert.AreEqual(1, NormalMethod());
Assert.AreEqual(1, base.VirtualMethod());
}
}
// Notice that the call to NormalMethod below still returns the value
// from the extreme base class even though the method has been overridden
// in the child class.
Assert.AreEqual(1, NormalMethod());
}
}
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foreach
is used to iterate over the elements of an array or the items within a collection which
foreach
implements IEnumerable✝.
"Hello world!"
"How are you doing today?"
"Goodbye"
You can exit the foreach loop at any point by using the break keyword or move on to the next
iteration using the continue keyword.
// Stop iteration if 5
if (number == 5)
break;
// Prints: 1, 3, 4,
Notice that the order of iteration is guaranteed only for certain collections such as arrays and List,
but not guaranteed for many other collections.
✝ While IEnumerable is typically used to indicate enumerable collections, foreach only requires that
the collection expose publicly the object GetEnumerator() method, which should return an object
that exposes the bool MoveNext() method and the object Current { get; } property.
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params
params allows a method parameter to receive a variable number of arguments, i.e. zero, one or
multiple arguments are allowed for that parameter.
return total;
}
This method can now be called with a typical list of int arguments, or an array of ints.
paramsmust appear at most once and if used, it must be last in the argument list, even if the
succeeding type is different to that of the array.
Be careful when overloading functions when using the params keyword. C# prefers matching more
specific overloads before resorting to trying to use overloads with params. For example if you have
two methods:
return total;
}
Then the specific 2 argument overload will take precedence before trying the params overload.
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break
In a loop (for, foreach, do, while) the break statement aborts the execution of the innermost loop
and returns to the code after it. Also it can be used with yield in which it specifies that an iterator
has come to an end.
The break-statement is also used in switch-case constructs to break out of a case or default
segment.
switch(a)
{
case 5:
Console.WriteLine("a was 5!");
break;
default:
Console.WriteLine("a was something else!");
break;
}
In switch statements, the 'break' keyword is required at the end of each case statement. This is
contrary to some languages that allow for 'falling through' to the next case statement in the series.
Workarounds for this would include 'goto' statements or stacking the 'case' statements
sequentially.
Following code will give numbers 0, 1, 2, ..., 9 and the last line will not be executed. yield break
signifies the end of the function (not just a loop).
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} else {
yield break;
}
}
Console.WriteLine("This line will not be executed");
}
Note that unlike some other languages, there is no way to label a particular break in C#. This
means that in the case of nested loops, only the innermost loop will be stopped:
If you want to break out of the outer loop here, you can use one of several different strategies,
such as:
if(shouldBreakNow)
{
break; // Break out of outer loop if flag was set to true
}
}
abstract
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A class marked with the keyword abstract cannot be instantiated.
Abstract classes are usually used as base classes when some part of the implementation needs to
be specified by another component.
Animal cat = new Cat(); // Allowed due to Cat deriving from Animal
cat.MakeSound(); // will print out "Meov meov"
Animal dog = new Dog(); // Allowed due to Dog deriving from Animal
dog.MakeSound(); // will print out "Bark bark"
Animal animal = new Animal(); // Not allowed due to being an abstract class
A method, property, or event marked with the keyword abstract indicates that the implementation
for that member is expected to be provided in a subclass. As mentioned above, abstract members
can only appear in abstract classes.
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float, double, decimal
float
float is an alias to the .NET datatype System.Single. It allows IEEE 754 single-precision floating
point numbers to be stored. This data type is present in mscorlib.dll which is implicitly referenced
by every C# project when you create them.
Notation:
float f = 0.1259;
var f1 = 0.7895f; // f is literal suffix to represent float values
It should be noted that the float type often results in significant rounding errors. In
applications where precision is important, other data types should be considered.
double
double is an alias to the .NET datatype System.Double. It represents a double-precision 64-bit
floating-point number. This datatype is present in mscorlib.dll which is implicitly referenced in any
C# project.
Notation:
decimal
decimal is an alias to the .NET datatype System.Decimal. It represents a keyword indicates a 128-bit
data type. Compared to floating-point types, the decimal type has more precision and a smaller
range, which makes it appropriate for financial and monetary calculations. This datatype is present
in mscorlib.dll which is implicitly referenced in any C# project.
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Range: -7.9 × 1028 to 7.9 × 1028
Notation:
uint
An unsigned integer, or uint, is a numeric datatype that only can hold positive integers. Like it's
name suggests, it represents an unsigned 32-bit integer. The uint keyword itself is an alias for the
Common Type System type System.UInt32. This datatype is present in mscorlib.dll, which is
implicitly referenced by every C# project when you create them. It occupies four bytes of memory
space.
Please note: According to Microsoft, it is recommended to use the int datatype wherever possible
as the uint datatype is not CLS-compliant.
this
The this keyword refers to the current instance of class(object). That way two variables with the
same name, one at the class-level (a field) and one being a parameter (or local variable) of a
method, can be distinguished.
public MyClass {
int a;
void set_a(int a)
{
//this.a refers to the variable defined outside of the method,
//while a refers to the passed parameter.
this.a = a;
}
}
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and writing indexers:
If there is no conflict with a local variable or parameter, it is a matter of style whether to use this or
not, so this.MemberOfType and MemberOfType would be equivalent in that case. Also see base
keyword.
Note that if an extension method is to be called on the current instance, this is required. For
example if your are inside a non-static method of a class which implements IEnumerable<> and you
want to call the extension Count from before, you must use:
for
• The for loop is commonly used when the number of iterations is known.
• The statements in the initializer section run only once, before you enter the loop.
• The condition section contains a boolean expression that's evaluated at the end of every
loop iteration to determine whether the loop should exit or should run again.
• The iterator section defines what happens after each iteration of the body of the loop.
This example shows how for can be used to iterate over the characters of a string:
Output:
H
e
l
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l
o
All of the expressions that define a for statement are optional; for example, the following
statement is used to create an infinite loop:
for( ; ; )
{
// Your code here
}
The initializer section can contain multiple variables, so long as they are of the same type. The
condition section can consist of any expression which can be evaluated to a bool. And the iterator
section can perform multiple actions separated by comma:
Output:
hello
hello1
hello12
while
The while operator iterates over a block of code until the conditional query equals false or the code
is interrupted with a goto, return, break or throw statement.
Example:
int i = 0;
while (i++ < 5)
{
Console.WriteLine("While is on loop number {0}.", i);
}
Output:
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"While is on loop number 3."
"While is on loop number 4."
"While is on loop number 5."
A while loop is Entry Controlled, as the condition is checked before the execution of the
enclosed code block. This means that the while loop wouldn't execute its statements if the
condition is false.
bool a = false;
while (a == true)
{
Console.WriteLine("This will never be printed.");
}
Giving a while condition without provisioning it to become false at some point will result in an
infinite or endless loop. As far as possible, this should be avoided, however, there may be some
exceptional circumstances when you need this.
while (true)
{
//...
}
while (true)
{
// ...
}
or
for(;;)
{
// ...
}
into
{
:label
// ...
goto label;
}
Note that a while loop may have any condition, no matter how complex, as long as it evaluates to
(or returns) a boolean value (bool). It may also contain a function that returns a boolean value (as
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such a function evaluates to the same type as an expression such as `a==x'). For example,
while (AgriculturalService.MoreCornToPick(myFarm.GetAddress()))
{
myFarm.PickCorn();
}
return
MSDN: The return statement terminates execution of the method in which it appears
and returns control to the calling method. It can also return an optional value. If the
method is a void type, the return statement can be omitted.
in
a) As part of the syntax in a foreach statement or as part of the syntax in a LINQ query
b) In the context of generic interfaces and generic delegate types signifies contravariance for the
type parameter in question:
c) In the context of LINQ query refers to the collection that is being queried
using
There are two types of using keyword usage, using statement and using directive:
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1. using statement:
The using keyword ensures that objects that implement the IDisposable interface are properly
disposed after usage. There is a separate topic for the using statement
2. using directive
The using directive has three usages, see the msdn page for the using directive. There is a
separate topic for the using directive.
sealed
When applied to a class, the sealed modifier prevents other classes from inheriting from it.
class A { }
sealed class B : A { }
class C : B { } //error : Cannot derive from the sealed class
When applied to a virtual method (or virtual property), the sealed modifier prevents this method
(property) from being overriden in derived classes.
public class A
{
public sealed override string ToString() // Virtual method inherited from class Object
{
return "Do not override me!";
}
}
public class B: A
{
public override string ToString() // Compile time error
{
return "An attempt to override";
}
}
sizeof
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static
The static modifier is used to declare a static member, which does not need to be instantiated in
order to be accessed, but instead is accessed simply through its name, i.e. DateTime.Now.
static can be used with classes, fields, methods, properties, operators, events, and constructors.
While an instance of a class contains a separate copy of all instance fields of the class, there is
only one copy of each static field.
class A
{
static public int count = 0;
public A()
{
count++;
}
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
A a = new A();
A b = new A();
A c = new A();
Console.WriteLine(A.count); // 3
}
}
The static modifier can also be used to declare a static constructor for a class, to initialize static
data or run code that only needs to be called once. Static constructors are called before the class
is referenced for the first time.
class A
{
static public DateTime InitializationTime;
// Static constructor
static A()
{
InitializationTime = DateTime.Now;
// Guaranteed to only run once
Console.WriteLine(InitializationTime.ToString());
}
}
A static class is marked with the static keyword, and can be used as a beneficial container for a
set of methods that work on parameters, but don't necessarily require being tied to an instance.
Because of the static nature of the class, it cannot be instantiated, but it can contain a static
constructor. Some features of a static class include:
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• Can't be inherited
• Can't inherit from anything other than Object
• Can contain a static constructor but not an instance constructor
• Can only contain static members
• Is sealed
The compiler is also friendly and will let the developer know if any instance members exist within
the class. An example would be a static class that converts between US and Canadian metrics:
all function, properties or members within the class also need to be declared static. No instance of
the class can be created. In essence a static class allows you to create bundles of functions that
are grouped together logically.
Since C#6 static can also be used alongside using to import static members and methods. They
can be used then without class name.
using System;
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{
public static void Main()
{
WriteLine("Hello World!"); //Writeline is method belonging to static class Console
}
Drawbacks
While static classes can be incredibly useful, they do come with their own caveats:
• Once the static class has been called, the class is loaded into memory and cannot be run
through the garbage collector until the AppDomain housing the static class is unloaded.
int
int is an alias for System.Int32, which is a data type for signed 32-bit integers. This data type can
be found in mscorlib.dll which is implicitly referenced by every C# project when you create them.
long
The long keyword is used to represent signed 64-bit integers. It is an alias for the System.Int64
datatype present in mscorlib.dll, which is implicitly referenced by every C# project when you
create them.
ulong
Keyword used for unsigned 64-bit integers. It represents System.UInt64 data type found in
mscorlib.dll which is implicitly referenced by every C# project when you create them.
Range: 0 to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615
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ulong veryLargeInt = 18446744073609451315;
var anotherVeryLargeInt = 15446744063609451315UL;
dynamic
The dynamic keyword is used with dynamically typed objects. Objects declared as dynamic forego
compile-time static checks, and are instead evaluated at runtime.
using System;
using System.Dynamic;
Console.WriteLine(info.Another);
// 456
Console.WriteLine(info.DoesntExist);
// Throws RuntimeBinderException
The following example uses dynamic with Newtonsoft's library Json.NET, in order to easily read
data from a deserialized JSON file.
try
{
string json = @"{ x : 10, y : ""ho""}";
dynamic deserializedJson = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(json);
int x = deserializedJson.x;
string y = deserializedJson.y;
// int z = deserializedJson.z; // throws RuntimeBinderException
}
catch (RuntimeBinderException e)
{
// This exception is thrown when a property
// that wasn't assigned to a dynamic variable is used
}
There are some limitations associated with the dynamic keyword. One of them is the use of
extension methods. The following example adds an extension method for string: SayHello.
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No compilation error, but at runtime you get a RuntimeBinderException. The workaround for this will
be to call the extension method via the static class:
In order to override a member, the override keyword is used in the derived classes. (Note the
signature of the members must be identical)
The polymorphic behavior of virtual members means that when invoked, the actual member being
executed is determined at runtime instead of at compile time. The overriding member in the most
derived class the particular object is an instance of will be the one executed.
In short, object can be declared of type BaseClass at compile time but if at runtime it is an instance
of DerivedClass then the overridden member will be executed:
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obj1.Foo(); //Outputs "Foo from DerivedClass"
new
Since only members defined as virtual are overridable and polymorphic, a derived class
redefining a non virtual member might lead to unexpected results.
When this happens, the member executed is always determined at compile time based on the
type of the object.
• If the object is declared of type BaseClass (even if at runtime is of a derived class) then the
method of BaseClass is executed
• If the object is declared of type DerivedClass then the method of DerivedClass is executed.
This is usually an accident (When a member is added to the base type after an identical one was
added to the derived type) and a compiler warning CS0108 is generated in those scenarios.
If it was intentional, then the new keyword is used to suppress the compiler warning (And inform
other developers of your intentions!). the behavior remains the same, the new keyword just
suppresses the compiler warning.
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public new void Foo()
{
Console.WriteLine("Foo from DerivedClass");
}
}
public class A
{
public virtual void Foo()
{
}
}
public class B : A
{
public void Foo() // Generates CS0108
{
}
}
The above example also causes warning CS0108, because B.Foo() is not automatically overriding
A.Foo(). Add override when the intention is to override the base class and cause polymorphic
behavior, add new when you want non-polymorphic behavior and resolve the call using the static
type. The latter should be used with caution, as it may cause severe confusion.
public class A
{
public void Foo()
{
}
}
public class B : A
{
public override void Foo() // Error: Nothing to override
{
}
}
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The following code is perfectly valid (although rare):
public class A
{
public void Foo()
{
Console.WriteLine("A");
}
}
public class B : A
{
public new virtual void Foo()
{
Console.WriteLine("B");
}
}
Now all objects with a static reference of B (and its derivatives) use polymorphism to resolve Foo(),
while references of A use A.Foo().
A a = new A();
a.Foo(); // Prints "A";
a = new B();
a.Foo(); // Prints "A";
B b = new B();
b.Foo(); // Prints "B";
public class A
{
private virtual void Foo() // Error: virtual methods cannot be private
{
}
}
async, await
The await keyword was added as part of C# 5.0 release which is supported from Visual Studio
2012 onwards. It leverages Task Parallel Library (TPL) which made the multi-threading relatively
easier. The async and await keywords are used in pair in the same function as shown below. The
await keyword is used to pause the current asynchronous method's execution until the awaited
asynchronous task is completed and/or its results returned. In order to use the await keyword, the
method that uses it must be marked with the async keyword.
Using async with void is strongly discouraged. For more info you can look here.
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Example:
Output:
The keyword pairs async and await can be omitted if a Task or Task<T> returning method only
returns a single asynchronous operation.
It is preferred to do this:
5.0
6.0
char
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A char is single letter stored inside a variable. It is built-in value type which takes two bytes of
memory space. It represents System.Char data type found in mscorlib.dll which is implicitly
referenced by every C# project when you create them.
1. char c = 'c';
2. char c = '\u0063'; //Unicode
3. char c = '\x0063'; //Hex
4. char c = (char)99;//Integral
A char can be implicitly converted to ushort, int, uint, long, ulong, float, double, or decimal and
it will return the integer value of that char.
ushort u = c;
returns 99 etc.
However, there are no implicit conversions from other types to char. Instead you must cast them.
ushort u = 99;
char c = (char)u;
lock
lock provides thread-safety for a block of code, so that it can be accessed by only one thread
within the same process. Example:
Console.ReadKey();
}
Task.Delay(3000);
Console.WriteLine("Done Delaying");
Console.WriteLine("Leaving");
}
}
Output:
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Entered
Done Delaying
Leaving
Entered
Done Delaying
Leaving
Entered
Done Delaying
Leaving
Use cases:
Whenever you have a block of code that might produce side-effects if executed by multiple
threads at the same time. The lock keyword along with a shared synchronization object (
_objLock in the example) can be used to prevent that.
Note that _objLock can't be null and multiple threads executing the code must use the same object
instance (either by making it a static field, or by using the same class instance for both threads)
From the compiler side, the lock keyword is a syntactic sugar that is replaced by
Monitor.Enter(_lockObj); and Monitor.Exit(_lockObj);. So if you replace the lock by surrounding
the block of code with these two methods, you would get the same results. You can see actual
code in Syntactic sugar in C# - lock example
null
A variable of a reference type can hold either a valid reference to an instance or a null reference.
The null reference is the default value of reference type variables, as well as nullable value types.
As an expression, it can be used to assign the null reference to variables of the aforementioned
types:
object a = null;
string b = null;
int? c = null;
List<int> d = null;
Non-nullable value types cannot be assigned a null reference. All the following assignments are
invalid:
int a = null;
float b = null;
decimal c = null;
The null reference should not be confused with valid instances of various types such as:
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• the number zero (0, 0f, 0m)
• the null character ( '\0' )
internal
The internal keyword is an access modifier for types and type members. Internal types or
members are accessible only within files in the same assembly
usage:
Access modifiers
public
The type or member can be accessed by any other code in the same
assembly or another assembly that references it.
private
The type or member can only be accessed by code in the same class or
struct.
protected
The type or member can only be accessed by code in the same class or
struct, or in a derived class.
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internal
The type or member can be accessed by any code in the same assembly,
but not from another assembly.
protected internal
The type or member can be accessed by any code in the same assembly,
or by any derived class in another assembly.
When no access modifier is set, a default access modifier is used. So there is always some form
of access modifier even if it's not set.
where
where can serve two purposes in C#: type constraining in a generic argument, and filtering LINQ
queries.
T is called a type parameter. The class definition can impose constraints on the actual types that
can be supplied for T.
• value type
• reference type
• default constructor
• inheritance and implementation
value type
In this case only structs (this includes 'primitive' data types such as int, boolean etc) can be
supplied
reference type
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{
// ...
}
Occasionally it is desired to restrict type arguments to those available in a database, and these will
usually map to value types and strings. As all type restrictions must be met, it is not possible to
specify where T : struct or string (this is not valid syntax). A workaround is to restrict type
arguments to IConvertible which has built in types of "... Boolean, SByte, Byte, Int16, UInt16,
Int32, UInt32, Int64, UInt64, Single, Double, Decimal, DateTime, Char, and String." It is possible
other objects will implement IConvertible, though this is rare in practice.
default constructor
Only types that contain a default constructor will be allowed. This includes value types and classes
that contain a default (parameterless) constructor
Only types that inherit from a certain base class or implement a certain interface can be supplied.
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public class Cup<T> where T : class, new()
{
// ...
}
int[] nums = { 5, 2, 1, 3, 9, 8, 6, 7, 2, 0 };
var query =
from num in nums
where num < 5
select num;
extern
The extern keyword is used to declare methods that are implemented externally. This can be used
in conjunction with the DllImport attribute to call into unmanaged code using Interop services.
which in this case it will come with static modifier
For Example:
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
public class MyClass
{
[DllImport("User32.dll")]
private static extern int SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr point);
This uses the SetForegroundWindow method imported from the User32.dll library
This can also be used to define an external assembly alias. which let us to reference different
versions of same components from single assembly.
To reference two assemblies with the same fully-qualified type names, an alias must be specified
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at a command prompt, as follows:
/r:GridV1=grid.dll
/r:GridV2=grid20.dll
This creates the external aliases GridV1 and GridV2. To use these aliases from within a program,
reference them by using the extern keyword. For example:
bool
Keyword for storing the Boolean values true and false. bool is an alias of System.Boolean.
when
Before the introduction of the when keyword, you could have had one catch clause for each type of
exception; with the addition of the keyword, a more fine-grained control is now possible.
A when expression is attached to a catch branch, and only if the when condition is true, the catch
clause will be executed. It is possible to have several catch clauses with the same exception class
types, and different when conditions.
// exception filter
catch (Exception ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("when"))
{
Console.WriteLine("Caught an exception with when");
}
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catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine("Caught an exception without when");
}
}
private void Method1() { throw new Exception("message for exception with when"); }
private void Method2() { throw new Exception("message for general exception"); }
CatchException(Method1);
CatchException(Method2);
unchecked
The unchecked keyword prevents the compiler from checking for overflows/underflows.
For example:
Without the unchecked keyword, neither of the two addition operations will compile.
void
The reserved word "void" is an alias of System.Void type, and has two uses:
A method with a return type of void can still have the return keyword in its body. This is useful
when you want to exit the method's execution and return the flow to the caller:
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if (condition)
return;
In an unsafe context, a type may be a pointer type, a value type, or a reference type. A pointer
type declaration is usually type* identifier, where the type is a known type - i.e int* myInt, but
can also be void* identifier, where the type is unknown.
The if statement is used to control the flow of the program. An if statement identifies which
statement to run based on the value of a Boolean expression.
int a = 4;
if(a % 2 == 0)
{
Console.WriteLine("a contains an even number");
}
// output: "a contains an even number"
The if can also have an else clause, that will be executed in case the condition evaluates to false:
int a = 5;
if(a % 2 == 0)
{
Console.WriteLine("a contains an even number");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("a contains an odd number");
}
// output: "a contains an odd number"
int a = 9;
if(a % 2 == 0)
{
Console.WriteLine("a contains an even number");
}
else if(a % 3 == 0)
{
Console.WriteLine("a contains an odd number that is a multiple of 3");
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}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("a contains an odd number");
}
// output: "a contains an odd number that is a multiple of 3"
It's also important in cases where earlier conditions ensure that it's "safe" to evaluate later ones.
For example:
The order is very important in this case because, if we reverse the order:
do
The do operator iterates over a block of code until a conditional query equals false. The do-while
loop can also be interrupted by a goto, return, break or throw statement.
Example:
int i = 0;
do
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{
Console.WriteLine("Do is on loop number {0}.", i);
} while (i++ < 5);
Output:
Unlike the while loop, the do-while loop is Exit Controlled. This means that the do-while loop
would execute its statements at least once, even if the condition fails the first time.
bool a = false;
do
{
Console.WriteLine("This will be printed once, even if a is false.");
} while (a == true);
operator
Most of the built-in operators (including conversion operators) can be overloaded by using the
operator keyword along with the public and static modifiers.
The operators comes in three forms: unary operators, binary operators and conversion operators.
Unary and binary operators requires at least one parameter of same type as the containing type,
and some requires a complementary matching operator.
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public static Vector32 operator +(Vector32 left, int right)
=> new Vector32(left.X + right, left.Y + right);
Example
struct
A struct type is a value type that is typically used to encapsulate small groups of related variables,
such as the coordinates of a rectangle or the characteristics of an item in an inventory.
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namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
struct Point
{
public int X;
public int Y;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
var point1 = new Point {X = 10, Y = 20};
// it's not a reference but value type
var point2 = point1;
point2.X = 777;
point2.Y = 888;
point1.Display(nameof(point1)); // point1: X = 10, Y = 20
point2.Display(nameof(point2)); // point2: X = 777, Y = 888
ReadKey();
}
}
}
Structs can also contain constructors, constants, fields, methods, properties, indexers, operators,
events, and nested types, although if several such members are required, you should consider
making your type a class instead.
Some suggestions from MS on when to use struct and when to use class:
CONSIDER
defining a struct instead of a class if instances of the type are small and commonly short-lived or
are commonly embedded in other objects.
AVOID
defining a struct unless the type has all of the following characteristics:
• It logically represents a single value, similar to primitive types (int, double, etc.)
• It has an instance size under 16 bytes.
• It is immutable.
• It will not have to be boxed frequently.
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switch
The switch statement is a control statement that selects a switch section to execute from a list of
candidates. A switch statement includes one or more switch sections. Each switch section
contains one or more case labels followed by one or more statements. If no case label contains a
matching value, control is transferred to the default section, if there is one. Case fall-through is not
supported in C#, strictly speaking. However, if 1 or more case labels are empty, execution will
follow the code of the next case block which contains code. This allows grouping of multiple case
labels with the same implementation. In the following example, if month equals 12, the code in case
2 will be executed since the case labels 12 1 and 2 are grouped. If a case block is not empty, a break
must be present before the next case label, otherwise the compiler will flag an error.
switch (month)
{
case 12:
case 1:
case 2:
Console.WriteLine("Winter");
break;
case 3:
case 4:
case 5:
Console.WriteLine("Spring");
break;
case 6:
case 7:
case 8:
Console.WriteLine("Summer");
break;
case 9:
case 10:
case 11:
Console.WriteLine("Autumn");
break;
default:
Console.WriteLine("Incorrect month index");
break;
}
A case can only be labeled by a value known at compile time (e.g. 1, "str", Enum.A), so a variable
isn't a valid case label, but a const or an Enum value is (as well as any literal value).
interface
An interface contains the signatures of methods, properties and events. The derived classes
defines the members as the interface contains only the declaration of the members.
interface IProduct
{
decimal Price { get; }
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}
unsafe
The unsafe keyword can be used in type or method declarations or to declare an inline block.
The purpose of this keyword is to enable the use of the unsafe subset of C# for the block in
question. The unsafe subset includes features like pointers, stack allocation, C-like arrays, and so
on.
Unsafe code is not verifiable and that's why its usage is discouraged. Compilation of unsafe code
requires passing a switch to the C# compiler. Additionally, the CLR requires that the running
assembly has full trust.
Despite these limitations, unsafe code has valid usages in making some operations more
performant (e.g. array indexing) or easier (e.g. interop with some unmanaged libraries).
While working with pointers, we can change the values of memory locations directly, rather than
having to address them by name. Note that this often requires the use of the fixed keyword to
prevent possible memory corruption as the garbage collector moves things around (otherwise, you
may get error CS0212). Since a variable that has been "fixed" cannot be written to, we also often
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have to have a second pointer that starts out pointing to the same location as the first.
void Main()
{
int[] intArray = new int[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10};
UnsafeSquareArray(intArray);
foreach(int i in intArray)
Console.WriteLine(i);
}
Output:
1
4
9
16
25
36
49
64
81
100
unsafe also allows the use of stackalloc which will allocate memory on the stack like _alloca in the
C run-time library. We can modify the above example to use stackalloc as follows:
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//We can no longer use the initializer "{ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}" as before.
// We have at least 2 options to populate the array. The end result of either
// option will be the same (doing both will also be the same here).
//FIRST OPTION:
int* p = seedArray; // we don't want to lose where the array starts, so we
// create a shadow copy of the pointer
for(int i=1; i<=len; i++)
*p++ = i;
//end of first option
//SECOND OPTION:
for(int i=0; i<len; i++)
seedArray[i] = i+1;
//end of second option
UnsafeSquareArray(seedArray, len);
for(int i=0; i< len; i++)
Console.WriteLine(seedArray[i]);
}
//Now that we are dealing directly in pointers, we don't need to mess around with
// "fixed", which dramatically simplifies the code
unsafe static void UnsafeSquareArray(int* p, int len)
{
for (int i = 0; i < len; i++)
*p *= *p++;
}
implicit
The implicit keyword is used to overload a conversion operator. For example, you may declare a
Fraction class that should automatically be converted to a double when needed, and that can be
automatically converted from int:
true, false
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1. As literal Boolean values
Overloading the false operator was useful prior to C# 2.0, before the introduction of Nullable types.
A type that overloads the true operator, must also overload the false operator.
string
string is an alias to the .NET datatype System.String, which allows text (sequences of characters)
to be stored.
Notation:
string a = "Hello";
var b = "world";
var f = new string(new []{ 'h', 'i', '!' }); // hi!
Each character in the string is encoded in UTF-16, which means that each character will require a
minimum 2 bytes of storage space.
ushort
A numeric type used to store 16-bit positive integers. ushort is an alias for System.UInt16, and takes
up 2 bytes of memory.
ushort a = 50; // 50
ushort b = 65536; // Error, cannot be converted
ushort c = unchecked((ushort)65536); // Overflows (wraps around to 0)
sbyte
A numeric type used to store 8-bit signed integers. sbyte is an alias for System.SByte, and takes up
1 byte of memory. For the unsigned equivalent, use byte.
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Valid range is -127 to 127 (the leftover is used to store the sign).
var
An implicitly-typed local variable that is strongly typed just as if the user had declared the type.
Unlike other variable declarations, the compiler determines the type of variable that this represents
based on the value that is assigned to it.
var i = 10; // implicitly typed, the compiler must determine what type of variable this is
int i = 10; // explicitly typed, the type of variable is explicitly stated to the compiler
// Note that these both represent the same type of variable (int) with the same value (10).
Unlike other types of variables, variable definitions with this keyword need to be initialized when
declared. This is due to the var keyword representing an implicitly-typed variable.
var i;
i = 10;
The var keyword can also be used to create new datatypes on the fly. These new datatypes are
known as anonymous types. They are quite useful, as they allow a user to define a set of
properties without having to explicitly declare any kind of object type first.
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join b in db.Breeds on d.BreedId equals b.BreedId
select new
{
DogName = d.Name,
BreedName = b.BreedName
};
DoStuff(result);
}
return false;
}
delegate
Delegates are types that represent a reference to a method. They are used for passing methods
as arguments to other methods.
Delegates can hold static methods, instance methods, anonymous methods, or lambda
expressions.
class DelegateExample
{
public void Run()
{
//using class method
InvokeDelegate( WriteToConsole );
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public bool WriteToConsole( string input )
{
Console.WriteLine( string.Format( "WriteToConsole: '{0}'", input ) );
return true;
}
}
When assigning a method to a delegate it is important to note that the method must have the
same return type as well as parameters. This differs from 'normal' method overloading, where only
the parameters define the signature of the method.
event
Simple example
void RaiseEvent()
{
var ev = DataChangeEvent;
if(ev != null)
{
ev(this, EventArgs.Empty);
}
}
}
MSDN reference
partial
The keyword partial can be used during type definition of class, struct, or interface to allow the
type definition to be split into several files. This is useful to incorporate new features in auto
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generated code.
File1.cs
namespace A
{
public partial class Test
{
public string Var1 {get;set;}
}
}
File2.cs
namespace A
{
public partial class Test
{
public string Var2 {get;set;}
}
}
Note: A class can be split into any number of files. However, all declaration must be under same
namespace and the same assembly.
Methods can also be declared partial using the partial keyword. In this case one file will contain
only the method definition and another file will contain the implementation.
A partial method has its signature defined in one part of a partial type, and its
implementation defined in another part of the type. Partial methods enable class
designers to provide method hooks, similar to event handlers, that developers may
decide to implement or not. If the developer does not supply an implementation, the
compiler removes the signature at compile time. The following conditions apply to
partial methods:
-- MSDN
File1.cs
namespace A
{
public partial class Test
{
public string Var1 {get;set;}
public partial Method1(string str);
}
}
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File2.cs
namespace A
{
public partial class Test
{
public string Var2 {get;set;}
public partial Method1(string str)
{
Console.WriteLine(str);
}
}
}
Note: The type containing the partial method must also be declared partial.
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Chapter 90: Lambda expressions
Remarks
A lambda expression is a syntax for creating anonymous functions inline. More formally, from the
C# Programming Guide:
A lambda expression is an anonymous function that you can use to create delegates or
expression tree types. By using lambda expressions, you can write local functions that
can be passed as arguments or returned as the value of function calls.
A lambda expression is created by using the => operator. Put any parameters on the lefthand side
of the operator. On the righthand side, put an expression that can use those parameters; this
expression will resolve as the return value of the function. More rarely, if necessary, a whole {code
block} can be used on the righthand side. If the return type is not void, the block will contain a
return statement.
Examples
Passing a Lambda Expression as a Parameter to a Method
List<int> l2 = l1.FindAll(x => x > 6);
Here x => x > 6 is a lambda expression acting as a predicate that makes sure that only elements
above 6 are returned.
The above Lambda expression syntax is equivalent to the following verbose code:
Typically lambdas are used for defining simple functions (generally in the context of a linq
expression):
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Here the return is implicit.
Use parentheses around the expression to the left of the => operator to indicate multiple
parameters.
Similarly, an empty set of parentheses indicates that the function does not accept parameters.
Unlike an expression lambda, a statement lambda can contain multiple statements separated by
semicolons.
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Can be passed as an argument to both methods:
Because the compiler is capable of transforming lambdas both to delegates and Expressions.
Obviously, LINQ providers rely heavily on Expressions (exposed mainly through the IQueryable<T>
interface) in order to be able to parse queries and translate them to store queries.
A good situation in which a lambda event handler might be used is given below:
If unsubscribing a registered event handler at some future point in the code is necessary, the
event handler expression should be saved to a variable, and the registration/unregistration done
through that variable:
smtpClient.SendCompleted += handler;
smtpClient.SendCompleted -= handler;
The reason that this is done rather than simply retyping the lambda expression verbatim to
unsubscribe it (-=) is that the C# compiler won't necessarily consider the two expressions equal:
Note that if additional statements are added to the lambda expression, then the required
surrounding curly braces may be accidentally omitted, without causing compile-time error. For
example:
This will compile, but will result in adding the lambda expression (sender, args) =>
Console.WriteLine("Email sent"); as an event handler, and executing the statement
emailSendButton.Enabled = true; immediately. To fix this, the contents of the lambda must be
surrounded in curly braces. This can be avoided by using curly braces from the start, being
cautious when adding additional statements to a lambda-event-handler, or surrounding the lambda
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in round brackets from the start:
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Chapter 91: Lambda Expressions
Remarks
Closures
Lambda expressions will implicitly capture variables used and create a closure. A closure is a
function along with some state context. The compiler will generate a closure whenever a lambda
expression 'encloses' a value from its surrounding context.
safeApplyFilterPredicate refers to a newly created object which has a private reference to the
current value of filterer, and whose Invoke method behaves like
This can be important, because as long as the reference to the value now in
safeApplyFilterPredicate is maintained, there will be a reference to the object which filterer
currently refers to. This has an effect on garbage collection, and may cause unexpected behaviour
if the object which filterer currently refers to is mutated.
On the other hand, closures can be used to deliberate effect to encapsulate a behaviour which
involves references to other objects.
E.g.
Examples
Basic lambda expressions
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Func<int, int> add1 = i => i + 1;
int Add1(int i)
{
return i + 1;
}
...
Console.WriteLine(add1(42)); //43
Console.WriteLine(Add1(42)); //43
Console.WriteLine(add(100, 250)); //350
Console.WriteLine(Add(100, 250)); //350
Now machineClosure refers to a function from int to int, which behind the scenes uses the IMachine
instance which machine refers to in order to carry out the computation. Even if the reference machine
goes out of scope, as long as the machineClosure object is maintained, the original IMachine
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instance will be retained as part of a 'closure', automatically defined by the compiler.
Warning: this can mean that the same function call returns different values at different times (e.g.
In this example if the machine keeps a sum of its inputs). In lots of cases, this may be unexpected
and is to be avoided for any code in a functional style - accidental and unexpected closures can be
a source of bugs.
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Chapter 92: LINQ Queries
Introduction
LINQ is an acronym which stands for Language INtegrated Query. It is a concept which integrates
a query language by offering a consistent model for working with data across various kinds of data
sources and formats; you use the same basic coding patterns to query and transform data in XML
documents, SQL databases, ADO.NET Datasets, .NET collections, and any other format for which
a LINQ provider is available.
Syntax
• Query syntax :
• Method syntax :
○ Enumerable.Aggregate(func)
○ Enumerable.Aggregate(seed, func)
○ Enumerable.Aggregate(seed, func, resultSelector)
○ Enumerable.All(predicate)
○ Enumerable.Any()
○ Enumerable.Any(predicate)
○ Enumerable.AsEnumerable()
○ Enumerable.Average()
○ Enumerable.Average(selector)
○ Enumerable.Cast<Result>()
○ Enumerable.Concat(second)
○ Enumerable.Contains(value)
○ Enumerable.Contains(value, comparer)
○ Enumerable.Count()
○ Enumerable.Count(predicate)
○ Enumerable.DefaultIfEmpty()
○ Enumerable.DefaultIfEmpty(defaultValue)
○ Enumerable.Distinct()
○ Enumerable.Distinct(comparer)
○ Enumerable.ElementAt(index)
○ Enumerable.ElementAtOrDefault(index)
○ Enumerable.Empty()
○ Enumerable.Except(second)
○ Enumerable.Except(second, comparer)
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○ Enumerable.First()
○ Enumerable.First(predicate)
○ Enumerable.FirstOrDefault()
○ Enumerable.FirstOrDefault(predicate)
○ Enumerable.GroupBy(keySelector)
○ Enumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, resultSelector)
○ Enumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, elementSelector)
○ Enumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, comparer)
○ Enumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, resultSelector, comparer)
○ Enumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, elementSelector, resultSelector)
○ Enumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, elementSelector, comparer)
○ Enumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, elementSelector, resultSelector, comparer)
○ Enumerable.Intersect(second)
○ Enumerable.Intersect(second, comparer)
○ Enumerable.Join(inner, outerKeySelector, innerKeySelector, resultSelector)
○ Enumerable.Join(inner, outerKeySelector, innerKeySelector, resultSelector, comparer)
○ Enumerable.Last()
○ Enumerable.Last(predicate)
○ Enumerable.LastOrDefault()
○ Enumerable.LastOrDefault(predicate)
○ Enumerable.LongCount()
○ Enumerable.LongCount(predicate)
○ Enumerable.Max()
○ Enumerable.Max(selector)
○ Enumerable.Min()
○ Enumerable.Min(selector)
○ Enumerable.OfType<TResult>()
○ Enumerable.OrderBy(keySelector)
○ Enumerable.OrderBy(keySelector, comparer)
○ Enumerable.OrderByDescending(keySelector)
○ Enumerable.OrderByDescending(keySelector, comparer)
○ Enumerable.Range(start, count)
○ Enumerable.Repeat(element, count)
○ Enumerable.Reverse()
○ Enumerable.Select(selector)
○ Enumerable.SelectMany(selector)
○ Enumerable.SelectMany(collectionSelector, resultSelector)
○ Enumerable.SequenceEqual(second)
○ Enumerable.SequenceEqual(second, comparer)
○ Enumerable.Single()
○ Enumerable.Single(predicate)
○ Enumerable.SingleOrDefault()
○ Enumerable.SingleOrDefault(predicate)
○ Enumerable.Skip(count)
○ Enumerable.SkipWhile(predicate)
○ Enumerable.Sum()
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○ Enumerable.Sum(selector)
○ Enumerable.Take(count)
○ Enumerable.TakeWhile(predicate)
○ orderedEnumerable.ThenBy(keySelector)
○ orderedEnumerable.ThenBy(keySelector, comparer)
○ orderedEnumerable.ThenByDescending(keySelector)
○ orderedEnumerable.ThenByDescending(keySelector, comparer)
○ Enumerable.ToArray()
○ Enumerable.ToDictionary(keySelector)
○ Enumerable.ToDictionary(keySelector, elementSelector)
○ Enumerable.ToDictionary(keySelector, comparer)
○ Enumerable.ToDictionary(keySelector, elementSelector, comparer)
○ Enumerable.ToList()
○ Enumerable.ToLookup(keySelector)
○ Enumerable.ToLookup(keySelector, elementSelector)
○ Enumerable.ToLookup(keySelector, comparer)
○ Enumerable.ToLookup(keySelector, elementSelector, comparer)
○ Enumerable.Union(second)
○ Enumerable.Union(second, comparer)
○ Enumerable.Where(predicate)
○ Enumerable.Zip(second, resultSelector)
Remarks
To use LINQ queries you need to import System.Linq.
The Method Syntax is more powerful and flexible, but the Query Syntax may be simpler and more
familiar. All queries written in Query syntax are translated into the functional syntax by the
compiler, so performance is the same.
Query objects are not evaluated until they are used, so they can be changed or added to without a
performance penalty.
Examples
Where
Returns a subset of items which the specified predicate is true for them.
List<string> trees = new List<string>{ "Oak", "Birch", "Beech", "Elm", "Hazel", "Maple" };
Method syntax
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Query syntax
Select allows you to apply a transformation to every element in any data structure implementing
IEnumerable.
List<String> trees = new List<String>{ "Oak", "Birch", "Beech", "Elm", "Hazel", "Maple" };
//The below select stament transforms each element in tree into its first character.
IEnumerable<String> initials = trees.Select(tree => tree.Substring(0, 1));
foreach (String initial in initials) {
System.Console.WriteLine(initial);
}
Output:
O
B
B
E
H
M
Chaining methods
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this IEnumerable<TSource> source,
Func<TSource, TResult> selector
)
While some method chaining may require an entire set to be worked prior to moving on, LINQ
takes advantage of deferred execution by using yield return MSDN which creates an Enumerable
and an Enumerator behind the scenes. The process of chaining in LINQ is essentially building an
enumerable (iterator) for the original set -- which is deferred -- until materialized by enumerating
the enumerable.
This allows these functions to be fluently chained wiki, where one function can act directly on the
result of another. This style of code can be used to perform many sequence based operations in a
single statement.
For example, it's possible to combine Select, Where and OrderBy to transform, filter and sort a
sequence in a single statement.
var someNumbers = { 4, 3, 2, 1 };
Output:
2
4
8
Any functions that both extend and return the generic IEnumerable<T> type can be used as chained
clauses in a single statement. This style of fluent programming is powerful, and should be
considered when creating your own extension methods.
The Range and Repeat static methods on Enumerable can be used to generate simple sequences.
Range
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Enumerable.Range() generates a sequence of integers given a starting value and a count.
// Generate a collection containing the numbers 1-100 ([1, 2, 3, ..., 98, 99, 100])
var range = Enumerable.Range(1,100);
Repeat
Enumerable.Repeat() generates a sequence of repeating elements given an element and the
number of repetitions required.
The Skip method returns a collection excluding a number of items from the beginning of the
source collection. The number of items excluded is the number given as an argument. If there are
less items in the collection than specified in the argument then an empty collection is returned.
The Take method returns a collection containing a number of elements from the beginning of the
source collection. The number of items included is the number given as an argument. If there are
less items in the collection than specified in the argument then the collection returned will contain
the same elements as the source collection.
Skip and Take are commonly used together to paginate results, for instance:
Warning: LINQ to Entities only supports Skip on ordered queries. If you try to use Skip
without ordering you will get a NotSupportedException with the message "The
method 'Skip' is only supported for sorted input in LINQ to Entities. The method
'OrderBy' must be called before the method 'Skip'."
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First, FirstOrDefault, Last, LastOrDefault, Single, and SingleOrDefault
All six methods return a single value of the sequence type, and can be called with or without a
predicate.
Depending on the number of elements that match the predicate or, if no predicate is supplied, the
number of elements in the source sequence, they behave as follows:
First()
• Returns the first element of a sequence, or the first element matching the provided predicate.
• If the sequence contains no elements, an InvalidOperationException is thrown with the
message: "Sequence contains no elements".
• If the sequence contains no elements matching the provided predicate, an
InvalidOperationException is thrown with the message "Sequence contains no matching
element".
Example
// Returns "a":
new[] { "a" }.First();
// Returns "a":
new[] { "a", "b" }.First();
// Returns "b":
new[] { "a", "b" }.First(x => x.Equals("b"));
// Returns "ba":
new[] { "ba", "be" }.First(x => x.Contains("b"));
// Throws InvalidOperationException:
new[] { "ca", "ce" }.First(x => x.Contains("b"));
// Throws InvalidOperationException:
new string[0].First();
FirstOrDefault()
• Returns the first element of a sequence, or the first element matching the provided predicate.
• If the sequence contains no elements, or no elements matching the provided predicate,
returns the default value of the sequence type using default(T).
Example
// Returns "a":
new[] { "a" }.FirstOrDefault();
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// Returns "a":
new[] { "a", "b" }.FirstOrDefault();
// Returns "b":
new[] { "a", "b" }.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Equals("b"));
// Returns "ba":
new[] { "ba", "be" }.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Contains("b"));
// Returns null:
new[] { "ca", "ce" }.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Contains("b"));
// Returns null:
new string[0].FirstOrDefault();
Last()
• Returns the last element of a sequence, or the last element matching the provided predicate.
• If the sequence contains no elements, an InvalidOperationException is thrown with the
message "Sequence contains no elements."
• If the sequence contains no elements matching the provided predicate, an
InvalidOperationException is thrown with the message "Sequence contains no matching
element".
Example
// Returns "a":
new[] { "a" }.Last();
// Returns "b":
new[] { "a", "b" }.Last();
// Returns "a":
new[] { "a", "b" }.Last(x => x.Equals("a"));
// Returns "be":
new[] { "ba", "be" }.Last(x => x.Contains("b"));
// Throws InvalidOperationException:
new[] { "ca", "ce" }.Last(x => x.Contains("b"));
// Throws InvalidOperationException:
new string[0].Last();
LastOrDefault()
• Returns the last element of a sequence, or the last element matching the provided predicate.
• If the sequence contains no elements, or no elements matching the provided predicate,
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returns the default value of the sequence type using default(T).
Example
// Returns "a":
new[] { "a" }.LastOrDefault();
// Returns "b":
new[] { "a", "b" }.LastOrDefault();
// Returns "a":
new[] { "a", "b" }.LastOrDefault(x => x.Equals("a"));
// Returns "be":
new[] { "ba", "be" }.LastOrDefault(x => x.Contains("b"));
// Returns null:
new[] { "ca", "ce" }.LastOrDefault(x => x.Contains("b"));
// Returns null:
new string[0].LastOrDefault();
Single()
• If the sequence contains exactly one element, or exactly one element matching the provided
predicate, that element is returned.
• If the sequence contains no elements, or no elements matching the provided predicate, an
InvalidOperationException is thrown with the message "Sequence contains no elements".
• If the sequence contains more than one element, or more than one element matching the
provided predicate, an InvalidOperationException is thrown with the message "Sequence
contains more than one element".
• Note: in order to evaluate whether the sequence contains exactly one element, at most two
elements has to be enumerated.
Example
// Returns "a":
new[] { "a" }.Single();
// Returns "b":
new[] { "a", "b" }.Single(x => x.Equals("b"));
// Throws InvalidOperationException:
new[] { "a", "b" }.Single(x => x.Equals("c"));
// Throws InvalidOperationException:
new string[0].Single();
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SingleOrDefault()
• If the sequence contains exactly one element, or exactly one element matching the provided
predicate, that element is returned.
• If the sequence contains no elements, or no elements matching the provided predicate,
default(T) is returned.
• If the sequence contains more than one element, or more than one element matching the
provided predicate, an InvalidOperationException is thrown with the message "Sequence
contains more than one element".
• If the sequence contains no elements matching the provided predicate, returns the default
value of the sequence type using default(T).
• Note: in order to evaluate whether the sequence contains exactly one element, at most two
elements has to be enumerated.
Example
// Returns "a":
new[] { "a" }.SingleOrDefault();
// returns "a"
new[] { "a", "b" }.SingleOrDefault(x => x == "a");
// Returns null:
new[] { "a", "b" }.SingleOrDefault(x => x == "c");
// Throws InvalidOperationException:
new[] { "a", "a" }.SingleOrDefault(x => x == "a");
// Throws InvalidOperationException:
new[] { "a", "b" }.SingleOrDefault();
// Returns null:
new string[0].SingleOrDefault();
Recommendations
• Although you can use FirstOrDefault, LastOrDefault or SingleOrDefault to check whether a
sequence contains any items, Any or Count are more reliable. This is because a return value
of default(T) from one of these three methods doesn't prove that the sequence is empty, as
the value of the first / last / single element of the sequence could equally be default(T)
• Decide on which methods fits your code's purpose the most. For instance, use Single only if
you must ensure that there is a single item in the collection matching your predicate —
otherwise use First; as Single throw an exception if the sequence has more than one
matching element. This of course applies to the "*OrDefault"-counterparts as well.
• Regarding efficiency: Although it's often appropriate to ensure that there is only one item (
Single) or, either only one or zero (SingleOrDefault) items, returned by a query, both of these
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methods require more, and often the entirety, of the collection to be examined to ensure
there in no second match to the query. This is unlike the behavior of, for example, the First
method, which can be satisfied after finding the first match.
Except
The Except method returns the set of items which are contained in the first collection but are not
contained in the second. The default IEqualityComparer is used to compare the items within the two
sets. There is an overload which accepts an IEqualityComparer as an argument.
Example:
int[] first = { 1, 2, 3, 4 };
int[] second = { 0, 2, 3, 5 };
Output:
1
4
In this case .Except(second) excludes elements contained in the array second, namely 2 and 3 (0
and 5 are not contained in the first array and are skipped).
Note that Except implies Distinct (i.e., it removes repeated elements). For example:
int[] third = { 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4 };
Output:
1
4
Implementing IEquatable or providing the function an IEqualityComparer will allow using a different
method to compare the elements. Note that the GetHashCode method should also be overridden so
that it will return an identical hash code for object that are identical according to the IEquatable
implementation.
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class Holiday : IEquatable<Holiday>
{
public string Name { get; set; }
holidayDifference = remoteHolidays
.Except(localHolidays)
.ToList();
Output:
Hanukkah
Use SelectMany() if you have, or you are creating a sequence of sequences, but you want the
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result as one long sequence.
If you have a collection of collections and would like to be able to work on data from parent and
child collection at the same time, it is also possible with SelectMany.
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new Comment()
{
Id = 4,
Content = "This post is a complete nonsense"
}
}
}
};
Now we want to select comments Content along with Id of BlogPost associated with this comment.
In order to do so, we can use appropriate SelectMany overload.
var commentsWithIds = posts.SelectMany(p => p.Comments, (post, comment) => new { PostId =
post.Id, CommentContent = comment.Content });
{
PostId = 1,
CommentContent = "It's really great!"
},
{
PostId = 1,
CommentContent = "Cool post!"
},
{
PostId = 2,
CommentContent = "I don't think you're right"
},
{
PostId = 2,
CommentContent = "This post is a complete nonsense"
}
SelectMany
If you use a selector function which turns input elements into sequences, the result will be the
elements of those sequences returned one by one.
Note that, unlike Select(), the number of elements in the output doesn't need to be the same as
were in the input.
class School
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{
public Student[] Students { get; set; }
}
class Student
{
public string Name { get; set; }
}
Output:
Bob
Jack
Jim
John
All
1. Empty parameter
All: is not allowed to be used with empty parameter.
3. Empty collection
All: Returns true if the collection is empty and a lambda expression is supplied:
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var numbers = new List<int>();
bool result = numbers.All(i => i >= 0); // true
Note: All will stop iteration of the collection as soon as it finds an element not matching the
condition. This means that the collection will not necessarily be fully enumerated; it will only be
enumerated far enough to find the first item not matching the condition.
interface IFoo { }
class Foo : IFoo { }
class Bar : IFoo { }
Using OfType
Using Where
var foos = collection.Where(item => item is Foo); // result: IEnumerable<IFoo> with item0 and
item1
var bars = collection.Where(item => item is Bar); // result: IEnumerable<IFoo> with item2 and
item3
Using Cast
Union
Merges two collections to create a distinct collection using the default equality comparer
int[] numbers1 = { 1, 2, 3 };
int[] numbers2 = { 2, 3, 4, 5 };
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JOINS
Joins are used to combine different lists or tables holding data via a common key.
(Inner) Join
// Result: {"a","a"}
// {"c","c"}
// Result: {"a","a"}
// {"b", null}
// {"c","c"}
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var rightOuterJoin = from s in second
join f in first on s equals f into temp
from t in temp.DefaultIfEmpty()
select new {First=t,Second=s};
// Result: {"a","a"}
// {"c","c"}
// {null,"d"}
Cross Join
// Result: {"a","a"}
// {"a","c"}
// {"a","d"}
// {"b","a"}
// {"b","c"}
// {"b","d"}
// {"c","a"}
// {"c","c"}
// {"c","d"}
// Result: {"a","a"}
// {"b", null}
// {"c","c"}
// {null,"d"}
Practical example
The examples above have a simple data structure so you can focus on understanding the different
LINQ joins technically, but in the real world you would have tables with columns you need to join.
In the following example, there is just one class Region used, in reality you would join two or more
different tables which hold the same key (in this example first and second are joined via the
common key ID).
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ID = pRegionID; RegionDescription = pRegionDescription;
}
}
// Left data
var first = new List<Region>()
{ new Region(1), new Region(3), new Region(4) };
// Right data
var second = new List<Region>()
{
new Region(1, "Eastern"), new Region(2, "Western"),
new Region(3, "Northern"), new Region(4, "Southern")
};
You can see that in this example first doesn't contain any region descriptions so you want to join
them from second. Then the inner join would look like:
// Result: {1,"Eastern"}
// {3, Northern}
// {4,"Southern"}
This result has created anonymous objects on the fly, which is fine, but we have already created a
proper class - so we can specify it: Instead of select new { f.ID, s.RegionDescription }; we can
say select new Region(f.ID, s.RegionDescription);, which will return the same data but will create
objects of type Region - that will maintain compatibility with the other objects.
Distinct
Returns unique values from an IEnumerable. Uniqueness is determined using the default equality
comparer.
int[] array = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 5, 3, 1, 2 };
To compare a custom data type, we need to implement the IEquatable<T> interface and provide
GetHashCode and Equals methods for the type. Or the equality comparer may be overridden:
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}
List<Person> people;
distinct = people.Distinct(SSNEqualityComparer);
foreach (var grp in films.GroupBy(f => new { Category = f.Category, Year = f.Year })) {
var groupCategory = grp.Key.Category;
var groupYear = grp.Key.Year;
var numberOfFilmsInCategory = grp.Count();
}
You can use the Enumerable class alongside Linq queries to convert for loops into Linq one liners.
Select Example
Where Example
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In this example, 100 numbers will be generated and even ones will be extracted
Ascending:
Query Syntax
var sortedNames =
from name in names
orderby name
select name;
Method Syntax
Descending:
Query Syntax
var sortedNames =
from name in names
orderby name descending
select name;
Method Syntax
Person[] people =
{
new Person { FirstName = "Steve", LastName = "Collins", Age = 30},
new Person { FirstName = "Phil" , LastName = "Collins", Age = 28},
new Person { FirstName = "Adam" , LastName = "Ackerman", Age = 29},
new Person { FirstName = "Adam" , LastName = "Ackerman", Age = 15}
};
Query Syntax
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var sortedPeople = from person in people
orderby person.LastName, person.FirstName, person.Age descending
select person;
Method Syntax
Result
1. Adam Ackerman 29
2. Adam Ackerman 15
3. Phil Collins 28
4. Steve Collins 30
Basics
We can "query" on this data using LINQ syntax. For example, to retrieve all students who have a
snack today:
Or, to retrieve students with a grade of 90 or above, and only return their names, not the full
Student object:
The LINQ feature is comprised of two syntaxes that perform the same functions, have nearly
identical performance, but are written very differently. The syntax in the example above is called
query syntax. The following example, however, illustrates method syntax. The same data will be
returned as in the example above, but the way the query is written is different.
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var topStudentNames = classroom.Students
.Where(s => s.Grade >= 90)
.Select(s => s.Name);
GroupBy
GroupBy is an easy way to sort a IEnumerable<T> collection of items into distinct groups.
Simple Example
In this first example, we end up with two groups, odd and even items.
Then we create our sample list of people with various names and ages.
Doing so, we can see the Age for each group, and have a list of each person in the group.
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foreach(var result in query)
{
Console.WriteLine(result.Key);
20
Mouse
30
Neo
Trinity
40
Morpheus
Dozer
Smith
Any
1. Empty parameter
Any: Returns true if the collection has any elements and false if the collection is empty:
3. Empty collection
Any: Returns false if the collection is empty and a lambda expression is supplied:
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var numbers = new List<int>();
bool result = numbers.Any(i => i >= 0); // false
Note: Any will stop iteration of the collection as soon as it finds an element matching the condition.
This means that the collection will not necessarily be fully enumerated; it will only be enumerated
far enough to find the first item matching the condition.
ToDictionary
The ToDictionary() LINQ method can be used to generate a Dictionary<TKey, TElement> collection
based on a given IEnumerable<T> source.
In this example, the single argument passed to ToDictionary is of type Func<TSource, TKey>, which
returns the key for each element.
You can also pass a second parameter to the ToDictionary method, which is of type Func<TSource,
TElement> and returns the Value to be added for each entry.
It is also possible to specify the IComparer that is used to compare key values. This can be useful
when the key is a string and you want it to match case-insensitive.
Note: the ToDictionary method requires all keys to be unique, there must be no duplicate keys. If
there are, then an exception is thrown: ArgumentException: An item with the same key has already
been added. If you have a scenario where you know that you will have multiple elements with the
same key, then you are better off using ToLookup instead.
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Aggregate
int[] intList = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 };
int sum = intList.Aggregate((prevSum, current) => prevSum + current);
// sum = 55
A second overload of Aggregate also receives an seed parameter which is the initial accumulator
value. This can be used to calculate multiple conditions on a collection without iterating it more
than once.
Note that using an anonymous type as the seed one has to instantiate a new object each item
because the properties are read only. Using a custom class one can simply assign the information
and no new is needed (only when giving the initial seed parameter
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In order to define a variable inside a linq expression, you can use the let keyword. This is usually
done in order to store the results of intermediate sub-queries, for example:
int[] numbers = { 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 };
Output:
View Demo
SkipWhile
SkipWhile() is used to exclude elements until first non-match (this might be counter intuitive to
most)
DefaultIfEmpty
DefaultIfEmpty is used to return a Default Element if the Sequence contains no elements. This
Element can be the Default of the Type or a user defined instance of that Type. Example:
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chars.Where(str => str.Length > 1)
.DefaultIfEmpty().First(); // returns null;
ouput:
Num = 99 Char = c
Num = 100 Char = d
Num = 5 Char = ?
Num = 20 Char = ?
Num = 102 Char = ?
Num = 105 Char = i
In the case where a DefaultIfEmpty is used (without specifying a default value) and that will result
will no matching items on the right sequence one must make sure that the object is not null before
accessing its properties. Otherwise it will result in a NullReferenceException. Example:
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// 5 will not have a matching object in the right so result
// will be equal to null.
// To avoid an error use:
// - C# 6.0 or above - ?.
// - Under - result == null ? 0 : result.Value
Right = result?.Value
}).ToList();
SequenceEqual
Count returns the number of elements in an IEnumerable<T>. Count also exposes an optional
predicate parameter that allows you to filter the elements you want to count.
int[] array = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 5, 3, 1, 2 };
LongCount works the same way as Count but has a return type of long and is used for counting
IEnumerable<T> sequences that are longer than int.MaxValue
Because LINQ uses deferred execution, we can have a query object that doesn't actually contain
the values, but will return the values when evaluated. We can thus dynamically build the query
based on our control flow, and evaluate it once we are finished:
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Make = v.Make,
Model = v.Model,
Cylinders = v.Cylinders ?? 0
});
if (!search.Years.Contains("all", StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
query = query.Where(v => search.Years.Contains(v.Year));
if (!search.Makes.Contains("all", StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)) {
query = query.Where(v => search.Makes.Contains(v.Make));
}
if (!search.Models.Contains("all", StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)) {
query = query.Where(v => search.Models.Contains(v.Model));
}
if (!search.Cylinders.Equals("all", StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)) {
decimal minCylinders = 0;
decimal maxCylinders = 0;
switch (search.Cylinders) {
case "2-4":
maxCylinders = 4;
break;
case "5-6":
minCylinders = 5;
maxCylinders = 6;
break;
case "8":
minCylinders = 8;
maxCylinders = 8;
break;
case "10+":
minCylinders = 10;
break;
}
if (minCylinders > 0) {
query = query.Where(v => v.Cylinders >= minCylinders);
}
if (maxCylinders > 0) {
query = query.Where(v => v.Cylinders <= maxCylinders);
}
}
switch (search.SortingColumn.ToLower()) {
case "make_model":
query = query.OrderBy(v => v.Make).ThenBy(v => v.Model);
break;
case "year":
query = query.OrderBy(v => v.Year);
break;
case "engine_size":
query = query.OrderBy(v => v.EngineSize).ThenBy(v => v.Cylinders);
break;
default:
query = query.OrderBy(v => v.Year); //The default sorting.
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}
Once we have the query object, we can evaluate the results with a foreach loop, or one of the
LINQ methods that returns a set of values, such as ToList or ToArray:
SearchModel sm;
Zip
The Zip extension method acts upon two collections. It pairs each element in the two series
together based on position. With a Func instance, we use Zip to handle elements from the two C#
collections in pairs. If the series differ in size, the extra elements of the larger series will be
ignored.
int[] numbers = { 3, 5, 7 };
string[] words = { "three", "five", "seven", "ignored" };
IEnumerable<string> zip = numbers.Zip(words, (n, w) => n + "=" + w);
Output:
3=three
5=five
7=seven
View Demo
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var groupJoinQuery =
from c in customers
join p in purchases on c.ID equals p.CustomerID
into custPurchases
select new
{
CustName = c.Name,
custPurchases
};
ElementAt will return the item at index n. If n is not within the range of the enumerable, throws an
ArgumentOutOfRangeException.
int[] numbers = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
numbers.ElementAt(2); // 3
numbers.ElementAt(10); // throws ArgumentOutOfRangeException
ElementAtOrDefault will return the item at index n. If n is not within the range of the enumerable,
returns a default(T).
int[] numbers = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
numbers.ElementAtOrDefault(2); // 3
numbers.ElementAtOrDefault(10); // 0 = default(int)
Both ElementAt and ElementAtOrDefault are optimized for when the source is an IList<T> and
normal indexing will be used in those cases.
Note that for ElementAt, if the provided index is greater than the size of the IList<T>, the list should
(but is technically not guaranteed to) throw an ArgumentOutOfRangeException.
Linq Quantifiers
Quantifier operations return a Boolean value if some or all of the elements in a sequence satisfy a
condition. In this article, we will see some common LINQ to Objects scenarios where we can use
these operators. There are 3 Quantifiers operations that can be used in LINQ:
All – used to determine whether all the elements in a sequence satisfy a condition. Eg:
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Any - used to determine whether any elements in a sequence satisfy a condition. Eg:
//for a string
var stringValue="hello";
stringValue.Contains("h");
new Customer() {
Id = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),
Name = "Customer2"
}
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};
new Purchase() {
Id = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),
CustomerId = customers[0].Id,
Description = "Customer1-Purchase2"
},
new Purchase() {
Id = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),
CustomerId = customers[1].Id,
Description = "Customer2-Purchase1"
},
new Purchase() {
Id = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),
CustomerId = customers[1].Id,
Description = "Customer2-Purchase2"
}
};
new PurchaseItem() {
Id = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),
PurchaseId= purchases[1].Id,
Detail = "Purchase2-PurchaseItem1"
},
new PurchaseItem() {
Id = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),
PurchaseId= purchases[1].Id,
Detail = "Purchase2-PurchaseItem2"
},
new PurchaseItem() {
Id = Guid.NewGuid().ToString(),
PurchaseId= purchases[3].Id,
Detail = "Purchase3-PurchaseItem1"
}
};
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join pi in purchaseItems on p.Id equals pi.PurchaseId // second join
select new
{
c.Name, p.Description, pi.Detail
};
var query =
from s in stringProps
join b in builderProps
on new { s.Name, s.PropertyType } equals new { b.Name, b.PropertyType }
select new
{
s.Name,
s.PropertyType,
StringToken = s.MetadataToken,
StringBuilderToken = b.MetadataToken
};
Note that anonymous types in above join must contain same properties since objects are
considered equal only if all their properties are equal. Otherwise query won't compile.
On of the overloads of the Select extension methods also passes the index of the current item in
the collection being selected. These are a few uses of it.
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var rowNumbers = collection.OrderBy(item => item.Property1)
.ThenBy(item => item.Property2)
.ThenByDescending(item => item.Property3)
.Select((item, index) => new { Item = item, RowNumber = index })
.ToList();
And data:
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new SomeObject { Property1 = 2, Property2 = 2, Property3 = 1},
new SomeObject { Property1 = 2, Property2 = 3, Property3 = 1}
};
TakeWhile
Sum
In case the collection's elements are themselves numbers, you can calculate the sum directly.
In case the type of the elements is a complex type, you can use a lambda expression to specify
the value that should be calculated:
• Int32
• Int64
• Single
• Double
• Decimal
In case your collection contains nullable types, you can use the null-coalescing operator to set a
default value for null elements:
ToLookup
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var lookup = array.ToLookup(item => item.Length);
Another Example:
One of the great things about Linq is that it is so easy to extend. You just need to create an
extension method whose argument is IEnumerable<T>.
This example splits the items in an IEnumerable<T> into lists of a fixed size, the last list containing
the remainder of the items. Notice how the object to which the extension method is applied is
passed in (argument source) as the initial argument using the this keyword. Then the yield
keyword is used to output the next item in the output IEnumerable<T> before continuing with
execution from that point (see yield keyword).
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//using MyNamespace;
var items = new List<int> { 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 };
foreach (List<int> sublist in items.Batch(3))
{
// do something
}
On the first loop, sublist would be {2, 3, 4} and on the second {5, 6}.
Custom LinQ methods can be combined with standard LinQ methods too. e.g.:
//using MyNamespace;
var result = Enumerable.Range(0, 13) // generate a list
.Where(x => x%2 == 0) // filter the list or do something other
.Batch(3) // call our extension method
.ToList() // call other standard methods
This query will return even numbers grouped in batches with a size of 3: {0, 2, 4}, {6, 8, 10},
{12}
Remember you need a using MyNamespace; line in order to be able to access the extension method.
Given 2 lists
if you want to output all permutations you could use nested loops like
I won't explain what Any and FirstOrDefault does because there are already two good example
about them. See Any and First, FirstOrDefault, Last, LastOrDefault, Single, and SingleOrDefault
for more information.
if (myEnumerable.Any(t=>t.Foo == "Bob"))
{
var myFoo = myEnumerable.First(t=>t.Foo == "Bob");
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//Do stuff
}
By using the second example, the collection is searched only once and give the same result as the
first one. The same idea can be applied to Single.
If you want to calculate category wise sum of amount and count, you can use GroupBy as follows:
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Alternatively, you can do this in one step:
Reverse
Example:
// Create an array.
int[] array = { 1, 2, 3, 4 }; //Output:
// Call reverse extension method on the array. //4
var reverse = array.Reverse(); //3
// Write contents of array to screen. //2
foreach (int value in reverse) //1
Console.WriteLine(value);
Remeber that Reverse() may work diffrent depending on the chain order of your LINQ statements.
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IEnumerable<int> reverseLast = integerlist.Take(2).Reverse();
//reverseFirst output: 6, 5
//reverseLast output: 2, 1
Reverse() works by buffering everything then walk through it backwards, whitch is not very
efficient, but neither is OrderBy from that perspective.
In LINQ-to-Objects, there are buffering operations (Reverse, OrderBy, GroupBy, etc) and non-
buffering operations (Where, Take, Skip, etc).
This method can encounter problems if u mutate the list while iterating.
The IEnumerable<T> interface is the base interface for all generic enumerators and is a
quintessential part of understanding LINQ. At its core, it represents the sequence.
This underlying interface is inherited by all of the generic collections, such as Collection<T>, Array,
List<T>, Dictionary<TKey,TValue> Class, and HashSet<T>.
In addition to representing the sequence, any class that inherits from IEnumerable<T> must
provide an IEnumerator<T>. The enumerator exposes the iterator for the enumerable, and these
two interconnected interfaces and ideas are the source of the saying "enumerate the enumerable".
"Enumerating the enumerable" is an important phrase. The enumerable is simply a structure for
how to iterate, it does not hold any materialized objects. For example, when sorting, an
enumerable may hold the criteria of the field to sort, but using .OrderBy() in itself will return an
IEnumerable<T> which only knows how to sort. Using a call which will materialize the objects, as
in iterate the set, is known as enumerating (for example .ToList()). The enumeration process will
use the the enumerable definition of how in order to move through the series and return the
relevant objects (in order, filtered, projected, etc.).
Only once the enumerable has been enumerated does it cause the materialization of the objects,
which is when metrics like time complexity (how long it should take related to series size) and
spacial complexity (how much space it should use related to series size) can be measured.
Creating your own class that inherits from IEnumerable<T> can be a little complicated depending
on the underlying series that needs to be enumerable. In general it is best to use one of the
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existing generic collections. That said, it is also possible to inherit from the IEnumerable<T>
interface without having a defined array as the underlying structure.
For example, using the Fibonacci series as the underlying sequence. Note that the call to Where
simply builds an IEnumerable, and it is not until a call to enumerate that enumerable is made that
any of the values are materialized.
void Main()
{
Fibonacci Fibo = new Fibonacci();
IEnumerable<long> quadrillionplus = Fibo.Where(i => i > 1000000000000);
Console.WriteLine("Enumerable built");
Console.WriteLine(quadrillionplus.Take(2).Sum());
Console.WriteLine(quadrillionplus.Skip(2).First());
Output
Enumerable built
Enumerating the Enumerable
4052739537881
Enumerating the Enumerable
4052739537881
Enumerable built
Enumerating the Enumerable
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14930352
The strength in the second set (the fibMod612) is that even though we made the call to order our
entire set of Fibonacci numbers, since only one value was taken using .First() the time
complexity was O(n) as only 1 value needed to be compared during the ordering algorithm's
execution. This is because our enumerator only asked for 1 value, and so the entire enumerable
did not have to be materialized. Had we used .Take(5) instead of .First() the enumerator would
have asked for 5 values, and at most 5 values would need to be materialized. Compared to
needing to order an entire set and then take the first 5 values, the principle of saves a lot of
execution time and space.
OrderBy
When the value is an integer, double or float it starts with the minimum value, which means that
you get first the negative values, than zero and afterwords the positive values (see Example 1).
When you order by a char the method compares the ascii values of the chars to sort the collection
(see Example 2).
When you sort strings the OrderBy method compares them by taking a look at their CultureInfo
but normaly starting with the first letter in the alphabet (a,b,c...).
This kind of order is called ascending, if you want it the other way round you need descending
(see OrderByDescending).
Example 1:
Example 2:
char[] letters = {' ', '!', '?', '[', '{', '+', '1', '9', 'a', 'A', 'b', 'B', 'y', 'Y', 'z',
'Z'};
IEnumerable<char> ascending = letters.OrderBy(x => x);
// returns { ' ', '!', '+', '1', '9', '?', 'A', 'B', 'Y', 'Z', '[', 'a', 'b', 'y', 'z', '{' }
Example:
class Person
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Age { get; set; }
}
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new Person {Name = "Bob", Age = 21},
new Person {Name = "Carol", Age = 43}
};
var youngestPerson = people.OrderBy(x => x.Age).First();
var name = youngestPerson.Name; // Bob
OrderByDescending
When the value is an integer, double or float it starts with the maximal value, which means that
you get first the positive values, than zero and afterwords the negative values (see Example 1).
When you order by a char the method compares the ascii values of the chars to sort the collection
(see Example 2).
When you sort strings the OrderBy method compares them by taking a look at their CultureInfo
but normaly starting with the last letter in the alphabet (z,y,x,...).
This kind of order is called descending, if you want it the other way round you need ascending
(see OrderBy).
Example 1:
Example 2:
char[] letters = {' ', '!', '?', '[', '{', '+', '1', '9', 'a', 'A', 'b', 'B', 'y', 'Y', 'z',
'Z'};
IEnumerable<char> descending = letters.OrderByDescending(x => x);
// returns { '{', 'z', 'y', 'b', 'a', '[', 'Z', 'Y', 'B', 'A', '?', '9', '1', '+', '!', ' ' }
Example 3:
class Person
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Age { get; set; }
}
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Concat
Contains
MSDN:
//Using the Person's Equals method - override Equals() and GetHashCode() - otherwise it
//will compare by reference and result will be false
var result4 = objects.Contains(new Person { Name = "Phil" }); // true
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}
public int GetHashCode(Person codeh)
{
return codeh.Name.GetHashCode();
}
}
Do this:
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Chapter 93: Linq to Objects
Introduction
LINQ to Objects refers to the use of LINQ queries with any IEnumerable collection.
Examples
How LINQ to Object executes queries
LINQ queries do not execute immediately. When you are building the query you are simply storing
the query for future execution. Only when you actually request to iterate the query is the query
executed (e.g. in a for loop, when calling ToList, Count, Max, Average, First, etc.)
This is considered deferred execution. This allows you to build up the query in multiple steps,
potentially modifying it based on conditional statements, and then execute it later only once you
require the result.
The example above only stores the query into query variable. It does not execute the query itself.
foreach(var n in query) {
Console.WriteLine($"Number selected {n}");
}
Some LINQ methods will also trigger the query execution, Count, First, Max, Average. They return
single values. ToList and ToArray collects result and turn them to a List or a Array respectively.
Be aware that it is possible for you to iterate across the query multiple times if you call multiple
LINQ functions on the same query. This could give you different results at each call. If you only
want to work with one data set, be sure to save it into a list or array.
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"Audi A4",
"Ford Focus",
"Seat Leon",
"VW Passat",
"VW Polo",
"Mercedes C-Class" };
Console.WriteLine(sb.ToString());
Console.ReadLine();
}
In the example above, an array of strings (cars) is used as a collection of objects to be queried
using LINQ. In a LINQ query, the from clause comes first in order to introduce the data source
(cars) and the range variable (car). When the query is executed, the range variable will serve as a
reference to each successive element in cars. Because the compiler can infer the type of car, you
do not have to specify it explicitly
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
The WHERE clause is used to query the string array (cars) to find and return a subset of array
which satisfies the WHERE clause.
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
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Generating an Ordered List
Sometimes it is useful to sort the returned data. The orderby clause will cause the elements to be
sorted according to the default comparer for the type being sorted.
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
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var car7 = new Car("VW Polo", 69867);
var car8 = new Car("Mercedes C-Class", 67549);
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
Until now the examples don't seem amazing as one can just iterate through the array to do
basically the same. However, with the few examples below you can see how to create more
complex queries with LINQ to Objects and achieve more with a lot less of code.
In the example below we can select cars that have been sold over 60000 units and sort them over
the number of units sold:
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
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In the example below we can select cars that have sold an odd number of units and order them
alphabetically over its name:
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
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Chapter 94: LINQ to XML
Examples
Read XML using LINQ to XML
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Console.WriteLine(employee.Element("Name").Value);
}
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Chapter 95: Literals
Syntax
• bool: true or false
• byte: None, integer literal implicitly converted from int
• sbyte: None, integer literal implicitly converted from int
• char: Wrap the value with single-quotes
• decimal: M or m
• double: D, d, or a real number
• float: F or f
• int: None, default for integral values within the range of int
• uint: U, u, or integral values within the range of uint
• long: L, l, or integral values within the range of long
• ulong: UL, ul, Ul, uL, LU, lu, Lu, lU, or integral values within the range of ulong
• short: None, integer literal implicitly converted from int
• ushort: None, integer literal implicitly converted from int
• string: Wrap the value with double-quotes, optionally prepended with @
• null: The literal null
Examples
int literals
int literals are defined by simply using integral values within the range of int:
int i = 5;
uint literals
uint literals are defined by using the suffix U or u, or by using an integral values within the range of
uint:
uint ui = 5U;
string literals
string literals are defined by wrapping the value with double-quotes ":
String literals may contain escape sequences. See String Escape Sequences
Additionally, C# supports verbatim string literals (See Verbatim Strings). These are defined by
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wrapping the value with double-quotes ", and prepending it with @. Escape sequences are ignored
in verbatim string literals, and all whitespace characters are included:
char literals
char literals are defined by wrapping the value with single-quotes ':
char c = 'h';
Character literals may contain escape sequences. See String Escape Sequences
A character literal must be exactly one character long (after all escape sequences have been
evaluated). Empty character literals are not valid. The default character (returned by default(char)
or new char()) is '\0', or the NULL character (not to be confused with the null literal and null
references).
byte literals
byte type has no literal suffix. Integer literals are implicitly converted from int:
byte b = 127;
sbyte literals
sbyte type has no literal suffix. Integer literals are implicitly converted from int:
sbyte sb = 127;
decimal literals
decimal m = 30.5M;
double literals
double literals are defined by using the suffix D or d, or by using a real number:
double d = 30.5D;
float literals
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float literals are defined by using the suffix F or f, or by using a real number:
float f = 30.5F;
long literals
long literals are defined by using the suffix L or l, or by using an integral values within the range of
long:
long l = 5L;
ulong literal
ulongliterals are defined by using the suffix UL, ul, Ul, uL, LU, lu, Lu, or lU, or by using an integral
values within the range of ulong:
ulong ul = 5UL;
short literal
short type has no literal. Integer literals are implicitly converted from int:
short s = 127;
ushort literal
ushort type has no literal suffix. Integer literals are implicitly converted from int:
ushort us = 127;
bool literals
bool b = true;
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Chapter 96: Lock Statement
Syntax
• lock (obj) {}
Remarks
Using the lock statement you can control different threads' access to code within the code block. It
is commonly used to prevent race conditions, for example multiple threads reading and removing
items from a collection. As locking forces threads to wait for other threads to exit a code block it
can cause delays that could be solved with other synchronization methods.
MSDN
The lock keyword marks a statement block as a critical section by obtaining the mutual-
exclusion lock for a given object, executing a statement, and then releasing the lock.
The lock keyword ensures that one thread does not enter a critical section of code
while another thread is in the critical section. If another thread tries to enter a locked
code, it will wait, block, until the object is released.
Best practice is to define a private object to lock on, or a private static object variable
to protect data common to all instances.
System.Threading.Monitor.Enter(refObject);
try
{
// code
}
finally
{
System.Threading.Monitor.Exit(refObject);
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}
Examples
Simple usage
If a thread reaches lock-ed block while another thread is running within it, the former will wait
another to exit the block.
Best practice is to define a private object to lock on, or a private static object variable to
protect data common to all instances.
Following code will release the lock. There will be no problem. Behind the scenes lock statement
works as try finally
lock(locker)
{
throw new Exception();
}
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bool __lockWasTaken = false;
try {
System.Threading.Monitor.Enter(x, ref __lockWasTaken);
...
}
finally {
if (__lockWasTaken) System.Threading.Monitor.Exit(x);
}
lock(locker)
{
return 5;
}
When using C#'s inbuilt lock statement an instance of some type is needed, but its state does not
matter. An instance of object is perfect for this:
NB. instances of Type should not be used for this (in the code above typeof(ThreadSafe)) because
instances of Type are shared across AppDomains and thus the extent of the lock can expectedly
include code it shouldn't (eg. if ThreadSafe is loaded into two AppDomains in the same process
then locking on its Type instance would mutually lock).
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List<string> stringList = new List<string>();
// Define object that can be used for thread safety in the AddToList method
readonly object classLock = new object();
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accessing certain protected fields:
public Base()
{
this.padlock = new object();
this.list = new List<string>();
}
public Base()
{
this.padlock = new object();
this.list = new List<string>();
}
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{
protected override void DoInternal()
{
this.list.Add("Derived1"); // Yay! No need to lock
}
}
BulemicCounter.Inc:
IL_0000: nop
IL_0001: ldarg.0
IL_0002: ldarg.0
IL_0003: ldfld UserQuery+BulemicCounter.counterLock
IL_0008: box System.Int32**
IL_000D: call UserQuery+BulemicCounter.IncInSync
IL_0012: nop
IL_0013: ret
It does not mean that a boxed ValueType can't be used for monitor locking at all:
IL_0001: ldc.i4.1
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IL_0002: box System.Int32
IL_0007: stfld UserQuery+BulemicCounter.counterLock
public WordStats()
{
this.padlock = new object();
this.values = new Dictionary<string, object>();
}
If there are multiple methods accessing the values dictionary, the code can get very long and,
more importantly, locking all the time obscures its intent. Locking is also very easy to forget and
lack of proper locking can cause very hard to find bugs.
public WordStats()
{
this.values = new ConcurrentDictionary<string, object>();
}
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Using concurrent collections also improves performance because all of them employ lock-free
techniques to some extent.
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Chapter 97: Looping
Examples
Looping styles
While
The most trivial loop type. Only drawback is there is no intrinsic clue to know where you are in the
loop.
Do
Similar to while, but the condition is evaluated at the end of the loop instead of the beginning. This
results in executing the loops at least once.
do
{
/// do something
} while(condition) /// loop while the condition satisfies
For
Another trivial loop style. While looping an index (i) gets increased and you can use it. It is usually
used for handling arrays.
Foreach
Modernized way of looping through IEnumarable objects. Good thing that you don't have to think
about the index of the item or the item count of the list.
Foreach Method
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While the other styles are used for selecting or updating the elements in collections, this style is
usually used for calling a method straight away for all elements in a collection.
// or
list.ForEach(item => DoSomething(item));
// using an array
Array.ForEach(myArray, Console.WriteLine);
It is important to note that this method in only available on List<T> instances and as a static
method on Array - it is not part of Linq.
Just like Linq Foreach, except this one does the job in a parallel manner. Meaning that all the
items in the collection will run the given action at the same time, simultaneously.
/// or
collection.AsParallel().ForAll(item => DoSomething(item));
break
Sometimes loop condition should be checked in the middle of the loop. The former is arguably
more elegant than the latter:
for (;;)
{
// precondition code that can change the value of should_end_loop expression
if (should_end_loop)
break;
// do something
}
Alternative:
if (!endLoop)
{
// do something
}
}
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Note: In nested loops and/or switch must use more than just a simple break.
Foreach Loop
foreach will iterate over any object of a class that implements IEnumerable (take note that
IEnumerable<T> inherits from it). Such objects include some built-in ones, but not limit to: List<T>,
T[] (arrays of any type), Dictionary<TKey, TSource>, as well as interfaces like IQueryable and
ICollection, etc.
syntax
remarks
1. The type ItemType does not need to match the precise type of the items, it just needs to be
assignable from the type of the items
2. Instead of ItemType, alternatively var can be used which will infer the items type from the
enumerableObject by inspecting the generic argument of the IEnumerable implementation
3. The statement can be a block, a single statement or even an empty statement (;)
4. If enumerableObject is not implementing IEnumerable, the code will not compile
5. During each iteration the current item is cast to ItemType (even if this is not specified but
compiler-inferred via var) and if the item cannot be cast an InvalidCastException will be
thrown.
is equivalent to:
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{
if (enumerator != null)
enumerator.Dispose();
}
While loop
int n = 0;
while (n < 5)
{
Console.WriteLine(n);
n++;
}
Output:
0
1
2
3
4
// Call a custom method that takes a count, and returns an IEnumerator for a list
// of strings with the names of theh largest city metro areas.
IEnumerator<string> largestMetroAreas = GetLargestMetroAreas(4);
while (largestMetroAreas.MoveNext())
{
Console.WriteLine(largestMetroAreas.Current);
}
Sample output:
Tokyo/Yokohama
New York Metro
Sao Paulo
Seoul/Incheon
For Loop
A For Loop is great for doing things a certain amount of time. It's like a While Loop but the
increment is included with the condition.
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Initialization - Makes a new local variable that can only be used in the loop.
Condition - The loop only runs when the condition is true.
Increment - How the variable changes every time the loop runs.
An example:
Output:
0
1
2
3
4
You can also leave out spaces in the For Loop, but you have to have all semicolons for it to
function.
Output for 3:
3
5
7
9
11
Do - While Loop
It is similar to a while loop, except that it tests the condition at the end of the loop body. The Do -
While loop executes the loop once irrespective of whether the condition is true or not.
// Sum values from the array until we get a total that's greater than 10,
// or until we run out of values.
int sum = 0;
int i = 0;
do
{
sum += numbers[i];
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i++;
} while (sum <= 10 && i < numbers.Length);
System.Console.WriteLine(sum); // 13
Nested loops
continue
In addition to break, there is also the keyword continue. Instead of breaking completely the loop, it
will simply skip the current iteration. It could be useful if you don't want some code to be executed
if a particular value is set.
Console.WriteLine(i);
}
9
10
Note: Continue is often most useful in while or do-while loops. For-loops, with well-defined exit
conditions, may not benefit as much.
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Chapter 98: Making a variable thread safe
Examples
Controlling access to a variable in a Parallel.For loop
using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
class Program
{
static void Main( string[] args )
{
object sync = new object();
int sum = 0;
Parallel.For( 1, 1000, ( i ) => {
lock( sync ) sum = sum + i; // lock is necessary
It is not sufficient to just do sum = sum + i without the lock because the read-modify-write operation
is not atomic. A thread will overwrite any external modifications to sum that occur after it has read
the current value of sum, but before it stores the modified value of sum + i back into sum.
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Chapter 99: Methods
Examples
Declaring a Method
Every method has a unique signature consisting of a accessor (public, private, ...) ,optional
modifier (abstract), a name and if needed method parameters. Note, that the return type is not part
of the signature. A method prototype looks like the following:
ReturnType can be void for no return or can be any type from the basic ones, as int to complex
classes.
a Method may have some or no input parameters. to set parameters for a method, you should
declare each one like normal variable declarations (like int a), and for more than one parameter
you should use comma between them (like int a, int b).
Parameters may have default values. for this you should set a value for the parameter (like int a =
0). if a parameter has a default value, setting the input value is optional.
Calling a Method
// Single argument
System.Console.WriteLine("Hello World");
// Multiple arguments
string name = "User";
System.Console.WriteLine("Hello, {0}!", name);
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string input = System.Console.ReadLine();
int x = 42;
// The instance method called here is Int32.ToString()
string xAsString = x.ToString();
A method can declare any number of parameters (in this example, i, s and o are the parameters):
Parameters can be used to pass values into a method, so that the method can work with them.
This can be every kind of work like printing the values, or making modifications to the object
referenced by a parameter, or storing the values.
When you call the method, you need to pass an actual value for every parameter. At this point, the
values that you actually pass to the method call are called Arguments:
Return Types
If your method specifies a return value, the method must return a value. You do this using the
return statement. Once a return statement has been reached, it returns the specified value and
any code after it will not be run anymore (exceptions are finally blocks, which will still be
executed before the method returns).
If your method returns nothing (void), you can still use the return statement without a value if you
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want to return from the method immediately. At the end of such a method, a return statement
would be unnecessary though.
return;
return 0;
return x * 2;
return Console.ReadLine();
Throwing an exception can end method execution without returning a value. Also, there are
iterator blocks, where return values are generated by using the yield keyword, but those are
special cases that will not be explained at this point.
Default Parameters
You can use default parameters if you want to provide the option to leave out parameters:
When you call such a method and omit a parameter for which a default value is provided, the
compiler inserts that default value for you.
Keep in mind that parameters with default values need to be written after parameters without
default values.
WARNING: Because it works that way, default values can be problematic in some cases. If you
change the default value of a method parameter and don't recompile all callers of that method,
those callers will still use the default value that was present when they were compiled, possibly
causing inconsistencies.
Method overloading
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Definition : When multiple methods with the same name are declared with different parameters, it
is referred to as method overloading. Method overloading typically represents functions that are
identical in their purpose but are written to accept different data types as their parameters.
Factors affecting
• Number of Arguments
• Type of arguments
• Return Type**
Consider a method named Area that will perform calculation functions, which will accepts various
arguments and return the result.
Example
This method will accepts one argument and return a string, if we call the method with an
integer(say 5) the output will be "Area of Square is 25".
Similarly if we pass two double values to this method the output will be the product of the two
values and are of type double. This can be used of multiplication as well as finding the Area of
rectangles
This can be used specially for finding the area of circle, which will accepts a double value(radius)
and return another double value as its Area.
Each of these methods can be called normally without conflict - the compiler will examine the
parameters of each method call to determine which version of Area needs to be used.
**Note that return type alone cannot differentiate between two methods. For instance, if we had
two definitions for Area that had the same parameters, like so:
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public string Area(double width, double height) { ... }
public double Area(double width, double height) { ... }
// This will NOT compile.
If we need to have our class use the same method names that return different values, we can
remove the issues of ambiguity by implementing an interface and explicitly defining its usage.
Anonymous method
Anonymous methods provide a technique to pass a code block as a delegate parameter. They are
methods with a body, but no name.
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// C# 2.0 definition
IntOp add = delegate(int lhs, int rhs)
{
return lhs + rhs;
};
// C# 3.0 definition
IntOp mul = (lhs, rhs) =>
{
return lhs * rhs;
};
Access rights
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// static: is callable on a class even when no instance of the class has been created
public static void MyMethod()
//protected internal: access is limited to the current assembly or types derived from the
containing class.
protected internal void MyMethod()
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Chapter 100:
Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices
Examples
Retrieve Specified User's Out of Office Settings
First let's create an ExchangeManager object, where the constructor will connect to the services for
us. It also has a GetOofSettings method, which will return the OofSettings object for the specified
email address :
using System;
using System.Web.Configuration;
using Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data;
namespace SetOutOfOffice
{
class ExchangeManager
{
private ExchangeService Service;
public ExchangeManager()
{
var password =
WebConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["Password"].ConnectionString;
Connect("exchangeadmin", password);
}
private void Connect(string username, string password)
{
var service = new ExchangeService(ExchangeVersion.Exchange2010_SP2);
service.Credentials = new WebCredentials(username, password);
service.AutodiscoverUrl("[email protected]" ,
RedirectionUrlValidationCallback);
Service = service;
}
private static bool RedirectionUrlValidationCallback(string redirectionUrl)
{
return
redirectionUrl.Equals("https://mail.domain.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml");
}
public OofSettings GetOofSettings(string email)
{
return Service.GetUserOofSettings(email);
}
}
}
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Update Specific User's Out of Office Settings
Using the class below, we can connect to Exchange and then set a specific user's out of office
settings with UpdateUserOof:
using System;
using System.Web.Configuration;
using Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data;
class ExchangeManager
{
private ExchangeService Service;
public ExchangeManager()
{
var password = WebConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["Password"].ConnectionString;
Connect("exchangeadmin", password);
}
private void Connect(string username, string password)
{
var service = new ExchangeService(ExchangeVersion.Exchange2010_SP2);
service.Credentials = new WebCredentials(username, password);
service.AutodiscoverUrl("[email protected]" ,
RedirectionUrlValidationCallback);
Service = service;
}
private static bool RedirectionUrlValidationCallback(string redirectionUrl)
{
return redirectionUrl.Equals("https://mail.domain.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml");
}
/// <summary>
/// Updates the given user's Oof settings with the given details
/// </summary>
public void UpdateUserOof(int oofstate, DateTime starttime, DateTime endtime, int
externalaudience, string internalmsg, string externalmsg, string emailaddress)
{
var newSettings = new OofSettings
{
State = (OofState)oofstate,
Duration = new TimeWindow(starttime, endtime),
ExternalAudience = (OofExternalAudience)externalaudience,
InternalReply = internalmsg,
ExternalReply = externalmsg
};
Service.SetUserOofSettings(emailaddress, newSettings);
}
}
var oofState = 1;
var startDate = new DateTime(01,08,2016);
var endDate = new DateTime(15,08,2016);
var externalAudience = 1;
var internalMessage = "I am not in the office!";
var externalMessage = "I am not in the office <strong>and neither are you!</strong>"
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var theUser = "[email protected]";
Note that you can format the messages using standard html tags.
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Chapter 101: Named and Optional Arguments
Remarks
Named Arguments
Ref: MSDN Named arguments enable you to specify an argument for a particular parameter by
associating the argument with the parameter’s name rather than with the parameter’s position in
the parameter list.
• Enables you to pass the argument to the function by associating the parameter’s name.
• No needs for remembering the parameters position that we are not aware of always.
• No need to look the order of the parameters in the parameters list of called function.
• We can specify parameter for each arguments by its name.
Optional Arguments
Ref: MSDN The definition of a method, constructor, indexer, or delegate can specify that its
parameters are required or that they are optional. Any call must provide arguments for all required
parameters, but can omit arguments for optional parameters.
• We can omit the argument in the call if that argument is an Optional Argument
• Every Optional Argument has its own default value
• It will take default value if we do not supply the value
• A default value of a Optional Argument must be a
○ Constant expression.
○ Must be a value type such as enum or struct.
○ Must be an expression of the form default(valueType)
• It must be set at the end of parameter list
Examples
Named Arguments
FindArea(120, 56);
In this our first argument is length (ie 120) and second argument is width (ie 56). And we are
calculating the area by that function. And following is the function definition.
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{
try
{
return (length* width);
}
catch (Exception)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
}
So in the first function call, we just passed the arguments by its position. Right?
double area;
Console.WriteLine("Area with positioned argument is: ");
area = FindArea(120, 56);
Console.WriteLine(area);
Console.Read();
Now here it comes the features of a named arguments. Please see the preceding function call.
Now if you run this program, you will get the same result. We can give the names vice versa in the
method call if we are using the named arguments.
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Console.WriteLine("Area with Named argument vice versa is: ");
area = FindArea(width: 120, length: 56);
Console.WriteLine(area);
Console.Read();
One of the important use of a named argument is, when you use this in your program it improves
the readability of your code. It simply says what your argument is meant to be, or what it is?.
You can give the positional arguments too. That means, a combination of both positional argument
and named argument.
In the above example we passed 120 as the length and 56 as a named argument for the
parameter width.
There are some limitations too. We will discuss the limitation of a named arguments now.
Named argument specification must appear after all fixed arguments have been specified.
If you use a named argument before a fixed argument you will get a compile time error as follows.
Named argument specification must appear after all fixed arguments have been specified
Optional Arguments
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}
}
Here we have set the value for width as optional and gave value as 56. If you note, the
IntelliSense itself shows you the optional argument as shown in the below image.
Note that we did not get any error while compiling and it will give you an output as follows.
Another way of implementing the optional argument is by using the [Optional] keyword. If you do
not pass the value for the optional argument, the default value of that datatype is assigned to that
argument. The Optional keyword is present in “Runtime.InteropServices” namespace.
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
private static double FindAreaWithOptional(int length, [Optional]int width)
{
try
{
return (length * width);
}
catch (Exception)
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
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}
And when we call the function, we get 0 because the second argument is not passed and the
default value of int is 0 and so the product is 0.
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Chapter 102: Named Arguments
Examples
Named Arguments can make your code more clear
class SmsUtil
{
public bool SendMessage(string from, string to, string message, int retryCount, object
attachment)
{
// Some code
}
}
you can make this method call even more clear with named arguments:
When you want to call this method without set retryCount argument :
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message : "Hello there!",
attachment : new object());
Sample Method:
Call Sample:
Console.WriteLine (Sample(left:"A",right:"B"));
Console.WriteLine (Sample(right:"A",left:"B"));
Results:
A-B
B-A
Always use Named Arguments to optional parameters, to avoid potential bugs when the method is
modified.
class Employee
{
public string Name { get; private set; }
The above code compiles and works fine, until the constructor is changed some day like:
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this.Title = title;
}
//the below code still compiles, but now "Associate" is an argument of "department"
var jack = new Employee("Jack", "Associate");
Best practice to avoid bugs when "someone else in the team" made mistakes:
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Chapter 103: nameof Operator
Introduction
The nameof operator allows you to get the name of a variable, type or member in string form
without hard-coding it as a literal.
The operation is evaluated at compile-time, which means that you can rename a referenced
identifier, using an IDE's rename feature, and the name string will update with it.
Syntax
• nameof(expression)
Examples
Basic usage: Printing a variable name
The nameof operator allows you to get the name of a variable, type or member in string form
without hard-coding it as a literal. The operation is evaluated at compile-time, which means that
you can rename, using an IDE's rename feature, a referenced identifier and the name string will
update with it.
Would output
myString
because the name of the variable is "myString". Refactoring the variable name would change the
string.
If called on a reference type, the nameof operator returns the name of the current reference, not the
name or type name of the underlying object. For example:
Snippet
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public void DoSomething(int paramValue)
{
Console.WriteLine(nameof(paramValue));
}
...
Console Output
paramValue
Snippet
_address = value;
OnPropertyChanged(nameof(Address));
}
}
}
...
Console Output
Address
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Snippet
...
switch (e.PropertyName)
{
case nameof(bugReport.Title):
Console.WriteLine("{0} changed to {1}", e.PropertyName, bugReport.Title);
break;
case nameof(bugReport.Status):
Console.WriteLine("{0} changed to {1}", e.PropertyName, bugReport.Status);
break;
}
}
...
Console Output
Snippet
...
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Console.WriteLine(nameof(SomeClass<int>));
Console Output
TItem
SomeClass
Snippet
Console.WriteLine(nameof(CompanyNamespace.MyNamespace));
Console.WriteLine(nameof(MyClass));
Console.WriteLine(nameof(MyClass.MyNestedClass));
Console.WriteLine(nameof(MyNamespace.MyClass.MyNestedClass.MyStaticProperty));
Console Output
MyNamespace
MyClass
MyNestedClass
MyStaticProperty
Prefer
Over
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Strongly typed MVC action links
Now if you want to refactor your code and rename the UserController.LogIn method to
UserController.SignIn, you don't need to worry about searching for all string occurrences. The
compiler will do the job.
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Chapter 104: Naming Conventions
Introduction
This topic outlines some basic naming conventions used when writing in the C# language. Like all
conventions, they are not enforced by the compiler, but will ensure readability between
developers.
Remarks
Also, avoid using identifiers that conflict with keywords already used within C#.
Examples
Capitalization conventions
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Pascal Casing
The first letter in the identifier and the first letter of each subsequent concatenated word are
capitalized. You can use Pascal case for identifiers of three or more characters. For example:
BackColor
Camel Casing
The first letter of an identifier is lowercase and the first letter of each subsequent concatenated
word is capitalized. For example: backColor
Uppercase
All letters in the identifier are capitalized. For example: IO
Rules
When an identifier consists of multiple words, do not use separators, such as underscores ("_") or
hyphens ("-"), between words. Instead, use casing to indicate the beginning of each word.
The following table summarizes the capitalization rules for identifiers and provides examples for
the different types of identifiers:
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Identifier Case Example
Interfaces
Interfaces should be named with nouns or noun phrases, or adjectives that describe behaviour.
For example IComponent uses a descriptive noun, ICustomAttributeProvider uses a noun phrase and
IPersistable uses an adjective.
Interface names should be prefixed with the letter I, to indicate that the type is an interface, and
Pascal case should be used.
Private fields
There are two common conventions for private fields: camelCase and
_camelCaseWithLeadingUnderscore.
Camel case
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_numerator = numerator;
_denominator = denominator;
}
}
Namespaces
<Company>.(<Product>|<Technology>)[.<Feature>][.<Subnamespace>].
Examples include:
Fabrikam.Math
Litware.Security
Prefixing namespace names with a company name prevents namespaces from different
companies from having the same name.
Enums
Use a plural name for Enum types that are bit fields
[Flags]
public enum MyColors
{
Yellow = 1,
Green = 2,
Red = 4,
Blue = 8
}
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Do not use the enum name in each entry
Exceptions
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Chapter 105: Networking
Syntax
• TcpClient(string host, int port);
Remarks
You can get the NetworkStream from a TcpClient with client.GetStream() and pass it into a
StreamReader/StreamWriter to gain access to their async read and write methods.
Examples
Basic TCP Communication Client
This code example creates a TCP client, sends "Hello World" over the socket connection, and
then writes the server response to the console before closing the connection.
// Declare Variables
string host = "stackoverflow.com";
int port = 9999;
int timeout = 5000;
Downloading a file from the internet is a very common task required by almost every application
your likely to build.
The simplest use of this, using the "using" pattern, is shown below:
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using (var webClient = new WebClient())
{
webClient.DownloadFile("http://www.server.com/file.txt", "C:\\file.txt");
}
What this example does is it uses "using" to make sure that your web client is cleaned up correctly
when finished, and simply transfers the named resource from the URL in the first parameter, to the
named file on your local hard drive in the second parameter.
The first parameter is of type "System.Uri", the second parameter is of type "System.String"
You can also use this function is an async form, so that it goes off and performs the download in
the background, while your application get's on with something else, using the call in this way is of
major importance in modern applications, as it helps to keep your user interface responsive.
When you use the Async methods, you can hook up event handlers that allow you to monitor the
progress, so that you could for example, update a progress bar, something like the following:
One important point to remember if you use the Async versions however, and that's "Be very
carefull about using them in a 'using' syntax".
The reason for this is quite simple. Once you call the download file method, it will return
immediately. If you have this in a using block, you will return then exit that block, and immediately
dispose the class object, and thus cancel your download in progress.
If you use the 'using' way of performing an Async transfer, then be sure to stay inside the
enclosing block until the transfer completes.
Using async/await in C# applications simplifies multi-threading. This is how you can use
async/await in conjunction with a TcpClient.
// Declare Variables
string host = "stackoverflow.com";
int port = 9999;
int timeout = 5000;
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await client.ConnectAsync(host, port);
This code example creates a UDP client then sends "Hello World" across the network to the
intended recipient. A listener does not have to be active, as UDP Is connectionless and will
broadcast the message regardless. Once the message is sent, the clients work is done.
Below is an example of a UDP listener to complement the above client. It will constantly sit and
listen for traffic on a given port and simply write that data to the console. This example contains a
control flag 'done' that is not set internally and relies on something to set this to allow for ending the
listener and exiting.
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Console.WriteLine("Received broadcast message from client {0}",
listenEndPoint.ToString());
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Chapter 106: Nullable types
Syntax
• Nullable<int> i = 10;
• int? j = 11;
• int? k = null;
• DateTime? DateOfBirth = DateTime.Now;
• decimal? Amount = 1.0m;
• bool? IsAvailable = true;
• char? Letter = 'a';
• (type)? variableName
Remarks
Nullable types can represent all the values of an underlying type as well as null.
Nullable values are System.ValueType objects actually, so they can be boxed and unboxed. Also,
null value of a nullable object is not the same as null value of a reference object, it's just a flag.
When a nullable object boxing, the null value is converted to null reference, and non-null value is
converted to non-nullable underlying type.
DateTime? dt = null;
var o = (object)dt;
var result = (o == null); // is true
In short form:
Examples
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Initialising a nullable
Nullable<int> i = null;
Or:
int? i = null;
Or:
var i = (int?)null;
Nullable<int> i = 0;
Or:
int? i = 0;
int? i = null;
if (i != null)
{
Console.WriteLine("i is not null");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("i is null");
}
if (i.HasValue)
{
Console.WriteLine("i is not null");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("i is null");
}
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int? i = 10;
In case default value is needed, you can assign one using null coalescing operator,
GetValueOrDefault method or check if nullable int HasValue before assignment.
int j = i ?? 0;
int j = i.GetValueOrDefault(0);
int j = i.HasValue ? i.Value : 0;
int j = i.Value;
The .GetValueOrDefault() method returns a value even if the .HasValue property is false (unlike the
Value property, which throws an exception).
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
int? nullableExample = null;
int result = nullableExample.GetValueOrDefault();
Console.WriteLine(result); // will output the default value for int - 0
int secondResult = nullableExample.GetValueOrDefault(1);
Console.WriteLine(secondResult) // will output our specified default - 1
int thirdResult = nullableExample ?? 1;
Console.WriteLine(secondResult) // same as the GetValueOrDefault but a bit shorter
}
}
Output:
0
1
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{
static int? _testValue;
Output:
null
Any nullable type is a generic type. And any nullable type is a value type.
There are some tricks which allow to effectively use the result of the Nullable.GetUnderlyingType
method when creating code related to reflection/code-generation purposes:
The usage:
if(type.IsNullable())
Console.WriteLine("Type is nullable.");
Type underlyingType;
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if(type.IsNullable(out underlyingType))
Console.WriteLine("The underlying type is " + underlyingType.Name + ".");
if(type.IsExactOrNullable<int>())
Console.WriteLine("Type is either exact or nullable Int32.");
if(!type.IsExactOrNullable(t => t.IsEnum))
Console.WriteLine("Type is neither exact nor nullable enum.");
Output:
System.Nullable`1[System.Int32]
Type is nullable.
The underlying type is Int32.
Type is either exact or nullable Int32.
Type is neither exact nor nullable enum.
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Chapter 107: Null-Coalescing Operator
Syntax
• var result = possibleNullObject ?? defaultValue;
Parameters
Parameter Details
The value to test for null value. If non null, this value is returned. Must be
possibleNullObject
a nullable type.
Remarks
The null coalescing operator itself is two consecutive question mark characters: ??
The left-side operand (object being tested) must be a nullable value type or reference type, or a
compile error will occur.
The ?? operator works for both reference types and value types.
Examples
Basic usage
Using the null-coalescing operator (??) allows you to specify a default value for a nullable type if
the left-hand operand is null.
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if (testString == null)
{
Console.WriteLine("The specified string is - not provided");
}
else
{
Console.WriteLine("The specified string is - " + testString);
}
The left-hand operand must be nullable, while the right-hand operand may or may not be. The
result will be typed accordingly.
Non-nullable
int? a = null;
int b = 3;
var output = a ?? b;
var type = output.GetType();
Output:
Type :System.Int32
value :3
View Demo
Nullable
int? a = null;
int? b = null;
var output = a ?? b;
Multiple Coalescing
int? a = null;
int? b = null;
int c = 3;
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var output = a ?? b ?? c;
Output:
Type :System.Int32
value :3
View Demo
The null coalescing operator can be used in tandem with the null propagation operator to provide
safer access to properties of objects.
object o = null;
var output = o?.ToString() ?? "Default Value";
Output:
Type :System.String
value :Default Value
View Demo
The null coalescing operator makes it easy to ensure that a method that may return null will fall
back to a default value.
if (name == null)
name = "Unknown!";
A common usage scenario that this feature really helps with is when you are looking for an object
in a collection and need to create a new one if it does not already exist.
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var item = myList.SingleOrDefault(x => x.Id == 2) ?? new MyClass { Id = 2 };
The first time the property .FooBars is accessed the _fooBars variable will evaluate as null, thus
falling through to the assignment statement assigns and evaluates to the resulting value.
Thread safety
This is not thread-safe way of implementing lazy properties. For thread-safe laziness, use the
Lazy<T> class built into the .NET Framework.
Subsequent accesses to the property will yield the value stored in the _fooBars variable.
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Chapter 108: Null-conditional Operators
Syntax
• X?.Y; //null if X is null else X.Y
• X?.Y?.Z; //null if X is null or Y is null else X.Y.Z
• X?[index]; //null if X is null else X[index]
• X?.ValueMethod(); //null if X is null else the result of X.ValueMethod();
• X?.VoidMethod(); //do nothing if X is null else call X.VoidMethod();
Remarks
Note that when using the null coalescing operator on a value type T you will get a Nullable<T>
back.
Examples
Null-Conditional Operator
The ?. operator is syntactic sugar to avoid verbose null checks. It's also known as the Safe
navigation operator.
If an object is potentially null (such as a function that returns a reference type) the object must first
be checked for null to prevent a possible NullReferenceException. Without the null-conditional
operator, this would look like:
var age = person?.Age; // 'age' will be of type 'int?', even if 'person' is not null
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Chaining the Operator
The null-conditional operator can be combined on the members and sub-members of an object.
Similarly to the ?. operator, the null-conditional index operator checks for null values when
indexing into a collection that may be null.
Avoiding NullReferenceExceptions
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Country = null
}
}
};
Extension Method can work on null references, but you can use ?. to null-check anyway.
Normally, the method will be triggered for null references, and return -1:
Using ?. the method will not be triggered for null references, and the type is int?:
This behavior is actually expected from the way in which the ?. operator works: it will avoid making
instance method calls for null instances, in order to avoid NullReferenceExceptions. However, the
same logic applies to the extension method, despite the difference on how the method is declared.
For more information on why the extension method is called in the first example, please see the
Extension methods - null checking documentation.
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Chapter 109: NullReferenceException
Examples
NullReferenceException explained
A NullReferenceException is thrown when you try to access a non-static member (property, method,
field or event) of a reference object but it is null.
To debug such an exception, it's quite easy: on the line where the exception is thrown, you just
have to look before every '.' or '[', or on rare occasions '('.
myGarage.CarCollection[currentIndex.Value].Color = theCarInTheStreet.Color;
• myGarage is null
• myGarage.CarCollection is null
• currentIndex is null
• myGarage.CarCollection[currentIndex.Value] is null
• theCarInTheStreet is null
In debug mode, you only have to put your mouse cursor on every of these elements and you will
find your null reference. Then, what you have to do is understand why it doesn't have a value. The
correction totally depends on the goal of your method.
if (myGarage == null)
{
Console.WriteLine("Maybe you should buy a garage first!");
}
Or maybe someone gave you a null argument, and was not supposed to:
if (theCarInTheStreet == null)
{
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throw new ArgumentNullException("theCarInTheStreet");
}
In any case, remember that a method should never throw a NullReferenceException. If it does,
that means you have forgotten to check something.
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Chapter 110: O(n) Algorithm for circular
rotation of an array
Introduction
In my path to studying programming there have been simple, but interesting problems to solve as
exercises. One of those problems was to rotate an array(or another collection) by a certain value.
Here I will share with you a simple formula to do it.
Examples
Example of a generic method that rotates an array by a given shift
I would like to point out that we rotate left when the shifting value is negative and we rotate right
when the value is positive.
array = new[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 };
shiftCount = -1;
Rotate(ref array, shiftCount);
Console.WriteLine(string.Join(", ", array));
// Output: [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1]
array = new[] { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 };
shiftCount = -35;
Rotate(ref array, shiftCount);
Console.WriteLine(string.Join(", ", array));
// Output: [6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
}
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array = backupArray;
}
The thing that is important in this code is the formula with which we find the new index value after
the rotation.
(shiftCount % array.Length) -> we normalize the shifting value to be in the length of the array
(since in an array with length 10, shifting 1 or 11 is the same thing, the same goes for -1 and -11).
array.Length + (shiftCount % array.Length) -> this is done due to left rotations to make sure we
do not go into a negative index, but rotate it to the end of the array. Without it for an array with
length 10 for index 0 and a rotation -1 we would go into a negative number (-1) and not get the
real rotation index value, which is 9. (10 + (-1 % 10) = 9)
index + array.Length + (shiftCount % array.Length) -> not much to say here as we apply the
rotation to the index to get the new index. (0 + 10 + (-1 % 10) = 9)
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Chapter 111: Object initializers
Syntax
• SomeClass sc = new SomeClass { Property1 = value1, Property2 = value2, ... };
• SomeClass sc = new SomeClass(param1, param2, ...) { Property1 = value1, Property2 =
value2, ... }
Remarks
The constructor parentheses can only be omitted if the type being instantiated has a default
(parameterless) constructor available.
Examples
Simple usage
Object initializers are handy when you need to create an object and set a couple of properties right
away, but the available constructors are not sufficient. Say you have a class
Book theBook = new Book { Title = "Don Quixote", Author = "Miguel de Cervantes" };
This is equivalent to
Object initializers are the only way to initialize anonymous types, which are types generated by the
compiler.
For that reason object initializers are widely used in LINQ select queries, since they provide a
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convenient way to specify which parts of a queried object you are interested in.
You can combine object initializers with constructors to initialize types if necessary. Take for
example a class defined as such:
var someBook = new Book(16) { Title = "Don Quixote", Author = "Miguel de Cervantes" }
This will first instantiate a Book with the Book(int) constructor, then set each property in the
initializer. It is equivalent to:
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Chapter 112: Object Oriented Programming In
C#
Introduction
This topic try to tell us how we can write programs based on OOP approach.But we don't try to
teach Object Oriented Programming paradigm. We'll be covering following topics:
Classes,Properties,Inheritance,Polymorphism,Interfaces and so on.
Examples
Classes:
<>:Required
[]:Optional
Don't worry if you can't understand whole syntax,We'll be get familiar with all part of that.for first
example consider following class:
class MyClass
{
int i = 100;
public void getMyValue()
{
Console.WriteLine(this.i);//Will print number 100 in output
}
}
in this class we create variable i with int type and with default private Access Modifiers and
getMyValue() method with public access modifiers.
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Chapter 113: ObservableCollection
Examples
Initialize ObservableCollection
ObservableCollection is a collection of type T like List<T> which means that it holds objects of type T
.
ObservableCollectionrepresents
a dynamic data collection that provides notifications
when items get added, removed, or when the entire list is refreshed.
The key difference from other collections is that ObservableCollection implements the interfaces
INotifyCollectionChanged and INotifyPropertyChanged and immediately raise notification event when
a new object is added or removed and when collection is cleared.
This is especially useful for conneting the UI and backend of an application without having to write
extra code because when an object is added to or removed from an observable collection, the UI
is automatically updated.
using System.Collections.ObjectModel
You can either create an empty instance of a collection for example of type string
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Chapter 114: Operators
Introduction
In C#, an operator is a program element that is applied to one or more operands in an expression
or statement. Operators that take one operand, such as the increment operator (++) or new, are
referred to as unary operators. Operators that take two operands, such as arithmetic operators (+,-
,*,/), are referred to as binary operators. One operator, the conditional operator (?:), takes three
operands and is the sole ternary operator in C#.
Syntax
• public static OperandType operator operatorSymbol(OperandType operand1)
• public static OperandType operator operatorSymbol(OperandType operand1,
OperandType2 operand2)
Parameters
Parameter Details
statements Optional code needed to perform the operation before returning the result.
Remarks
All operators are defined as static methods and they are not virtual and they are not inherited.
Operator Precedence
All operators have a particular "precedence" depending on which group the operator falls in
(operators of the same group have equal precedence). Meaning some operators will be applied
before others. What follows is a list of groups (containing their respective operators) ordered by
precedence (highest first):
• Primary Operators
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○ a.b - Member access.
○ a?.b - Null conditional member access.
○ -> - Pointer dereferencing combined with member access.
○ f(x) - Function invocation.
○ a[x] - Indexer.
○ a?[x] - Null conditional indexer.
○ x++ - Postfix increment.
○ x-- - Postfix decrement.
○ new - Type instantiation.
○ default(T) - Returns the default initialized value of type T.
○ typeof - Returns the Type object of the operand.
○ checked - Enables numeric overflow checking.
○ unchecked - Disables numeric overflow checking.
○ delegate - Declares and returns a delegate instance.
○ sizeof - Returns the size in bytes of the type operand.
• Unary Operators
○ +x - Returns x.
○ -x - Numeric negation.
○ !x - Logical negation.
○ ~x - Bitwise complement/declares destructors.
○ ++x - Prefix increment.
○ --x - Prefix decrement.
○ (T)x - Type casting.
○ await - Awaits a Task.
○ &x - Returns the address (pointer) of x.
○ *x - Pointer dereferencing.
• Multiplicative Operators
○ x * y - Multiplication.
○ x / y - Division.
○ x % y - Modulus.
• Additive Operators
○ x + y - Addition.
○ x – y - Subtraction.
• Relational/Type-testing Operators
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○ x <= y - Less than or equal to.
○ x >= y - Greater than or equal to.
○ is - Type compatibility.
○ as - Type conversion.
• Equality Operators
○ x == y - Equality.
○ x != y - Not equal.
○ x ^ y - Logical/bitwise XOR.
• Logical OR Operator
○ x | y - Logical/bitwise OR.
• Conditional OR Operator
• Null-coalescing Operator
• Conditional Operator
Related Content
• Null-Coalescing Operator
• Null-Conditional Operator
• nameof Operator
Examples
Overloadable Operators
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C# allows user-defined types to overload operators by defining static member functions using the
operator keyword.
The following example illustrates an implementation of the + operator.
And we want to add the option to use the + operator for this class. i.e.:
We will need to overload the + operator for the class. This is done using a static function and the
operator keyword:
Operators such as +, -, *, / can all be overloaded. This also includes Operators that don't return
the same type (for example, == and != can be overloaded, despite returning booleans) The rule
below relating to pairs is also enforced here.
Comparison operators have to be overloaded in pairs (e.g. if < is overloaded, > also needs to be
overloaded).
A full list of overloadable operators (as well as non-overloadable operators and the restrictions
placed on some overloadable operators) can be seen at MSDN - Overloadable Operators (C#
Programming Guide).
7.0
overloading of operator is was introduced with the pattern matching mechanism of C# 7.0. For
details see Pattern Matching
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}
Relational Operators
Equals
Unlike Java, the equality comparison operator works natively with strings.
The equality comparison operator will work with operands of differing types if an implicit cast exists
from one to the other. If no suitable implicit cast exists, you may call an explicit cast or use a
method to convert to a compatible type.
1 == 1.0 // Returns true because there is an implicit cast from int to double.
new Object() == 1.0 // Will not compile.
MyStruct.AsInt() == 1 // Calls AsInt() on MyStruct and compares the resulting int with 1.
Unlike Visual Basic.NET, the equality comparison operator is not the same as the equality
assignment operator.
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x == y // Returns false, the operands (objects in this case) have different references.
x == x // Returns true, both operands have the same reference.
For value types, the operator returns true if both operands are equal in value.
For reference types, the operator returns true if both operands are equal in reference (not value).
An exception is that string objects will be compared with value equality.
Not Equals
This operator effectively returns the opposite result to that of the equals (==) operator
Greater Than
Checks whether the first operand is greater than the second operand.
var x = 10;
var y = 15;
x > y //Returns false.
y > x //Returns true.
Less Than
Checks whether the first operand is less than the second operand.
var x = 12;
var y = 22;
x < y //Returns true.
y < x //Returns false.
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Checks whether the first operand is greater than equal to the second operand.
Checks whether the first operand is less than equal to the second operand.
Short-circuiting Operators
By definition, the short-circuiting boolean operators will only evaluate the second operand if the
first operand can not determine the overall result of the expression.
It means that, if you are using && operator as firstCondition && secondCondition it will evaluate
secondCondition only when firstCondition is true and ofcource the overall result will be true only if
both of firstOperand and secondOperand are evaluated to true. This is useful in many scenarios,
for example imagine that you want to check whereas your list has more than three elements but
you also have to check if list has been initialized to not run into NullReferenceException. You can
achieve this as below:
Logical AND
&& is the short-circuiting counterpart of the standard boolean AND (&) operator.
var x = true;
var y = false;
Logical OR
var x = true;
var y = false;
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y || y // Returns false (y and y are evaluated).
Example usage
sizeof
sizeof(bool) // Returns 1.
sizeof(byte) // Returns 1.
sizeof(sbyte) // Returns 1.
sizeof(char) // Returns 2.
sizeof(short) // Returns 2.
sizeof(ushort) // Returns 2.
sizeof(int) // Returns 4.
sizeof(uint) // Returns 4.
sizeof(float) // Returns 4.
sizeof(long) // Returns 8.
sizeof(ulong) // Returns 8.
sizeof(double) // Returns 8.
sizeof(decimal) // Returns 16.
In an unsafe context, sizeof can be used to return the size of other primitive types and structs.
Overloading just equality operators is not enough. Under different circumstances, all of the
following can be called:
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When overriding Equals, GetHashCode must also be overriden. When implementing Equals, there are
many special cases: comparing to objects of a different type, comparing to self etc.
When NOT overridden Equals method and == operator behave differently for classes and structs.
For classes just references are compared, and for structs values of properties are compared via
reflection what can negatively affect performance. == can not be used for comparing structs unless
it is overridden.
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//accesses member of a class. In this case the UtcNow property.
This operator returns true when one, but only one, of the supplied bools are true.
Bit-Shifting Operators
The shift operators allow programmers to adjust an integer by shifting all of its bits to the left or the
right. The following diagram shows the affect of shifting a value to the left by one digit.
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Left-Shift
Right-Shift
C# allows user-defined types to control assignment and casting through the use of the explicit
and implicit keywords. The signature of the method takes the form:
The method cannot take any more arguments, nor can it be an instance method. It can, however,
access any private members of type it is defined within.
The cast operators can work both ways, going from your type and going to your type:
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{
return new ColorImage(im);
}
Finally, the as keyword, which can be involved in casting within a type hierarchy, is not valid in this
situation. Even after defining either an explicit or implicit cast, you cannot do:
C# has several operators that can be combined with an = sign to evaluate the result of the
operator and then assign the result to the original variable.
Example:
x += y
is the same as
x = x + y
Assignment operators:
• +=
• -=
• *=
• /=
• %=
• &=
• |=
• ^=
• <<=
• >>=
? : Ternary Operator
Syntax:
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Example:
The ternary operator is right-associative which allows for compound ternary expressions to be
used. This is done by adding additional ternary equations in either the true or false position of a
parent ternary equation. Care should be taken to ensure readability, but this can be useful
shorthand in some circumstances.
In this example, a compound ternary operation evaluates a clamp function and returns the current
value if it's within the range, the min value if it's below the range, or the max value if it's above the
range.
// This is evaluated from left to right and can be more easily seen with parenthesis:
a ? (b ? x : y) : z
When writing compound ternary statements, it's common to use parenthesis or indentation to
improve readability.
condition ? 3 : "Not three"; // Doesn't compile because `int` and `string` lack an implicit
conversion.
condition ? 3.ToString() : "Not three"; // OK because both possible outputs are strings.
condition ? 3 : 3.5; // OK because there is an implicit conversion from `int` to `double`. The
ternary operator will return a `double`.
condition ? 3.5 : 3; // OK because there is an implicit conversion from `int` to `double`. The
ternary operator will return a `double`.
The type and conversion requirements apply to your own classes too.
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public class SportsCar : Car
{}
condition ? new SportsCar() : new Car(); // OK because there is an implicit conversion from
`SportsCar` to `Car`. The ternary operator will return a reference of type `Car`.
condition ? new Car() : new SportsCar(); // OK because there is an implicit conversion from
`SportsCar` to `Car`. The ternary operator will return a reference of type `Car`.
condition ? new SportsCar() : new SUV(); // Doesn't compile because there is no implicit
conversion from `SportsCar` to SUV or `SUV` to `SportsCar`. The compiler is not smart enough
to realize that both of them have an implicit conversion to `Car`.
condition ? new SportsCar() as Car : new SUV() as Car; // OK because both expressions evaluate
to a reference of type `Car`. The ternary operator will return a reference of type `Car`.
typeof
To get the run-time type, use GetType method to obtain the System.Type of the current instance.
Operator typeof takes a type name as parameter, which is specified at compile time.
default Operator
default(int) // 0
default(DateTime) // 0001-01-01 12:00:00 AM
default(char) // '\0' This is the "null character", not a zero or a line break.
default(Guid) // 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
default(MyStruct) // new MyStruct()
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// Note: default of an enum is 0, and not the first *key* in that enum
// so it could potentially fail the Enum.IsDefined test
default(MyEnum) // (MyEnum)0
default(object) // null
default(string) // null
default(MyClass) // null
default(IDisposable) // null
default(dynamic) // null
nameof Operator
Returns a string that represents the unqualified name of a variable, type, or member.
The nameof operator was introduced in C# 6.0. It is evaluated at compile-time and the returned
string value is inserted inline by the compiler, so it can be used in most cases where the constant
string can be used (e.g., the case labels in a switch statement, attributes, etc...). It can be useful in
cases like raising & logging exceptions, attributes, MVC Action links, etc...
6.0
Introduced in C# 6.0, the Null Conditional Operator ?. will immediately return null if the expression
on its left-hand side evaluates to null, instead of throwing a NullReferenceException. If its left-hand
side evaluates to a non-null value, it is treated just like a normal . operator. Note that because it
might return null, its return type is always a nullable type. That means that for a struct or primitive
type, it is wrapped into a Nullable<T>.
This comes handy when firing events. Normally you would have to wrap the event call in an if
statement checking for null and raise the event afterwards, which introduces the possibility of a
race condition. Using the Null conditional operator this can be fixed in the following way:
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Postfix and Prefix increment and decrement
var x = 42;
x++;
Console.WriteLine(x); // 43
var x = 42
x--;
Console.WriteLine(x); // 41
++x is called prefix increment it increments the value of x and then returns x while x++ returns the
value of x and then increments
var x = 42;
Console.WriteLine(++x); // 43
System.out.println(x); // 43
while
var x = 42;
Console.WriteLine(x++); // 42
System.out.println(x); // 43
3.0
The => operator has the same precedence as the assignment operator = and is right-associative.
It is used to declare lambda expressions and also it is widely used with LINQ Queries:
When used in LINQ extensions or queries the type of the objects can usually be skipped as it is
inferred by the compiler:
int shortestWordLength = words.Min(w => w.Length); //also compiles with the same result
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The general form of lambda operator is the following:
The parameters of the lambda expression are specified before => operator, and the actual
expression/statement/block to be executed is to the right of the operator:
// expression
(int x, string s) => s.Length > x
// expression
(int x, int y) => x + y
// statement
(string x) => Console.WriteLine(x)
// block
(string x) => {
x += " says Hello!";
Console.WriteLine(x);
}
This operator can be used to easily define delegates, without writing an explicit method:
myDelegate("Hello");
instead of
void MyMethod(string s)
{
Console.WriteLine(s + " World");
}
myDelegate("Hello");
The assignment operator = sets thr left hand operand's value to the value of right hand operand,
and return that value:
?? Null-Coalescing Operator
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The Null-Coalescing operator ?? will return the left-hand side when not null. If it is null, it will return
the right-hand side.
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Chapter 115: Overflow
Examples
Integer overflow
There is a maximum capacity an integer can store. And when you go over that limit, it will loop
back to the negative side. For int, it is 2147483647
For any integers out of this range use namespace System.Numerics which has datatype
BigInteger. Check below link for more information https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/system.numerics.biginteger(v=vs.110).aspx
Overflow also happens during the operation. In the following example, x is an int, 1 is an int by
default. Therefore addition is an int addition. And the result will be an int. And it will overflow.
You can prevent that by using 1L. Now 1 will be a long and addition will be a long addition
Ordering matters
int x = int.MaxValue;
Console.WriteLine(x + x + 1L); //prints -1
int x = int.MaxValue;
Console.WriteLine(x + 1L + x); //prints 4294967295
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This is due to the left-to-right ordering of the operations. In the first code fragment x + x overflows
and after that it becomes a long. On the other hand x + 1L becomes long and after that x is added
to this value.
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Chapter 116: Overload Resolution
Remarks
The process of overload resolution is described in the C# specification, section 7.5.3. Also relevant
are the sections 7.5.2 (type inference) and 7.6.5 (invocation expressions).
How overload resolution works will probably be changed in C# 7. The design notes indicate that
Microsoft will roll out a new system for determining which method is better (in complicated
scenarios).
Examples
Basic Overloading Example
class Example
{
public static void Hello(int arg)
{
Console.WriteLine("int");
}
int
double
At compile-time, when the compiler finds the method call Hello(0), it finds all methods with the
name Hello. In this case, it finds two of them. It then tries to determine which of the methods is
better. The algorithm for determining which method is better is complex, but it usually boils down
to "make as few implicit conversions as possible".
Thus, in the case of Hello(0), no conversion is needed for the method Hello(int) but an implicit
numeric conversion is needed for the method Hello(double). Thus, the first method is chosen by
the compiler.
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In the case of Hello(0.0), there is no way to convert 0.0 to an int implicitly, so the method
Hello(int) is not even considered for overload resolution. Only method remains and so it is chosen
by the compiler.
class Program
{
static void Method(params Object[] objects)
{
System.Console.WriteLine(objects.Length);
}
static void Method(Object a, Object b)
{
System.Console.WriteLine("two");
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
object[] objectArray = new object[5];
Method(objectArray);
Method(objectArray, objectArray);
Method(objectArray, objectArray, objectArray);
}
}
will print:
5
two
3
The call expression Method(objectArray) could be interpreted in two ways: a single Object argument
that happens to be an array (so the program would output 1 because that would be the number of
arguments, or as an array of arguments, given in the normal form, as though the method Method
did not have the keyword params. In these situations, the normal, non-expanded form always takes
precedence. So, the program outputs 5.
In the second expression, Method(objectArray, objectArray), both the expanded form of the first
method and the traditional second method are applicable. In this case also, non-expanded forms
take precedence, so the program prints two.
In the third expression, Method(objectArray, objectArray, objectArray), the only option is to use the
expanded form of the first method, and so the program prints 3.
If you have
void F1(MyType1 x) {
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// do something
}
void F1(MyType2 x) {
// do something else
}
and for some reason you need to call the first overload of F1 but with x = null, then doing simply
F1(null);
will not compile as the call is ambiguous. To counter this you can do
F1(null as MyType1);
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Chapter 117: Parallel LINQ (PLINQ)
Syntax
• ParallelEnumerable.Aggregate(func)
• ParallelEnumerable.Aggregate(seed, func)
• ParallelEnumerable.Aggregate(seed, updateAccumulatorFunc, combineAccumulatorsFunc,
resultSelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.Aggregate(seedFactory, updateAccumulatorFunc,
combineAccumulatorsFunc, resultSelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.All(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.Any()
• ParallelEnumerable.Any(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.AsEnumerable()
• ParallelEnumerable.AsOrdered()
• ParallelEnumerable.AsParallel()
• ParallelEnumerable.AsSequential()
• ParallelEnumerable.AsUnordered()
• ParallelEnumerable.Average(selector)
• ParallelEnumerable.Cast()
• ParallelEnumerable.Concat(second)
• ParallelEnumerable.Contains(value)
• ParallelEnumerable.Contains(value, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.Count()
• ParallelEnumerable.Count(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.DefaultIfEmpty()
• ParallelEnumerable.DefaultIfEmpty(defaultValue)
• ParallelEnumerable.Distinct()
• ParallelEnumerable.Distinct(comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.ElementAt(index)
• ParallelEnumerable.ElementAtOrDefault(index)
• ParallelEnumerable.Empty()
• ParallelEnumerable.Except(second)
• ParallelEnumerable.Except(second, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.First()
• ParallelEnumerable.First(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.FirstOrDefault()
• ParallelEnumerable.FirstOrDefault(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.ForAll(action)
• ParallelEnumerable.GroupBy(keySelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, elementSelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, elementSelector, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, resultSelector)
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• ParallelEnumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, resultSelector, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, elementSelector, ruleSelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.GroupBy(keySelector, elementSelector, ruleSelector, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.GroupJoin(inner, outerKeySelector, innerKeySelector, resultSelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.GroupJoin(inner, outerKeySelector, innerKeySelector, resultSelector,
comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.Intersect(second)
• ParallelEnumerable.Intersect(second, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.Join(inner, outerKeySelector, innerKeySelector, resultSelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.Join(inner, outerKeySelector, innerKeySelector, resultSelector,
comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.Last()
• ParallelEnumerable.Last(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.LastOrDefault()
• ParallelEnumerable.LastOrDefault(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.LongCount()
• ParallelEnumerable.LongCount(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.Max()
• ParallelEnumerable.Max(selector)
• ParallelEnumerable.Min()
• ParallelEnumerable.Min(selector)
• ParallelEnumerable.OfType()
• ParallelEnumerable.OrderBy(keySelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.OrderBy(keySelector, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.OrderByDescending(keySelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.OrderByDescending(keySelector, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.Range(start, count)
• ParallelEnumerable.Repeat(element, count)
• ParallelEnumerable.Reverse()
• ParallelEnumerable.Select(selector)
• ParallelEnumerable.SelectMany(selector)
• ParallelEnumerable.SelectMany(collectionSelector, resultSelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.SequenceEqual(second)
• ParallelEnumerable.SequenceEqual(second, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.Single()
• ParallelEnumerable.Single(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.SingleOrDefault()
• ParallelEnumerable.SingleOrDefault(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.Skip(count)
• ParallelEnumerable.SkipWhile(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.Sum()
• ParallelEnumerable.Sum(selector)
• ParallelEnumerable.Take(count)
• ParallelEnumerable.TakeWhile(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.ThenBy(keySelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.ThenBy(keySelector, comparer)
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• ParallelEnumerable.ThenByDescending(keySelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.ThenByDescending(keySelector, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.ToArray()
• ParallelEnumerable.ToDictionary(keySelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.ToDictionary(keySelector, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.ToDictionary(elementSelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.ToDictionary(elementSelector, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.ToList()
• ParallelEnumerable.ToLookup(keySelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.ToLookup(keySelector, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.ToLookup(keySelector, elementSelector)
• ParallelEnumerable.ToLookup(keySelector, elementSelector, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.Union(second)
• ParallelEnumerable.Union(second, comparer)
• ParallelEnumerable.Where(predicate)
• ParallelEnumerable.WithCancellation(cancellationToken)
• ParallelEnumerable.WithDegreeOfParallelism(degreeOfParallelism)
• ParallelEnumerable.WithExecutionMode(executionMode)
• ParallelEnumerable.WithMergeOptions(mergeOptions)
• ParallelEnumerable.Zip(second, resultSelector)
Examples
Simple example
This example shows how PLINQ can be used to calculate the even numbers between 1 and
10,000 using multiple threads. Note that the resulting list will won't be ordered!
WithDegreeOfParallelism
The degree of parallelism is the maximum number of concurrently executing tasks that will be
used to process the query.
AsOrdered
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This example shows how PLINQ can be used to calculate the even numbers between 1 and
10,000 using multiple threads. Order will be maintained in the resulting list, however keep in mind
that AsOrdered may hurt performance for a large numbers of elements, so un-ordered processing is
preferred when possible.
AsUnordered
Ordered sequences may hurt performance when dealing with a large number of elements. To
mitigate this, it's possible to call AsUnordered when the sequence order is no longer necessary.
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Chapter 118: Partial class and methods
Introduction
Partial classes provides us an option to split classes into multiple parts and in multiple source files.
All parts are combined into one single class during compile time. All parts should contain the
keyword partial,should be of the same accessibility. All parts should be present in the same
assembly for it to be included during compile time.
Syntax
• public partial class MyPartialClass { }
Remarks
• Partial classes must be defined within the same assembly, and namespace, as the class that
they are extending.
• All parts of the class must have the same accessibility; public/protected/private etc..
• If any part uses the abstract keyword, then the combined type is considered abstract.
• If any part uses the sealed keyword, then the combined type is considered sealed.
• If any part uses the a base type, then the combined type inherits from that type.
• The combined type inherits all the interfaces defined on all the partial classes.
Examples
Partial classes
Partial classes provide an ability to split class declaration (usually into separate files). A common
problem that can be solved with partial classes is allowing users to modify auto-generated code
without fearing that their changes will be overwritten if the code is regenerated. Also multiple
developers can work on same class or methods.
using System;
namespace PartialClassAndMethods
{
public partial class PartialClass
{
public void ExampleMethod() {
Console.WriteLine("Method call from the first declaration.");
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}
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
PartialClass partial = new PartialClass();
partial.ExampleMethod(); // outputs "Method call from the first declaration."
partial.AnotherExampleMethod(); // outputs "Method call from the second
declaration."
}
}
}
Partial methods
Partial method consists of the definition in one partial class declaration (as a common scenario - in
the auto-generated one) and the implementation in another partial class declaration.
using System;
namespace PartialClassAndMethods
{
public partial class PartialClass // Auto-generated
{
partial void PartialMethod();
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
PartialClass partial = new PartialClass();
partial.PartialMethod(); // outputs "Partial method called."
}
}
}
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When inheriting from any base class, only one partial class needs to have the base class
specified.
// PartialClass1.cs
public partial class PartialClass : BaseClass {}
// PartialClass2.cs
public partial class PartialClass {}
You can specify the same base class in more than one partial class. It will get flagged as
redundant by some IDE tools, but it does compile correctly.
// PartialClass1.cs
public partial class PartialClass : BaseClass {}
// PartialClass2.cs
public partial class PartialClass : BaseClass {} // base class here is redundant
You cannot specify different base classes in multiple partial classes, it will result in a compiler
error.
// PartialClass1.cs
public partial class PartialClass : BaseClass {} // compiler error
// PartialClass2.cs
public partial class PartialClass : OtherBaseClass {} // compiler error
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Chapter 119: Performing HTTP requests
Examples
Creating and sending an HTTP POST request
using System.Net;
using System.IO;
...
// Set the POST request body data. In this example, the POST data is in
// application/x-www-form-urlencoded format.
string postData = "myparam1=myvalue1&myparam2=myvalue2";
using (var writer = new StreamWriter(request.GetRequestStream()))
{
writer.Write(postData);
}
// Submit the request, and get the response body from the remote server.
string responseFromRemoteServer;
using (HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse())
{
using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream()))
{
responseFromRemoteServer = reader.ReadToEnd();
}
}
using System.Net;
using System.IO;
...
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using (HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse())
{
using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream()))
{
responseBodyFromRemoteServer = reader.ReadToEnd();
}
}
Error handling of specific HTTP response codes (such as 404 Not Found)
using System.Net;
...
string serverResponse;
try
{
// Call a method that performs an HTTP request (per the above examples).
serverResponse = PerformHttpRequest();
}
catch (WebException ex)
{
if (ex.Status == WebExceptionStatus.ProtocolError)
{
HttpWebResponse response = ex.Response as HttpWebResponse;
if (response != null)
{
if ((int)response.StatusCode == 404) // Not Found
{
// Handle the 404 Not Found error
// ...
}
else
{
// Could handle other response.StatusCode values here.
// ...
}
}
}
else
{
// Could handle other error conditions here, such as
WebExceptionStatus.ConnectFailure.
// ...
}
}
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}
. . .
if (!message.IsSuccessStatusCode)
throw new Exception();
return message.ReadAsAsync<TResult>();
}
}
. . .
Console.WriteLine(contents);
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Chapter 120: Pointers
Remarks
Due to their nature, pointers produce unverifiable code. Thus, usage of any pointer type requires
an unsafe context.
The type System.IntPtr is a safe wrapper around a void*. It is intended as a more convenient
alternative to void* when an unsafe context isn't otherwise required to perform the task at hand.
Undefined behavior
Like in C and C++, incorrect usage of pointers can invoke undefined behavior, with possible side-
effects being memory corruption and execution of unintended code. Due to the unverifiable nature
of most pointer operations, correct usage of pointers is entirely a responsibility of the programmer.
Examples
Pointers for array access
This example demonstrates how pointers can be used for C-like access to C# arrays.
unsafe
{
var buffer = new int[1024];
fixed (int* p = &buffer[0])
{
for (var i = 0; i < buffer.Length; i++)
{
*(p + i) = i;
}
}
}
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The unsafe keyword is required because pointer access will not emit any bounds checks that are
normally emitted when accessing C# arrays the regular way.
The fixed keyword tells the C# compiler to emit instructions to pin the object in an exception-safe
way. Pinning is required to ensure that the garbage collector will not move the array in memory, as
that would invalidate any pointers pointing within the array.
Pointer arithmetic
Addition and subtraction in pointers works differently from integers. When a pointer is incremented
or decremented, the address it points to is increased or decreased by the size of the referent type.
For example, the type int (alias for System.Int32) has a size of 4. If an int can be stored in address
0, the subsequent int can be stored in address 4, and so on. In code:
Similarly, the type long (alias for System.Int64) has a size of 8. If a long can be stored in address 0,
the subsequent longcan be stored in address 8, and so on. In code:
The type void is special and void pointers are also special and they are used as catch-all pointers
when the type isn't known or doesn't matter. Due to their size-agnostic nature, void pointers
cannot be incremented or decremented:
In C and C++, the asterisk in the declaration of a pointer variable is part of the expression being
declared. In C#, the asterisk in the declaration is part of the type.
int* a;
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In C and C++, the following snippet declares an int pointer and an int variable. In C#, it declares
two int pointers:
int* a, b;
In C and C++, the following snippet declares two int pointers. In C#, it is invalid:
void*
C# inherits from C and C++ the usage of void* as a type-agnostic and size-agnostic pointer.
void* ptr;
int* p1 = (int*)IntPtr.Zero;
void* ptr = p1;
int* p1 = (int*)IntPtr.Zero;
void* ptr = p1;
int* p2 = (int*)ptr;
C# inherits from C and C++ the usage of the symbol -> as a means of accessing the members of
an instance through a typed pointer.
struct Vector2
{
public int X;
public int Y;
}
Vector2 v;
v.X = 5;
v.Y = 10;
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Console.WriteLine(x); // prints 5
Console.WriteLine(y); // prints 10
Console.WriteLine(s); // prints Vector2
Generic pointers
The criteria that a type must satisfy in order to support pointers (see Remarks) cannot be
expressed in terms of generic constraints. Therefore, any attempt to declare a pointer to a type
provided through a generic type parameter will fail.
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Chapter 121: Pointers & Unsafe Code
Examples
Introduction to unsafe code
C# allows using pointer variables in a function of code block when it is marked by the unsafe
modifier. The unsafe code or the unmanaged code is a code block that uses a pointer variable.
A pointer is a variable whose value is the address of another variable i.e., the direct address of the
memory location. similar to any variable or constant, you must declare a pointer before you can
use it to store any variable address.
type *var-name;
The following example illustrates use of pointers in C#, using the unsafe modifier:
using System;
namespace UnsafeCodeApplication
{
class Program
{
static unsafe void Main(string[] args)
{
int var = 20;
int* p = &var;
Console.WriteLine("Data is: {0} ", var);
Console.WriteLine("Address is: {0}", (int)p);
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
When the above code wass compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
Data is: 20
Address is: 99215364
Instead of declaring an entire method as unsafe, you can also declare a part of the code as
unsafe:
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// safe code
unsafe
{
// you can use pointers here
}
// safe code
You can retrieve the data stored at the located referenced by the pointer variable, using the
ToString() method. The following example demonstrates this:
using System;
namespace UnsafeCodeApplication
{
class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
unsafe
{
int var = 20;
int* p = &var;
Console.WriteLine("Data is: {0} " , var);
Console.WriteLine("Data is: {0} " , p->ToString());
Console.WriteLine("Address is: {0} " , (int)p);
}
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
When the above code was compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
Data is: 20
Data is: 20
Address is: 77128984
You can pass a pointer variable to a method as parameter. The following example illustrates this:
using System;
namespace UnsafeCodeApplication
{
class TestPointer
{
public unsafe void swap(int* p, int *q)
{
int temp = *p;
*p = *q;
*q = temp;
}
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public unsafe static void Main()
{
TestPointer p = new TestPointer();
int var1 = 10;
int var2 = 20;
int* x = &var1;
int* y = &var2;
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
In C#, an array name and a pointer to a data type same as the array data, are not the same
variable type. For example, int *p and int[] p, are not same type. You can increment the pointer
variable p because it is not fixed in memory but an array address is fixed in memory, and you can't
increment that.
Therefore, if you need to access an array data using a pointer variable, as we traditionally do in C,
or C++, you need to fix the pointer using the fixed keyword.
using System;
namespace UnsafeCodeApplication
{
class TestPointer
{
public unsafe static void Main()
{
int[] list = {10, 100, 200};
fixed(int *ptr = list)
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
}
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When the above code was compiled and executed, it produces the following result:
For compiling unsafe code, you have to specify the /unsafe command-line switch with command-
line compiler.
For example, to compile a program named prog1.cs containing unsafe code, from command line,
give the command:
If you are using Visual Studio IDE then you need to enable use of unsafe code in the project
properties.
To do this:
• Open project properties by double clicking the properties node in the Solution Explorer.
• Click on the Build tab.
• Select the option "Allow unsafe code"
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Chapter 122: Polymorphism
Examples
Another Polymorphism Example
Polymorphism is one of the pillar of OOP. Poly derives from a Greek term which means 'multiple
forms'.
Below is an example which exhibits Polymorphism. The class Vehicle takes multiple forms as a
base class.
The Derived classes Ducati and Lamborghini inherits from Vehicle and overrides the base class's
Display() method, to display its own NumberOfWheels.
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}
Below is the code snippet where Polymorphism is exhibited. The object is created for the base
type Vehicle using a variable vehicle at Line 1. It calls the base class method Display() at Line 2
and display the output as shown.
At Line 3, the vehicle object is pointed to the derived class Ducati and calls its Display() method,
which displays the output as shown. Here comes the polymorphic behavior, even though the
object vehicle is of type Vehicle, it calls the derived class method Display() as the type Ducati
overrides the base class Display() method, since the vehicle object is pointed towards Ducati.
The same explanation is applicable when it invokes the Lamborghini type's Display() method.
Types of Polymorphism
Polymorphism means that a operation can also be applied to values of some other types.
• Ad hoc polymorphism:
contains function overloading. The target is that a Method can be used with different types
without the need of being generic.
• Parametric polymorphism:
is the use of generic types. See Generics
• Subtyping:
has the target inherit of a class to generalize a similar functionality
Ad hoc polymorphism
The target of Ad hoc polymorphism is to create a method, that can be called by different datatypes
without a need of type-conversion in the function call or generics. The following method(s)
sumInt(par1, par2) can be called with different datatypes and has for each combination of types a
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own implementation:
return _a + _b;
}
return _a + b;
}
Subtyping
Subtyping is the use of inherit from a base class to generalize a similar behavior:
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public void refuel()
{
Console.WriteLine("Refueling with petrol");
}
}
Both classes NormalCar and ElectricCar now have a method to refuel, but their own
implementation. Here's a Example:
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Chapter 123: Preprocessor directives
Syntax
• #define [symbol] // Defines a compiler symbol.
• #undef [symbol] // Undefines a compiler symbol.
• #warning [warning message] // Generates a compiler warning. Useful with #if.
• #error [error message] // Generates a compiler error. Useful with #if.
• #line [line number] (file name) // Overrides the compiler line number (and optionally source
file name). Used with T4 text templates.
• #pragma warning [disable|restore] [warning numbers] // Disables/restores compiler warnings.
• #pragma checksum "[filename]" "[guid]" "[checksum]" // Validates a source file's contents.
• #region [region name] // Defines a collapsible code region.
• #endregion // Ends a code region block.
• #if [condition] // Executes the code below if the condition is true.
• #else // Used after an #if.
• #elif [condition] // Used after an #if.
• #endif // Ends a conditional block started with #if.
Remarks
Preprocessor directives are typically used to make source programs easy to change and easy to
compile in different execution environments. Directives in the source file tell the preprocessor to
perform specific actions. For example, the preprocessor can replace tokens in the text, insert the
contents of other files into the source file, or suppress compilation of part of the file by removing
sections of text. Preprocessor lines are recognized and carried out before macro expansion.
Therefore, if a macro expands into something that looks like a preprocessor command, that
command is not recognized by the preprocessor.
Preprocessor statements use the same character set as source file statements, with the exception
that escape sequences are not supported. The character set used in preprocessor statements is
the same as the execution character set. The preprocessor also recognizes negative character
values.
Conditional Expressions
Conditional expressions (#if, #elif, etc) do support a limited subset of boolean operators. They
are:
• and !=. These can only be used for testing whether the symbol is true (defined) or false
==
(not defined)
• &&, ||, !
• ()
For example:
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#if !DEBUG && (SOME_SYMBOL || SOME_OTHER_SYMBOL) && RELEASE == true
Console.WriteLine("OK!");
#endif
would compile code that prints "OK!" to the console if DEBUG is not defined, either SOME_SYMBOL or
SOME_OTHER_SYMBOL is defined, and RELEASE is defined.
Note: These substitutions are done at compile time and are therefore not available for inspection
at run time. Code eliminated through use of #if is not part of the compiler's output.
Examples
Conditional Expressions
When the following is compiled, it will return a different value depending on which directives are
defined.
Conditional expressions are typically used to log additional information for debug builds.
void SomeFunc()
{
try
{
SomeRiskyMethod();
}
catch (ArgumentException ex)
{
#if DEBUG
log.Error("SomeFunc", ex);
#endif
HandleException(ex);
}
}
Compiler warnings can be generated using the #warning directive, and errors can likewise be
generated using the #error directive.
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#if SOME_SYMBOL
#error This is a compiler Error.
#elif SOME_OTHER_SYMBOL
#warning This is a compiler Warning.
#endif
A compiler symbol is a keyword that is defined at compile-time that can be checked for to
conditionally execute specific sections of code.
There are three ways to define a compiler symbol. They can be defined via code:
#define MYSYMBOL
They can be defined in Visual Studio, under Project Properties > Build > Conditional Compilation
Symbols:
(Note that DEBUG and TRACE have their own checkboxes and do not need to be specified explicitly.)
Or they can be defined at compile-time using the /define:[name] switch on the C# compiler, csc.exe
.
The most prevalent example of this is the DEBUG symbol, which gets defined by Visual Studio when
an application is compiled in Debug mode (versus Release mode).
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System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine("Unhandled exception!");
System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine(ex);
throw;
#else
LoggingFramework.LogError(ex);
DisplayFriendlyErrorMessage();
#endif
}
}
In the example above, when an error occurs in the business logic of the application, if the
application is compiled in Debug mode (and the DEBUG symbol is set), the error will be written to the
trace log, and the exception will be re-thrown for debugging. However, if the application is
compiled in Release mode (and no DEBUG symbol is set), a logging framework is used to quietly log
the error, and a friendly error message is displayed to the end user.
Region Blocks
#endregion
These directives are only beneficial when an IDE that supports collapsible regions (such as Visual
Studio) is used to edit the code.
Line
#linecontrols the line number and filename reported by the compiler when outputting warnings
and errors.
void Test()
{
#line 42 "Answer"
#line filename "SomeFile.cs"
int life; // compiler warning CS0168 in "SomeFile.cs" at Line 42
#line default
// compiler warnings reset to default
}
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Pragma Checksum
allows the specification of a specific checksum for a generated program database
#pragma checksum
(PDB) for debugging.
#define EXAMPLE_A
using System.Diagnostics;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
ExampleA(); // This method will be called
ExampleB(); // This method will not be called
}
[Conditional("EXAMPLE_A")]
static void ExampleA() {...}
[Conditional("EXAMPLE_B")]
static void ExampleB() {...}
}
You can disable compiler warnings using #pragma warning disable and restore them using #pragma
warning restore:
// Will not generate the "unused variable" compiler warning since it was disabled
var x = 5;
// Will generate a compiler warning since the warning was just restored
var y = 8;
The CS prefix is optional, and can even be intermixed (though this is not a best practice):
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#pragma warning disable 0168, 0219, CS0414
It is convenient to set custom conditional preprocessing at project level when some actions need
to be skipped lets say for tests.
Go to Solution Explorer -> Click Right Mouse on project you want to set variable to -> Properties ->
Build -> In General find field Conditional compilation symbols and enter your conditional variable
here
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directives
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Chapter 124: Properties
Remarks
Properties combine the class data storage of fields with the accessibility of methods. Sometimes it
may be hard to decide whether to use a property, a property referencing a field, or a method
referencing a field. As a rule of thumb:
• Properties should be used without an internal field if they only get and/or set values; with no
other logic occurring. In such cases, adding an internal field would be adding code for no
benefit.
• Properties should be used with internal fields when you need to manipulate or validate the
data. An example may be removing leading and trailing spaces from strings or ensuring that
a date is not in the past.
With regards to Methods vs Properties, where you can both retrieve (get) and update (set) a value,
a property is the better choice. Also, .Net provides a lot of functionality that makes use of a class's
structure; e.g. adding a grid to a form, .Net will by default list all properties of the class on that
form; thus to make best use of such conventions plan to use properties when this behaviour would
be typically desirable, and methods where you'd prefer for the types to not be automatically added.
Examples
Various Properties in Context
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//this is not a property but a method; though it could be rewritten as a property if
desired.
private bool HasHadBirthdayThisYear()
{
bool hasHadBirthdayThisYear = true;
DateTime today = DateTime.UtcNow;
if (today.Month > this.dob.Month)
{
hasHadBirthdayThisYear = true;
}
else
{
if (today.Month == this.dob.Month)
{
hasHadBirthdayThisYear = today.Day > this.dob.Day;
}
else
{
hasHadBirthdayThisYear = false;
}
}
return hasHadBirthdayThisYear;
}
}
Public Get
string name;
public string Name
{
get { return this.name; }
}
Public Set
string name;
public string Name
{
set { this.name = value; }
}
Accessing Properties
class Program
{
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
Person aPerson = new Person("Ann Xena Sample", new DateTime(1984, 10, 22));
//example of accessing properties (Id, Name & DOB)
Console.WriteLine("Id is: \t{0}\nName is:\t'{1}'.\nDOB is: \t{2:yyyy-MM-dd}.\nAge is:
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\t{3}", aPerson.Id, aPerson.Name, aPerson.DOB, aPerson.GetAgeInYears());
//example of setting properties
//see how our changes above take effect; note that the Name has been trimmed
Console.WriteLine("Id is: \t{0}\nName is:\t'{1}'.\nDOB is: \t{2:yyyy-MM-dd}.\nAge is:
\t{3}", aPerson.Id, aPerson.Name, aPerson.DOB, aPerson.GetAgeInYears());
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{
bool hasHadBirthdayThisYear = true;
DateTime today = DateTime.UtcNow;
if (today.Month > this.dob.Month)
{
hasHadBirthdayThisYear = true;
}
else
{
if (today.Month == this.dob.Month)
{
hasHadBirthdayThisYear = today.Day > this.dob.Day;
}
else
{
hasHadBirthdayThisYear = false;
}
}
return hasHadBirthdayThisYear;
}
}
Auto-implemented properties
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Auto-implemented properties were introduced in C# 3.
An auto-implemented property is declared with an empty getter and setter (accessors):
When an auto-implemented property is written in your code, the compiler creates a private
anonymous field that can only be accessed through the property's accessors.
The above auto-implemented property statement is equivalent to writing this lengthy code:
Auto-implemented properties cannot have any logic in their accessors, for example:
An auto-implemented property can however have different access modifiers for its accessors:
C# 6 allows auto-implemented properties to have no setter at all (making it immutable, since its
value can be set only inside the constructor or hard coded):
For more information on initializing auto-implemented properties, read the Auto-property initializers
documentation.
Read-only properties
Declaration
A common misunderstanding, especially beginners, have is read-only property is the one marked
with readonly keyword. That's not correct and in fact following is a compile time error:
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Using read-only properties to create
immutable classes
public Address
{
public string ZipCode { get; }
public string City { get; }
public string StreetAddress { get; }
public Address(
string zipCode,
string city,
string streetAddress)
{
if (zipCode == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(zipCode));
if (city == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(city));
if (streetAddress == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(streetAddress));
ZipCode = zipCode;
City = city;
StreetAddress = streetAddress;
}
}
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Chapter 125: Reactive Extensions (Rx)
Examples
Observing TextChanged event on a TextBox
An observable is created from the TextChanged event of the TextBox. Also any input is only
selected if it's different from the last input and if there was no input within 0.5 seconds. The output
in this example is sent to the console.
Observable
.FromEventPattern(textBoxInput, "TextChanged")
.Select(s => ((TextBox) s.Sender).Text)
.Throttle(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(0.5))
.DistinctUntilChanged()
.Subscribe(text => Console.WriteLine(text));
Creates an Observable and starts a method asynchronously. SelectMany flattens the collection and
the subscription is fired every 200 elements through Buffer.
Observable
.Start(() => GetData())
.SelectMany(s => s)
.Buffer(bufferSize)
.ObserveOn(SynchronizationContext.Current)
.Subscribe(items =>
{
Console.WriteLine("Loaded {0} elements", items.Count);
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Read Reactive Extensions (Rx) online: https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/5770/reactive-
extensions--rx-
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Chapter 126: Read & Understand Stacktraces
Introduction
A stack trace is a great aid when debugging a program. You will get a stack trace when your
program throws an Exception, and sometimes when the program terminates abnormally.
Examples
Stack trace for a simple NullReferenceException in Windows Forms
The stack trace goes on like that, but this part will suffice for our purposes.
This is the most important part. It tells us the exact line where the Exception occurred: line 29 in
Form1.cs .
So, this is where you begin your search.
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
This is the method that called button1_Click. So now we know that button1_Click, where the error
occurred, was called from System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick.
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at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
The stack trace is the list of functions that was called until your code encountered the Exception.
And by following this, you can figure out which execution path your code followed until it ran into
trouble!
Note that the stack trace includes calls from the .Net system; you don't normally need to follow all
Microsofts System.Windows.Forms code to find out what went wrong, only the code that belongs to
your own application.
So the stack lets the computer know where it left off, before calling a new method.
But it also serves as a debugging help. Like a detective tracing the steps that a criminal took when
committing their crime, a programmer can use the stack to trace the steps a program took before it
crashed.
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Chapter 127: Reading and writing .zip files
Syntax
1. public static ZipArchive OpenRead(string archiveFileName)
Parameters
Parameter Details
Examples
Writing to a zip file
System.IO.Compression
System.IO.Compression.FileSystem
The following example will return the byte[] data of a zipped file containing the files provided to it,
without needing access to the file system.
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ZipArchiveEntry orderEntry = archive.CreateEntry(file.Key); //create a file
with this name
using (BinaryWriter writer = new BinaryWriter(orderEntry.Open()))
{
writer.Write(file.Value); //write the binary data
}
}
}
//ZipArchive must be disposed before the MemoryStream has data
return ms.ToArray();
}
}
This example gets a listing of files from the provided zip archive binary data:
The following example shows how to open a zip archive and extract all .txt
files to a folder
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.IO.Compression;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string zipPath = @"c:\example\start.zip";
string extractPath = @"c:\example\extract";
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entry.ExtractToFile(Path.Combine(extractPath, entry.FullName));
}
}
}
}
}
}
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Chapter 128: Recursion
Remarks
Note that using recursion can have a severe impact on your code, as each recursive function call
will be appended to the stack. If there are too many calls this could lead to a StackOverflow
Exception. Most "natural recursive functions" can be written as a for, while or foreach loop
construct, and whilst not looking so posh or clever will be more efficient.
Always think twice and use recursion carefully - know why you use it:
• recursion should be used when you know the number of recursive calls isn't excessive
○ excessive means, it depends on how much memory is available
• recursion is used because it is clearer and cleaner code version, it's more readable than an
iterative or loop-based function. Often this is the case because it gives cleaner and more
compact code (aka less lines of code).
○ but be aware, it can be less efficient! For example in the Fibonacci recursion, to
compute the nth number in the sequence, the calculation time will grow exponentially!
• https://www.cs.umd.edu/class/fall2002/cmsc214/Tutorial/recursion2.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recursion#In_computer_science
Examples
Recursively describe an object structure
Recursion is when a method calls itself. Preferably it will do so until a specific condition is met and
then it will exit the method normally, returning to the point from which the method was called. If
not, a stack overflow exception might occur due to too many recursive calls.
/// <summary>
/// Create an object structure the code can recursively describe
/// </summary>
public class Root
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public ChildOne Child { get; set; }
}
public class ChildOne
{
public string ChildOneName { get; set; }
public ChildTwo Child { get; set; }
}
public class ChildTwo
{
public string ChildTwoName { get; set; }
}
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/// <summary>
/// The console application with the recursive function DescribeTypeOfObject
/// </summary>
public class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// point A, we call the function with type 'Root'
DescribeTypeOfObject(typeof(Root));
Console.WriteLine("Press a key to exit");
Console.ReadKey();
}
An excellent and simple example of recursion is a method that will get the factorial of a given
number:
In this method, we can see that the method will take an argument, number.
Step by step:
1. Is number (4) == 1?
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2. No? return 4 * Factorial(number-1) (3)
3. Because the method is called once again, it now repeats the first step using Factorial(3) as
the new argument.
4. This continues until Factorial(1) is executed and number (1) == 1 returns 1.
5. Overall, the calculation "builds up" 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 and finally returns 24.
The key to understanding recursion is that the method calls a new instance of itself. After
returning, the execution of the calling instance continues.
One of the uses of recursion is to navigate through a hierarchical data structure, like a file system
directory tree, without knowing how many levels the tree has or the number of objects on each
level. In this example, you will see how to use recursion on a directory tree to find all sub-
directories of a specified directory and print the whole tree to the console.
Console.WriteLine(
$"Getting directory tree of '{rootDirectorypath}'");
PrintDirectoryTree(rootDirectorypath);
Console.WriteLine("Press 'Enter' to quit...");
Console.ReadLine();
}
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var indentation = string.Empty;
for (var i = RootLevel; i < currentLevel; i++)
{
indentation += Tab;
}
Console.WriteLine($"{indentation}-{directory.Name}");
var nextLevel = currentLevel + 1;
try
{
foreach (var subDirectory in directory.GetDirectories())
{
PrintDirectoryTree(subDirectory, nextLevel);
}
}
catch (UnauthorizedAccessException e)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{indentation}-{e.Message}");
}
}
}
This code is somewhat more complicated than the bare minimum to complete this task, as it
includes exception checking to handle any issues with getting the directories. Below you will find a
break-down of the code into smaller segments with explanations of each.
Main:
The main method takes an input from a user as a string, which is to be used as the path to the root
directory. It then calls the PrintDirectoryTree method with this string as the parameter.
PrintDirectoryTree(string):
This is the first of two methods that handle the actual directory tree printing. This method takes a
string representing the path to the root directory as a parameter. It checks if the path is an actual
directory, and if not, throws a DirectoryNotFoundException which is then handled in the catch block.
If the path is a real directory, a DirectoryInfo object rootDirectory is created from the path, and the
second PrintDirectoryTree method is called with the rootDirectory object and RootLevel, which is
an integer constant with a value of zero.
PrintDirectoryTree(DirectoryInfo, int):
This second method handles the brunt of the work. It takes a DirectoryInfo and an integer as
parameters. The DirectoryInfo is the current directory, and the integer is the depth of the directory
relative to the root. For ease of reading, the output is indented for each level deep the current
directory is, so that the output looks like this:
-Root
-Child 1
-Child 2
-Grandchild 2.1
-Child 3
Once the current directory is printed, its sub directories are retrieved, and this method is then
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called on each of them with a depth level value of one more than the current. That part is the
recursion: the method calling itself. The program will run in this manner until it has visited every
directory in the tree. When it reached a directory with no sub directories, the method will return
automatically.
This method also catches an UnauthorizedAccessException, which is thrown if any of the sub
directories of the current directory are protected by the system. The error message is printed at
the current indentation level for consistency.
This does not include the specific error checking or output formatting of the first approach, but it
effectively does the same thing. Since it only uses strings as opposed to DirectoryInfo, it cannot
provide access to other directory properties like permissions.
Fibonacci Sequence
Following the math theory of F(n) = F(n-2) + F(n-1), for any i > 0,
fib(10); // Returns 55
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Factorial calculation
The factorial of a number (denoted with !, as for instance 9!) is the multiplication of that number
with the factorial of one lower. So, for instance, 9! = 9 x 8! = 9 x 8 x 7! = 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x
2 x 1.
long Factorial(long x)
{
if (x < 1)
{
throw new OutOfRangeException("Factorial can only be used with positive numbers.");
}
if (x == 1)
{
return 1;
} else {
return x * Factorial(x - 1);
}
}
PowerOf calculation
Calculating the power of a given number can be done recursively as well. Given a base number n
and exponent e, we need to make sure to split the problem in chunks by decreasing the exponent
e.
Theoretical Example:
• 2² = 2x2
• 2³ = 2x2x2 or, 2³ = 2² x 2
In there lies the secret of our recursive algorithm (see the code below). This is about taking
the problem and separating it into smaller and simpler to solve chunks.
• Notes
○ when the base number is 0, we have to be aware to return 0 as 0³ = 0 x 0 x 0
○ when the exponent is 0, we have to be aware to always return 1, as this is a
mathematical rule.
Code Example:
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here written in the xUnit framework.
[Theory]
[MemberData(nameof(PowerOfTestData))]
public void PowerOfTest(int @base, int exponent, int expected) {
Assert.Equal(expected, CalcPowerOf(@base, exponent));
}
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Chapter 129: Reflection
Introduction
Reflection is a C# language mechanism for accessing dynamic object properties on runtime.
Typically, reflection is used to fetch the information about dynamic object type and object attribute
values. In REST application, for example, reflection could be used to iterate through serialized
response object.
Remark: According to MS guidelines performance critical code should avoid reflection. See
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff647790.aspx
Remarks
Reflection allows code to access information about the assemblies, modules and types at run-time
(program execution). This can then be further used to dynamically create, modify or access types.
Types include properties, methods, fields and attributes.
Further Reading :
Reflection(C#)
Examples
Get a System.Type
using System;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Linq;
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{
var members = typeof(object)
.GetMembers(BindingFlags.Public |
BindingFlags.Static |
BindingFlags.Instance);
We can also use the GetMembers() without passing any BindingFlags. This will return all public
members of that specific type.
One thing to note that GetMembers does not return the members in any particular order, so never
rely on the order that GetMembers returns you.
View Demo
using System;
Output:
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hell
View Demo
On the other hand, if the method is static, you do not need an instance to call it.
Output:
7.38905609893065
View Demo
Basic usage:
int newValue = 1;
// set the value myInstance.myProperty to newValue
prop.setValue(myInstance, newValue);
Setting read-only automatically-implemented properties can be done through it's backing field (in
.NET Framework name of backing field is "k__BackingField"):
int newValue = 1;
// set the value of myInstance.myProperty backing field to newValue
fieldInfo.SetValue(myInstance, newValue);
Custom Attributes
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var attributes = typeof(t).GetProperty("Name").GetCustomAttributes(false);
/// <summary>
/// Returns the value of a member attribute for any member in a class.
/// (a member is a Field, Property, Method, etc...)
/// <remarks>
/// If there is more than one member of the same name in the class, it will return the
first one (this applies to overloaded methods)
/// </remarks>
/// <example>
/// Read System.ComponentModel Description Attribute from method 'MyMethodName' in
class 'MyClass':
/// var Attribute = typeof(MyClass).GetAttribute("MyMethodName",
(DescriptionAttribute d) => d.Description);
/// </example>
/// <param name="type">The class that contains the member as a type</param>
/// <param name="MemberName">Name of the member in the class</param>
/// <param name="valueSelector">Attribute type and property to get (will return first
instance if there are multiple attributes of the same type)</param>
/// <param name="inherit">true to search this member's inheritance chain to find the
attributes; otherwise, false. This parameter is ignored for properties and events</param>
/// </summary>
public static TValue GetAttribute<TAttribute, TValue>(this Type type, string
MemberName, Func<TAttribute, TValue> valueSelector, bool inherit = false) where TAttribute :
Attribute
{
var att =
type.GetMember(MemberName).FirstOrDefault().GetCustomAttributes(typeof(TAttribute),
inherit).FirstOrDefault() as TAttribute;
if (att != null)
{
return valueSelector(att);
}
return default(TValue);
}
}
Usage
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d.Description);
If you have an instance of a generic type but for some reason don't know the specific type, you
might want to determine the generic arguments that were used to create this instance.
Let's say someone created an instance of List<T> like that and passes it to a method:
so at compile time you don't have any idea what generic arguments have been used to create o.
Reflection provides a lot of methods to inspect generic types. At first, we can determine if the type
of o is a generic type at all:
Type t = o.GetType();
if (!t.IsGenericType) return;
...
Type.IsGenericType returns true if the type is a generic type and false if not.
But this is not all we want to know. List<> itself is a generic type, too. But we only want to examine
instances of specific constructed generic types. A constructed generic type is for example a
List<int> that has a specific type argument for all its generic parameters.
The Type class provides two more properties, IsConstructedGenericType and IsGenericTypeDefinition
, to distinguish these constructed generic types from generic type definitions:
typeof(List<>).IsGenericType // true
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typeof(List<>).IsGenericTypeDefinition // true
typeof(List<>).IsConstructedGenericType// false
typeof(List<int>).IsGenericType // true
typeof(List<int>).IsGenericTypeDefinition // false
typeof(List<int>).IsConstructedGenericType// true
To enumerate the generic arguments of an instance, we can use the GetGenericArguments() method
that returns an Type array containing the generic type arguments:
Int32
Let's say you have class with generic methods. And you need to call its functions with reflection.
Sample sample = new Sample();//or you can get an instance via reflection
For the static method you do not need an instance. Therefore the first argument will also be null.
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generic.Invoke(null, null);
If you want your application to support a plug-in system, for example to load plug-ins from
assemblies located in plugins folder:
interface IPlugin
{
string PluginDescription { get; }
void DoWork();
}
Your application's plugin loader would find the dll files, get all types in those assemblies that
implement IPlugin, and create instances of those.
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The simplest way is to use the Activator class.
However, even though Activator performance have been improved since .NET 3.5, using
Activator.CreateInstance() is bad option sometimes, due to (relatively) low performance: Test 1,
Test 2, Test 3...
You can pass an object array to Activator.CreateInstance if you have more than one parameter.
The MakeGenericType method turns an open generic type (like List<>) into a concrete type (like
List<string>) by applying type arguments to it.
// To create a List<string>
Type[] tArgs = { typeof(string) };
Type target = openType.MakeGenericType(tArgs);
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}
// Get the instance of the desired constructor (here it takes a string as a parameter).
ConstructorInfo c = typeof(T).GetConstructor(new[] { typeof(string) });
// Don't forget to check if such constructor exists
if (c == null)
throw new InvalidOperationException(string.Format("A constructor for type '{0}' was not
found.", typeof(T)));
T instance = (T)c.Invoke(new object[] { "test" });
Expression trees represent code in a tree-like data structure, where each node is an expression.
As MSDN explains:
Expression is a sequence of one or more operands and zero or more operators that
can be evaluated to a single value, object, method, or namespace. Expressions can
consist of a literal value, a method invocation, an operator and its operands, or a
simple name. Simple names can be the name of a variable, type member, method
parameter, namespace or type.
public GenericFactory()
{
_registeredTypes = new Dictionary<TKey, Func<object[], TType>>();
}
/// <summary>
/// Find and register suitable constructor for type
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="TType"></typeparam>
/// <param name="key">Key for this constructor</param>
/// <param name="parameters">Parameters</param>
public void Register(TKey key, params Type[] parameters)
{
ConstructorInfo ci = typeof(TType).GetConstructor(BindingFlags.Public |
BindingFlags.Instance, null, CallingConventions.HasThis, parameters, new ParameterModifier[] {
}); // Get the instance of ctor.
if (ci == null)
throw new InvalidOperationException(string.Format("Constructor for type '{0}'
was not found.", typeof(TType)));
lock (_locker)
{
if (!_registeredTypes.TryGetValue(key, out ctor)) // check if such ctor
already been registered
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{
var pExp = Expression.Parameter(typeof(object[]), "arguments"); // create
parameter Expression
var ctorParams = ci.GetParameters(); // get parameter info from
constructor
argExpressions[i] = block;
}
else
argExpressions[i] = Expression.Convert(indexedAcccess,
parameters[i]);
}
var newExpr = Expression.New(ci, argExpressions); // create expression
that represents call to specified ctor with the specified arguments.
/// <summary>
/// Returns instance of registered type by key.
/// </summary>
/// <typeparam name="TType"></typeparam>
/// <param name="key"></param>
/// <param name="args"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
public TType Create(TKey key, params object[] args)
{
Func<object[], TType> foo;
if (_registeredTypes.TryGetValue(key, out foo))
{
return (TType)foo(args);
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}
Using FormatterServices.GetUninitializedObject
T instance = (T)FormatterServices.GetUninitializedObject(typeof(T));
To do this you need a reference to the assembly which contains the type. If you have another type
available which you know is in the same assembly as the one you want you can do this:
typeof(KnownType).Assembly.GetType(typeName);
• where typeName is the name of the type you are looking for (including the namespace) , and
KnownType is the type you know is in the same assembly.
Type t = null;
foreach (Assembly ass in AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies())
{
if (ass.FullName.StartsWith("System."))
continue;
t = ass.GetType(typeName);
if (t != null)
break;
}
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Notice the check to exclude scanning System namespace assemblies to speed up the search. If
your type may actually be a CLR type, you will have to delete these two lines.
If you happen to have the fully assembly-qualified type name including the assembly you can
simply get it with
Type.GetType(fullyQualifiedName);
When performance is a concern, invoking a method via reflection (i.e. via the MethodInfo.Invoke
method) is not ideal. However, it is relatively straightforward to obtain a more performant strongly-
typed delegate using the Delegate.CreateDelegate function. The performance penalty for using
reflection is incurred only during the delegate-creation process. Once the delegate is created,
there is little-to-no performance penalty for invoking it:
This technique can be extended to properties as well. If we have a class named MyClass with an
int property named MyIntProperty, the code to get a strongly-typed getter would be (the following
example assumes 'target' is a valid instance of MyClass):
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Chapter 130: Regex Parsing
Syntax
• new Regex(pattern); //Creates a new instance with a defined pattern.
• Regex.Match(input); //Starts the lookup and returns the Match.
• Regex.Matches(input); //Starts the lookup and returns a MatchCollection
Parameters
Name Details
The string pattern that has to be used for the lookup. For more
Pattern
information: msdn
The common options in here are Singleline and Multiline. They are
RegexOptions changing the behaviour of pattern-elements like the dot (.) which won't
[Optional] cover a NewLine (\n) in Multiline-Mode but in SingleLine-Mode. Default
behaviour: msdn
Where patterns are getting more complex the lookup can consume more
Timeout
time. This is the passed timeout for the lookup just as known from
[Optional]
network-programming.
Remarks
Needed using
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
Nice to have
• You can test your patterns online without the need of compiling your solution to get results
here: Click me
• Regex101 Example: Click me
Especially beginners are tended to overkill their tasks with regex because it feels powerful and in
the right place for complexer text-based lookups. This is the point where people try to parse xml-
documents with regex without even asking theirselfes if there could be an already finished class
for this task like XmlDocument.
Regex should be the last weapon to pick agains complexity. At least dont forget putting in some
effort to search for the right way before writing down 20 lines of patterns.
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Examples
Single match
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
Result:
Multiple matches
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
Result:
found = new List<string>() { "text in here", "another one", "third one", "fourth" }
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Chapter 131: Runtime Compile
Examples
RoslynScript
You can compile and run any statements, variables, methods, classes or any code segments.
CSharpCodeProvider
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Chapter 132: Singleton Implementation
Examples
Statically Initialized Singleton
This implementation is thread-safe because in this case instance object is initialized in the static
constructor. The CLR already ensures that all static constructors are executed thread-safe.
Mutating instance is not a thread-safe operation, therefore the readonly attribute guarantees
immutability after initialization.
This thread-safe version of a singleton was necessary in the early versions of .NET where static
initialization was not guaranteed to be thread-safe. In more modern versions of the framework a
statically initialized singleton is usually preferred because it is very easy to make implementation
mistakes in the following pattern.
private ThreadSafeSingleton()
{
}
return instance;
}
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}
}
Notice that the if (instance == null) check is done twice: once before the lock is acquired, and
once afterwards. This implementation would still be thread-safe even without the first null check.
However, that would mean that a lock would be acquired every time the instance is requested, and
that would cause performance to suffer. The first null check is added so that the lock is not
acquired unless it's necessary. The second null check makes sure that only the first thread to
acquire the lock then creates the instance. The other threads will find the instance to be populated
and skip ahead.
.Net 4.0 type Lazy guarantees thread-safe object initialization, so this type could be used to make
Singletons.
private LazySingleton() { }
}
Using Lazy<T> will make sure that the object is only instantiated when it is used somewhere in the
calling code.
using System;
Lazy, thread safe singleton (for .NET 3.5 or older, alternate implementation)
Because in .NET 3.5 and older you don't have Lazy<T> class you use the following pattern:
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private Singleton() // prevents public instantiation
{
}
Because the Nested class is nested and private the instantiation of the singleton instance will not
be triggered by accessing other members of the Sigleton class (such as a public readonly
property, for example).
Most examples show instantiating and holding a LazySingleton object until the owning application
has terminated, even if that object is no longer needed by the application. A solution to this is to
implement IDisposable and set the object instance to null as follows:
private LazySingleton() { }
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{
if (--_instanceCount == 0) // No more references to this object.
{
Dispose(true);
GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
}
}
if (disposing)
{
_instance = null; // Allow GC to dispose of this instance.
// Free any other managed objects here.
}
The above code disposes of the instance prior to application termination but only if consumers call
Dispose() on the object after every use. Since there is no guarantee that this will happen or a way
to force it, there is also no guarantee that the instance will ever be disposed. But if this class is
being used internally then it's easier to ensure that the Dispose() method is being called after each
use. An example follows:
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Chapter 133: Static Classes
Examples
Static keyword
1. This value does not change from object to object but rather changes on a class as a whole
2. Static properties and methods don't require an instance.
//Notice this next call doesn't access the instance but calls by the class name.
Console.WriteLine(Foo.Counter); //this will also print "1"
}
}
Static Classes
1. You cannot create an instance of a static class (this even removes the default constructor)
2. All properties and methods in the class must be static as well.
3. A static class is a sealed class, meaning it cannot be inherited.
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public static class Foo
{
//Notice there is no constructor as this cannot be an instance
public static int Counter { get; set; }
public static int GetCount()
{
return Counter;
}
}
A static class is lazily initialized on member access and lives for the duration of the application
domain.
void Main()
{
Console.WriteLine("Static classes are lazily initialized");
Console.WriteLine("The static constructor is only invoked when the class is first
accessed");
Foo.SayHi();
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Console.WriteLine("static Bar.ctor");
}
}
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Chapter 134: Stopwatches
Syntax
• stopWatch.Start() - Starts Stopwatch.
• stopWatch.Stop() - Stops Stopwatch.
• stopWatch.Elapsed - Gets the total elapsed time measured by the current interval.
Remarks
Stopwatches are often used in benchmarking programs to time code and see how optimal different
segments of code take to run.
Examples
Creating an Instance of a Stopwatch
A Stopwatch instance can measure elapsed time over several intervals with the total elapsed time
being all individual intervals added together. This gives a reliable method of measuring elapsed
time between two or more events.
double d = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < 1000 * 1000 * 1000; i++)
{
d += 1;
}
stopWatch.Stop();
Console.WriteLine("Time elapsed: {0:hh\\:mm\\:ss\\.fffffff}", stopWatch.Elapsed);
IsHighResolution
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{
Console.WriteLine("Operations timed using the DateTime class.");
}
https://dotnetfiddle.net/ckrWUo
The timer used by the Stopwatch class depends on the system hardware and operating system.
IsHighResolution is true if the Stopwatch timer is based on a high-resolution performance counter.
Otherwise, IsHighResolution is false, which indicates that the Stopwatch timer is based on the
system timer.
Ticks in Stopwatch are machine/OS dependent, thus you should never count on the ration of
Stopwatch ticks to seconds to be the same between two systems, and possibly even on the same
system after a reboot. Thus, you can never count on Stopwatch ticks to be the same interval as
DateTime/TimeSpan ticks.
Stopwatch should always be used over Datetime for timing processes as it is more lightweight and
uses Dateime if it cant use a high-resolution performance counter.
Source
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Chapter 135: Stream
Examples
Using Streams
A stream is an object that provides a low-level means to transfer data. They themselves do not act
as data containers.
The data that we deal with is in form of byte array(byte []). The functions for reading and writing
are all byte orientated, e.g. WriteByte().
There are no functions for dealing with integers, strings etc. This makes the stream very general-
purpose, but less simple to work with if, say, you just want to transfer text. Streams can be
particularly very helpful when you are dealing with large amount of data.
We will need to use different type of Stream based where it needs to be written/read from (i.e. the
backing store). For example, if the source is a file, we need to use FileStream:
fs.Close();
}
All Streams are derived from the generic class System.IO.Stream. Data cannot be directly read or
written from streams. The .NET Framework provides helper classes such as StreamReader,
StreamWriter, BinaryReader and BinaryWriter that convert between native types and the low-level
stream interface, and transfer the data to or from the stream for you.
Reading and writing to streams can be done via StreamReader and StreamWriter. One should be
careful when closing these. By default, closing will also close contained stream as well and make it
unusable for further uses. This default behaviour can be change by using a constructor which has
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bool leaveOpen parameter and setting its value as true.
StreamWriter:
StreamReader:
Since Classes Stream, StreamReader, StreamWriter, etc. implement the IDisposable interface, we can
call the Dispose() method on objects of these classes.
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Chapter 136: String Concatenate
Remarks
If you are creating a dynamic string, It is a good practice to opt for StringBuilder class rather than
joining strings using + or Concat method as each +/Concat creates a new string object everytime it is
executed.
Examples
+ Operator
string s1 = "string1";
string s2 = "string2";
Concatenating strings using a StringBuilder can offer performance advantages over simple string
concatenation using +. This is due to the way memory is allocated. Strings are reallocated with
each concatenation, StringBuilders allocate memory in blocks only reallocating when the current
block is exhausted. This can make a huge difference when doing a lot of small concatenations.
Calls to Append() can be daisy chained, because it returns a reference to the StringBuilder:
The String.Join method can be used to concatenate multiple elements from a string array.
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Produces the following output: "orange, grape"
This example uses the String.Join(String, String[], Int32, Int32) overload, which specifies the
start index and count on top of the separator and value.
If you do not wish to use the startIndex and count overloads, you can join all string given. Like this:
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Chapter 137: String Escape Sequences
Syntax
• \' — single quote (0x0027)
• \" — double quote (0x0022)
• \\ — backslash (0x005C)
• \0 — null (0x0000)
• \a — alert (0x0007)
• \b — backspace (0x0008)
• \f — form feed (0x000C)
• \n — new line (0x000A)
• \r — carriage return (0x000D)
• \t — horizontal tab (0x0009)
• \v — vertical tab (0x000B)
• \u0000 - \uFFFF — Unicode character
• \x0 - \xFFFF — Unicode character (code with variable length)
• \U00000000 - \U0010FFFF — Unicode character (for generating surrogates)
Remarks
String escape sequences are transformed to the corresponding character at compile time.
Ordinary strings that happen to contain backwards slashes are not transformed.
For example, the strings notEscaped and notEscaped2 below are not transformed to a newline
character, but will stay as two different characters ('\' and 'n').
Console.WriteLine(escaped.Length); // 1
Console.WriteLine(notEscaped.Length); // 2
Console.WriteLine(notEscaped2.Length); // 2
Examples
Unicode character escape sequences
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Apostrophes
Backslash
Backslash
The second example uses a verbatim string literal, which doesn't treat the backslash as an escape
character.
Quotes
Newlines
string s = "\c";
char c = '\c';
Instead, they will produce the error Unrecognized escape sequence at compile time.
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Escape sequences are not restricted to string and char literals.
and suppose the character Œ is not available in the character encoding you use for your C# source
files. You are lucky, it is permitted to use escapes of the type \u#### or \U######## in identifiers in
the code. So it is legal to write:
and the C# compiler will know Œ and \u0152 are the same character.
(However, it might be a good idea to switch to UTF-8 or a similar encoding that can handle all
characters.)
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Chapter 138: String Interpolation
Syntax
• $"content {expression} content"
• $"content {expression:format} content"
• $"content {expression} {{content in braces}} content}"
• $"content {expression:format} {{content in braces}} content}"
Remarks
String interpolation is a shorthand for the string.Format() method that makes it easier to build
strings with variable and expression values inside of them.
Examples
Expressions
You can also use the DateTime.ToString method to format the DateTime object. This will produce the
same output as the code above.
Output:
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It's November 11, 2015, make a wish!
Note: MM stands for months and mm for minutes. Be very careful when using these as
mistakes can introduce bugs that may be difficult to discover.
Simple Usage
$"Hello, {name}!"
String can be formatted to accept a padding parameter that will specify how many character
positions the inserted string will use :
${value, padding}
NOTE: Positive padding values indicate left padding and negative padding values
indicate right padding.
Left Padding
A left padding of 5 (adds 3 spaces before the value of number, so it takes up a total of 5 character
positions in the resulting string.)
Output:
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The answer to life, the universe and everything is 42.
Right Padding
Right padding, which uses a negative padding value, will add spaces to the end of the current
value.
Output:
You can use a colon and the standard numeric format syntax to control how numbers are
formatted.
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Live Demo on .NET Fiddle
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Chapter 139: String Manipulation
Examples
Changing the case of characters within a String
The System.String class supports a number of methods to convert between uppercase and
lowercase characters in a string.
Note: The reason to use the invariant versions of these methods is to prevent producing
unexpected culture-specific letters. This is explained here in detail.
Example:
Note that you can choose to specify a specific Culture when converting to lowercase and
uppercase by using the String.ToLower(CultureInfo) and String.ToUpper(CultureInfo) methods
accordingly.
Using the System.String.Contains you can find out if a particular string exists within a string. The
method returns a boolean, true if the string exists else false.
Using the System.String.IndexOf method, you can locate the starting position of a substring within
an existing string.
Note the returned position is zero-based, a value of -1 is returned if the substring is not found.
To find the first location from the end of a string, use the System.String.LastIndexOf method:
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Removing (Trimming) white-space from a string
The System.String.Trim method can be used to remove all leading and trailing white-space
characters from a string:
In addition:
Using the System.String.Replace method, you can replace part of a string with another string.
String.Replacecan also be used to remove part of a string, by specifying an empty string as the
replacement value:
Use the System.String.Split method to return a string array that contains substrings of the original
string, split based on a specified delimiter:
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foreach (string word in stringArray)
{
Console.WriteLine(word);
}
Output:
One
Two
Three
Four
The System.String.Join method allows to concatenate all elements in a string array, using a
specified separator between each element:
String Concatenation
String Concatenation can be done by using the System.String.Concat method, or (much easier)
using the + operator:
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Chapter 140: String.Format
Introduction
The Format methods are a set of overloads in the System.String class used to create strings that
combine objects into specific string representations. This information can be applied to
String.Format, various WriteLine methods as well as other methods in the .NET framework.
Syntax
• string.Format(string format, params object[] args)
• string.Format(IFormatProvider provider, string format, params object[] args)
• $"string {text} blablabla" // Since C#6
Parameters
Parameter Details
A composite format string, which defines the way args should be combined into
format
a string.
Remarks
Notes:
Examples
Places where String.Format is 'embedded' in the framework
There are several places where you can use String.Format indirectly: The secret is to look for the
overload with the signature string format, params object[] args, e.g.:
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Console.WriteLine(String.Format("{0} - {1}", name, value));
NumberFormatInfo can be used for formatting both integer and float numbers.
// invariantResult is "1,234,567.89"
var invarianResult = string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, "{0:#,###,##}", 1234567.89);
// customResult is "1_GS_234_GS_567_NS_89"
var customResult = string.Format(customProvider, "{0:#,###.##}", 1234567.89);
if (format == "Reverse")
{
return String.Join("", arg.ToString().Reverse());
}
return arg.ToString();
}
Usage:
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String.Format(new CustomFormat(), "-> {0:Reverse} <-", "Hello World");
Output:
The second value in the curly braces dictates the length of the replacement string. By adjusting
the second value to be positive or negative, the alignment of the string can be changed.
Output:
Numeric formats
// Decimals
string.Format("Decimal, fixed precision: {0:0.000}; as percents: {0:0.00%}", 0.12);
Output:
Currency Formatting
The "c" (or currency) format specifier converts a number to a string that represents a currency
amount.
Precision
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Default is 2. Use c1, c2, c3 and so on to control precision.
Currency Symbol
1. Pass CultureInfo instance to use custom culture symbol.
2. Use any string as currency symbol. Use NumberFormatInfo as to customize currency symbol.
Negative pattern usage is the same as positive pattern. A lot more use cases please refer to
original link.
Since C# 6.0
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6.0
Date Formatting
Console.Write(String.Format("{0:dd}",date));
6.0
Console.Write($"{date:ddd}");
output :
06
Лхагва
06
f Full date and time, short {0:f} Wednesday, July 6, 2016 6:30 PM
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Specifier Meaning Sample Result
F Full date and time, long {0:F} Wednesday, July 6, 2016 6:30:14 PM
ss Seconds {0:ss} 14
tt AM/PM {0:tt} PM
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Specifier Meaning Sample Result
ToString()
The ToString() method is present on all reference object types. This is due to all reference types
being derived from Object which has the ToString() method on it. The ToString() method on the
object base class returns the type name. The fragment below will print out "User" to the console.
...
However, the class User can also override ToString() in order to alter the string it returns. The
code fragment below prints out "Id: 5, Name: User1" to the console.
...
While the String.Format() method is certainly useful in formatting data as strings, it may often be a
bit overkill, especially when dealing with a single object as seen below :
An easier approach might be to simply use the ToString() method available on all objects within
C#. It supports all of the same standard and custom formatting strings, but doesn't require the
necessary parameter mapping as there will only be a single argument :
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Caveats & Formatting Restrictions
While this approach may be simpler in some scenarios, the ToString() approach is limited with
regards to adding left or right padding like you might do within the String.Format() method :
In order to accomplish this same behavior with the ToString() method, you would need to use
another method like PadLeft() or PadRight() respectively :
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Chapter 141: StringBuilder
Examples
What a StringBuilder is and when to use one
A StringBuilder represents a series of characters, which unlike a normal string, are mutable. Often
times there is a need to modify strings that we've already made, but the standard string object is
not mutable. This means that each time a string is modified, a new string object needs to be
created, copied to, and then reassigned.
In the above example, myString initially only has the value "Apples". However, when we
concatenate `" are my favorite fruit"', what the string class does internally needs to do involves:
• Creating a new array of characters equal to the length of myString and the new string we are
appending.
• Copying all of the characters of myString into the beginning of our new array and copying the
new string into the end of the array.
• Create a new string object in memory and reassign it to myString.
For a single concatenation, this is relatively trivial. However, what if needed to perform many
append operations, say, in a loop?
Due to the repeated copying and object creation, this will bring significantly degrade the
performance of our program. We can avoid this by instead using a StringBuilder.
Now when the same loop is run, the performance and speed of the execution time of the program
will be significantly faster than using a normal string. To make the StringBuilder back into a normal
string, we can simply call the ToString() method of StringBuilder.
However, this isn't the only optimization StringBuilder has. In order to further optimize functions,
we can take advantage of other properties that help improve performance.
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If we know in advance how long our StringBuilder needs to be, we can specify its size ahead of
time, which will prevent it from needing to resize the character array it has internally.
sb.Append('k', 2000);
Though using StringBuilder for appending is much faster than a string, it can run even faster if you
only need to add a single character many times.
Once you have completed building your string, you may use the ToString() method on the
StringBuilder to convert it to a basic string. This is often necessary because the StringBuilder
class does not inherit from string.
For example, here is how you can use a StringBuilder to create a string:
In conclusion, StringBuilder should be used in place of string when many modifications to a string
need to be made with performance in mind.
return customerNamesCsv.ToString();
}
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Chapter 142: Structs
Remarks
Unlike classes, a struct is a value type, and is created on the local stack and not on the managed
heap, by default. This means that once the specific stack goes out of scope, the struct is de-
allocated. Contained reference types of de-allocated structs are also swept, once the GC
determines they are not longer referenced to by the struct.
structs cannot inherit and cannot be bases for inheritance, they are implicitly sealed, and also
cannot include protected members. However, a struct can implement an interface, as classes do.
Examples
Declaring a struct
• structinstance fields can be set via a parametrized constructor or individually after struct
construction.
• Structs cannot inherit from any other type, but they can implement interfaces.
• Structs are copied on assignment, meaning all data is copied to the new instance and
changes to one of them are not reflected by the other.
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Vector? v2 = null; //OK
Nullable<Vector> v3 = null // OK
Vector v2;
v2.X = 1;
v2.Y = 2;
v2.Z = 3;
A struct can declare everything a class can declare, with a few exceptions:
• A struct cannot declare a parameterless constructor. struct instance fields can be set via a
parameterized constructor or individually after struct construction. Private members can only
be initialized by the constructor.
• A struct cannot declare members as protected, since it is implicitly sealed.
• Struct fields can only be initialized if they are const or static.
Struct usage
With constructor:
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Without constructor:
Vector v1;
v1.Y = 2;
v1.Z = 3;
Vector v1;
v1.X = 1;
v1.Y = 2;
v1.Z = 3;
Point point3;
point3.x = 0.5;
point3.y = 0.6;
If we use a struct with its constructor, we aren't going to have problems with unassigned field
(each unassigned field has null value).
Unlike classes, a struct doesn't have to be constructed, i.e. there is no need to use the new
keyword, unless you need to call one of the constructors. A struct does not require the new
keyword because is a value-type and thus cannot be null.
Sinse structs are value types all the data is copied on assignment, and any modification to the new
copy does not change the data for the original copy. The code snippet below shows that p1 is
copied to p2 and changes made on p1 does not affect p2 instance.
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y = 2
};
Console.WriteLine($"{p1.x} {p1.y}"); // 1 2
var p2 = p1;
Console.WriteLine($"{p2.x} {p2.y}"); // Same output: 1 2
p1.x = 3;
Console.WriteLine($"{p1.x} {p1.y}"); // 3 2
Console.WriteLine($"{p2.x} {p2.y}"); // p2 remain the same: 1 2
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Chapter 143: Structural Design Patterns
Introduction
Structural design patterns are patterns that describe how objects and classes can be combined
and form a large structure and that ease design by identifying a simple way to realize relationships
between entities. There are seven structural patterns described. They are as follows: Adapter,
Bridge, Composite, Decorator, Facade, Flyweight and Proxy
Examples
Adapter Design Pattern
“Adapter” as the name suggests is the object which lets two mutually incompatible
interfaces communicate with each other.
For example: if you buy a Iphone 8 (or any other Apple product) you need alot of
adapters. Because the default interface does not support audio jac or USB. With these
adapters you can use earphones with wires or you can use a normal Ethernet cable.
So "two mutually incompatible interfaces communicate with each other".
So in technical terms this means: Convert the interface of a class into another
interface that a clients expect. Adapter let classes work together that couldn't otherwise
because of incompatible interfaces. The classes and objects participating in this
pattern are:
1. ITarget: This is the interface which is used by the client to achieve functionality.
2. Adaptee: This is the functionality which the client desires but its interface is not
compatible with the client.
3. Client: This is the class which wants to achieve some functionality by using the
adaptee’s code.
4. Adapter: This is the class which would implement ITarget and would call the
Adaptee code which the client wants to call.
UML
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First code Example (Theoretical example).
/// <summary>
/// Interface: This is the interface which is used by the client to achieve functionality.
/// </summary>
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public interface ITarget
{
List<string> GetEmployeeList();
}
/// <summary>
/// Adaptee: This is the functionality which the client desires but its interface is not
compatible with the client.
/// </summary>
public class CompanyEmplyees
{
public string[][] GetEmployees()
{
string[][] employees = new string[4][];
return employees;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Client: This is the class which wants to achieve some functionality by using the adaptee’s
code (list of employees).
/// </summary>
public class ThirdPartyBillingSystem
{
/*
* This class is from a thirt party and you do'n have any control over it.
* But it requires a Emplyee list to do its work
*/
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Adapter: This is the class which would implement ITarget and would call the Adaptee code
which the client wants to call.
/// </summary>
public class EmployeeAdapter : CompanyEmplyees, ITarget
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{
public List<string> GetEmployeeList()
{
List<string> employeeList = new List<string>();
string[][] employees = GetEmployees();
foreach (string[] employee in employees)
{
employeeList.Add(employee[0]);
employeeList.Add(",");
employeeList.Add(employee[1]);
employeeList.Add(",");
employeeList.Add(employee[2]);
employeeList.Add("\n");
}
return employeeList;
}
}
///
/// Demo
///
class Programs
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ITarget Itarget = new EmployeeAdapter();
ThirdPartyBillingSystem client = new ThirdPartyBillingSystem(Itarget);
client.ShowEmployeeList();
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
When to use
• Allow a system to use classes of another system that is incompatible with it.
• Allow communication between new and already existing system which are independent to
each other
• Ado.Net SqlAdapter, OracleAdapter, MySqlAdapter are best example of Adapter Pattern.
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Chapter 144: Synchronization Context in
Async-Await
Examples
Pseudocode for async/await keywords
Simplifying, we can say that this code actually means the following:
Task Foo()
{
Bar();
Task t = Baz();
var context = SynchronizationContext.Current;
t.ContinueWith(task) =>
{
if (context == null)
Qux();
else
context.Post((obj) => Qux(), null);
}, TaskScheduler.Current);
return t;
}
It means that async/await keywords use current synchronization context if it exists. I.e. you can
write library code that would work correctly in UI, Web, and Console applications.
Source article.
. . .
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Foo().ConfigureAwait(false);
This method will freeze UI application until the RunTooLong will be completed. The application will be
unresponsive.
But this code won't execute because inner body may be run on non-UI thread and it shouldn't
change UI properties directly:
if (label1.InvokeRequired)
lable1.BeginInvoke((Action) delegate() { label1.Text = label1Text; });
else
label1.Text = label1Text;
});
}
Now don't forget always to use this pattern. Or, try SynchronizationContext.Post that will make it for
you:
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{
label1.Text = label1 Text);
}, null);
});
}
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Chapter 145:
System.DirectoryServices.Protocols.LdapConnec
Examples
Authenticated SSL LDAP connection, SSL cert does not match reverse DNS
Set up some constants for the server and authentication information. Assuming LDAPv3, but it's
easy enough to change that.
// Specific to your company. Might start "cn=manager" instead of "ou=people", for example.
private const string CompanyDN = "ou=people,dc=example,dc=com";
Actually create the connection with three parts: an LdapDirectoryIdentifier (the server), and
NetworkCredentials.
// Configure server and port. LDAP w/ SSL, aka LDAPS, uses port 636.
// If you don't have SSL, don't give it the SSL port.
LdapDirectoryIdentifier identifier = new LdapDirectoryIdentifier(TargetServer, 636);
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Use the LDAP server, e.g. search for someone by userid for all objectClass values. The
objectClass is present to demonstrates a compound search: The ampersand is the boolean "and"
operator for the two query clauses.
Assuming LDAPv3, but it's easy enough to change that. This is anonymous, unencrypted LDAPv3
LdapConnection creation.
Actually create the connection with three parts: an LdapDirectoryIdentifier (the server), and
NetworkCredentials.
To use the connection, something like this would get people with the surname Smith
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Chapter 146:
System.Management.Automation
Remarks
The System.Management.Automation namespace is the root namespace for Windows
PowerShell.
Examples
Invoke simple synchronous pipeline
// add command
ps.AddCommand("Get-Date");
// run command(s)
Console.WriteLine("Date: {0}", ps.Invoke().First());
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
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Read System.Management.Automation online: https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/4988/system-
management-automation
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Chapter 147: T4 Code Generation
Syntax
• T4 Syntax
• <#@...#> //Declaring properties including templates, assemblies and namespaces and the
language the template uses
• Plain Text //Declaring text that can be looped through for the files generated
• <#=...#> //Declaring Scripts
• <#+...#> //Declaring scriptlets
• <#...#> //Declaring text blocks
Examples
Runtime Code Generation
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Chapter 148: Task Parallel Library
Examples
Parallel.ForEach
An example that uses Parallel.ForEach loop to ping a given array of website urls.
if (result.Status == System.Net.NetworkInformation.IPStatus.Success)
{
Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0} is online", url));
}
});
}
Parallel.For
An example that uses Parallel.For loop to ping a given array of website urls.
if (result.Status == System.Net.NetworkInformation.IPStatus.Success)
{
Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0} is online", urls[i]));
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}
});
}
Parallel.Invoke
System.Threading.Tasks.Parallel.Invoke(
() => PingUrl(urls[0]),
() => PingUrl(urls[1]),
() => PingUrl(urls[2]),
() => PingUrl(urls[3])
);
}
if (result.Status == System.Net.NetworkInformation.IPStatus.Success)
{
Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0} is online", url));
}
}
public Foo()
{
this._cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
}
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this._cts.Cancel();
}
/// <summary>
/// "Infinite" loop that runs every N seconds. Good for checking for a heartbeat or
updates.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="taskState">The cancellation token from our _cts field, passed in the
StartNew call</param>
private async void OwnCodeCancelableTask_EveryNSeconds(object taskState)
{
var token = (CancellationToken)taskState;
while (!token.IsCancellationRequested)
{
Console.WriteLine("Do the work that needs to happen every N seconds in this
loop");
// Passing token here allows the Delay to be cancelled if your task gets
cancelled.
await Task.Delay(TASK_ITERATION_DELAY_MS, token);
}
}
}
public Foo()
{
this._cts = new CancellationTokenSource();
}
/// <summary>
/// "Infinite" loop with no delays. Writing to a database while pulling from a buffer for
example.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="taskState">The cancellation token from our _cts field, passed in the
StartNew call</param>
private void OwnCodeCancelableTask(object taskState)
{
var token = (CancellationToken) taskState; //Our cancellation token passed from
StartNew();
while ( !token.IsCancellationRequested )
{
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Console.WriteLine("Do your task work in this loop");
}
}
}
if (result.Status == System.Net.NetworkInformation.IPStatus.Success)
{
response = $"{url} is online";
}
return response;
}
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Chapter 149: Task Parallel Library (TPL)
Dataflow Constructs
Examples
JoinBlock
Like BatchBlock, JoinBlock<T1, T2, …> is able to group data from multiple data sources. In fact,
that’s JoinBlock<T1, T2, …>’s primary purpose.
As with BatchBlock, JoinBlock<T1, T2,…> is capable of operating in both greedy and non-greedy
mode.
• In the default greedy mode, all data offered to targets are accepted, even if the other target
doesn’t have the necessary data with which to form a tuple.
• In non-greedy mode, the block’s targets will postpone data until all targets have been offered
the necessary data to create a tuple, at which point the block will engage in a two-phase
commit protocol to atomically retrieve all necessary items from the sources. This
postponement makes it possible for another entity to consume the data in the meantime so
as to allow the overall system to make forward progress.
request.ProcessWith(resource);
return resource;
});
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throttle.LinkTo(processor);
processor.LinkTo(throttle.Target1);
BroadcastBlock
(Copy an item and send the copies to every block that it’s linked to)
Unlike BufferBlock, BroadcastBlock’s mission in life is to enable all targets linked from the block to
get a copy of every element published, continually overwriting the “current” value with those
propagated to it.
var ui = TaskScheduler.FromCurrentSynchronizationContext();
var bb = new BroadcastBlock<ImageData>(i => i);
bb.LinkTo(saveToDiskBlock);
bb.LinkTo(showInUiBlock);
public MyAgent()
{
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Status = new BroadcastBlock<string>();
Run();
}
WriteOnceBlock
(Readonly variable: Memorizes its first data item and passes out copies of it as its output. Ignores
all other data items)
If BufferBlock is the most fundamental block in TPL Dataflow, WriteOnceBlock is the simplest.
It stores at most one value, and once that value has been set, it will never be replaced or
overwritten.
You can think of WriteOnceBlock in as being similar to a readonly member variable in C#, except
instead of only being settable in a constructor and then being immutable, it’s only settable once
and is then immutable.
try
{
result.Post(await task);
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
exception.Post(ex);
}
}
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Introduction to TPL Dataflow by Stephen Toub
BatchedJoinBlock
(Collects a certain number of total items from 2-3 inputs and groups them into a Tuple of
collections of data items)
Scatter/Gather
Consider a scatter/gather problem where N operations are launched, some of which may succeed
and produce string outputs, and others of which may fail and produce Exceptions.
foreach(string s in results.Item1)
{
Console.WriteLine(s);
}
foreach(Exception e in results.Item2)
{
Console.WriteLine(e);
}
TransformBlock
(Select, one-to-one)
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As with ActionBlock, TransformBlock<TInput, TOutput> enables the execution of a delegate to
perform some action for each input datum; unlike with ActionBlock, this processing has an
output. This delegate can be a Func<TInput, TOutput>, in which case processing of that element
is considered completed when the delegate returns, or it can be a Func<TInput,Task>, in which
case processing of that element is considered completed not when the delegate returns but when
the returned Task completes. For those familiar with LINQ, it’s somewhat similar to Select() in that
it takes an input, transforms that input in some manner, and then produces an output.
It has 2 tasks: One to process the data, and one to push data to the next block.
A Concurrent Pipeline
compressor.LinkTo(Encryptor);
ActionBlock
(foreach)
This class can be thought of logically as a buffer for data to be processed combined with tasks for
processing that data, with the “dataflow block” managing both. In its most basic usage, we can
instantiate an ActionBlock and “post” data to it; the delegate provided at the ActionBlock’s
construction will be executed asynchronously for every piece of data posted.
Synchronous Computation
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var ab = new ActionBlock<TInput>(i =>
{
Compute(i);
});
…
ab.Post(1);
ab.Post(2);
ab.Post(3);
downloader.Post("http://website.com/path/to/images");
downloader.Post("http://another-website.com/path/to/images");
TransformManyBlock
(SelectMany, 1-m: The results of this mapping are “flattened”, just like LINQ’s SelectMany)
The mapping delegate retuns a collection of items, which are inserted individually into the output
buffer.
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{
Console.WriteLine(“Downloading “ + url);
try
{
return ParseLinks(await DownloadContents(url));
}
catch{}
return Enumerable.Empty<string>();
});
downloader.LinkTo(downloader);
BatchBlock
(Groups a certain number of sequential data items into collections of data items)
BatchBlock combines N single items into one batch item, represented as an array of elements. An
instance is created with a specific batch size, and the block then creates a batch as soon as it’s
received that number of elements, asynchronously outputting the batch to the output buffer.
• In the default greedy mode, all messages offered to the block from any number of sources
are accepted and buffered to be converted into batches.
• ○ In non-greedy mode, all messages are postponed from sources until enough sources
have offered messages to the block to create a batch. Thus, a BatchBlock can be used
to receive 1 element from each of N sources, N elements from 1 source, and a myriad
of options in between.
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var batchRequests = new BatchBlock<Request>(batchSize:100);
var sendToDb = new ActionBlock<Request[]>(reqs => SubmitToDatabase(reqs));
batchRequests.LinkTo(sendToDb);
BufferBlock
(FIFO Queue: The data that comes in is the data that goes out)
// Producer
private static async void Producer()
{
while(true)
{
await _Buffer.SendAsync(Produce());
}
}
// Consumer
private static async Task Consumer()
{
while(true)
{
Process(await _Buffer.ReceiveAsync());
}
}
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// Start the Producer and Consumer
private static async Task Run()
{
await Task.WhenAll(Producer(), Consumer());
}
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Chapter 150: Threading
Remarks
A thread is a part of a program that can execute independently of other parts. It can perform tasks
simultaneously with other threads. Multithreading is a feature that enables programs to perform
concurrent processing so that more than one operation can be done at a time.
For example, you can use threading to update a timer or counter in the background while
simultaneously performing other tasks in the foreground.
Multithreaded applications are more responsive to user input and are also easily scalable,
because the developer can add threads as and when the workload increases.
By default, a C# program has one thread - the main program thread. However, secondary threads
can be created and used to execute code in parallel with the primary thread. Such threads are
called worker threads.
To control the operation of a thread, the CLR delegates a function to the operating system known
as Thread Scheduler. A thread scheduler assures that all the threads are allocated proper
execution time. It also checks that the threads that are blocked or locked do not consume much of
the CPU time.
Thread is the main class in the System.Threading namespace. Other classes include AutoResetEvent,
Interlocked, Monitor, Mutex, and ThreadPool.
Some of the delegates that are present in the System.Threading namespace include ThreadStart,
TimerCallback, and WaitCallback.
In .NET Framework 4 and later versions, multithreaded programming is made easier and simpler
through the System.Threading.Tasks.Parallel and System.Threading.Tasks.Task classes, Parallel
LINQ (PLINQ), new concurrent collection classes in the System.Collections.Concurrent namespace,
and a new task-based programming model.
Examples
Simple Complete Threading Demo
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class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Create 2 thread objects. We're using delegates because we need to pass
// parameters to the threads.
var thread1 = new Thread(new ThreadStart(() => PerformAction(1)));
var thread2 = new Thread(new ThreadStart(() => PerformAction(2)));
Console.WriteLine("Done");
Console.ReadKey();
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Run 2 Tasks.
var task1 = Task.Run(() => PerformAction(1)));
var task2 = Task.Run(() => PerformAction(2)));
// Wait (i.e. block this thread) until both Tasks are complete.
Task.WaitAll(new [] { task1, task2 });
Console.WriteLine("Done");
Console.ReadKey();
}
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Console.WriteLine("Task: {0}: {1}", id, i);
Thread.Sleep(rnd.Next(0, 1000));
}
}
}
If you're doing multiple long calculations, you can run them at the same time on different threads
on your computer. To do this, we make a new Thread and have it point to a different method.
using System.Threading;
class MainClass {
static void Main() {
var thread = new Thread(Secondary);
thread.Start();
}
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static void Secondary() {
System.Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");
}
}
using System.Threading;
class MainClass {
static void Main() {
var thread = new Thread(Secondary);
thread.Start("SecondThread");
}
The CLR will then schedule each thread to a logical processor, this theoretically could mean each
thread on a different logical processor, all threads on a single logical processor or some other
combination.
using System;
using System.Threading;
class MainClass {
static void Main() {
for (int i = 0; i < Environment.ProcessorCount; i++) {
var thread = new Thread(Secondary);
thread.Start(i);
}
Sometimes, you want your threads to simultaneously share data. When this happens it is
important to be aware of the code and lock any parts that could go wrong. A simple example of
two threads counting is shown below.
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using System.Threading;
class MainClass
{
static int count { get; set; }
To fix this problem, we need to lock the value of count, so that multiple different threads cannot
read and write to it at the same time. With the addition of a lock and a key, we can prevent the
threads from accessing the data simultaneously.
using System.Threading;
class MainClass
{
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{
lock (key)
{
var temp = count;
System.Console.WriteLine("Thread " + threadNumber + ": Reading the value of
count.");
Thread.Sleep(1000);
count = temp + 1;
System.Console.WriteLine("Thread " + threadNumber + ": Incrementing the value
of count to:" + count);
}
Thread.Sleep(1000);
}
}
}
Parallel.ForEach Loop
If you have a foreach loop that you want to speed up and you don't mind what order the output is
in, you can convert it to a parallel foreach loop by doing the following:
using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
A deadlock is what occurs when two or more threads are waiting for eachother to complete or to
release a resource in such a way that they wait forever.
A typical scenario of two threads waiting on eachother to complete is when a Windows Forms GUI
thread waits for a worker thread and the worker thread attempts to invoke an object managed by
the GUI thread. Observe that with this code exmaple, clicking button1 will cause the program to
hang.
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private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Thread workerthread= new Thread(dowork);
workerthread.Start();
workerthread.Join();
// Do something after
}
workerthread.Join() is a call that blocks the calling thread until workerthread completes.
textBox1.Invoke(invoke_delegate) is a call that blocks the calling thread until the GUI thread has
processed invoke_delegate, but this call causes deadlocks if the GUI thread is already waiting for
the calling thread to complete.
To get around this, one can use a non-blocking way of invoking the textbox instead:
However, this will cause trouble if you need to run code that is dependent on the textbox being
updated first. In that case, run that as part of the invoke, but be aware that this will make it run on
the GUI thread.
Alternatively start af whole new thread and let that one do the waiting on the GUI thread, so that
workerthread might complete.
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});
workerthread2.Start();
// Do work that is not dependent on textBox1 being updated first
}
To minimize the risk of running into a deadlock of mutual waiting, always avoid circular references
between threads when possible. A hierarchy of threads where lower-ranking threads only leave
messages for higher-ranking threads and never waiting on them will not run into this kind of issue.
However, it would still be vulnerable to deadlocks based on resource locking.
A deadlock is what occurs when two or more threads are waiting for eachother to complete or to
release a resource in such a way that they wait forever.
If thread1 holds a lock on resource A and is waiting for resource B to be released while thread2
holds resource B and is waiting for resource A to be released, they are deadlocked.
Clicking button1 for the following example code will cause your application to get into
aforementioned deadlocked state and hang
string output;
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{
Thread.Sleep(100);
lock (resourceB)
{
output += "T1#";
}
}
}
string output;
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public void Thread1DoWork()
{
bool mustDoWork = true;
Thread.Sleep(100);
while (mustDoWork)
{
lock (resourceA)
{
Thread.Sleep(100);
if (Monitor.TryEnter(resourceB, 0))
{
output += "T1#";
mustDoWork = false;
Monitor.Exit(resourceB);
}
}
if (mustDoWork) Thread.Yield();
}
}
Note that this workaround relies on thread2 being stubborn about its locks and thread1 being
willing to yield, such that thread2 always take precedence. Also note that thread1 has to redo the
work it did after locking resource A, when it yields. Therefore be careful when implementing this
approach with more than one yielding thread, as you'll then run the risk of entering a so-called
livelock - a state which would occur if two threads kept doing the first bit of their work and then
yield mutually, starting over repeatedly.
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Chapter 151: Timers
Syntax
• myTimer.Interval - sets how often the "Tick" event is called (in milliseconds)
• myTimer.Enabled - boolean value that sets the timer to be enabled / disabled
• myTimer.Start() - Starts the timer.
• myTimer.Stop() - Stops the timer.
Remarks
If using Visual Studio, Timers can be added as a control directly to your form from the toolbox.
Examples
Multithreaded Timers
System.Threading.Timer - Simplest multithreaded timer. Contains two methods and one constructor.
Example: A timer calls the DataWrite method, which writes "multithread executed..." after five
seconds have elapsed, and then every second after that until the user presses Enter:
using System;
using System.Threading;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// First interval = 5000ms; subsequent intervals = 1000ms
Timer timer = new Timer (DataWrite, "multithread executed...", 5000, 1000);
Console.ReadLine();
timer.Dispose(); // This both stops the timer and cleans up.
}
Change - This method can be called when you would like change the timer interval.
Timeout.Infinite - If you want to fire just once. Specify this in the last argument of the constructor.
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Features:
• IComponent - Allowing it to be sited in the Visual Studio’s Designer’s component tray
• Interval property instead of a Change method
• Elapsed event instead of a callback delegate
• Enabled property to start and stop the timer (default value = false)
• Start & Stop methods in case if you get confused by Enabled property (above point)
• AutoReset - for indicating a recurring event (default value = true)
• SynchronizingObject property with Invoke and BeginInvoke methods for safely calling methods
on WPF elements and Windows Forms controls
using System;
using System.Timers; // Timers namespace rather than Threading
class SystemTimer
{
static void Main()
{
Timer timer = new Timer(); // Doesn't require any args
timer.Interval = 500;
timer.Elapsed += timer_Elapsed; // Uses an event instead of a delegate
timer.Start(); // Start the timer
Console.ReadLine();
timer.Stop(); // Stop the timer
Console.ReadLine();
timer.Start(); // Restart the timer
Console.ReadLine();
timer.Dispose(); // Permanently stop the timer
}
Multithreaded timers- use the thread pool to allow a few threads to serve many timers. It means
that callback method or Elapsed event may trigger on a different thread each time it is called.
Elapsed - this event always fires on time—regardless of whether the previous Elapsed event
finished executing. Because of this, callbacks or event handlers must be thread-safe. The
accuracy of multithreaded timers depends on the OS, and is typically in the 10–20 ms.
interop- when ever you need greater accuracy use this and call the Windows multimedia timer.
This has accuracy down to 1 ms and it is defined in winmm.dll.
timeBeginPeriod - Call this first to inform OS that you need high timing accuracy
timeKillEvent - call this when you are done, this stops the timer
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timeEndPeriod - Call this to inform the OS that you no longer need high timing accuracy.
You can find complete examples on the Internet that use the multimedia timer by searching for the
keywords dllimport winmm.dll timesetevent.
Timers are used to perform tasks at specific intervals of time (Do X every Y seconds) Below is an
example of creating a new instance of a Timer.
NOTE: This applies to Timers using WinForms. If using WPF, you may want to look into
DispatcherTimer
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
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{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
if (timeLeft < 0)
{
myTimer.Stop();
}
}
}
Results in...
And so on...
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Read Timers online: https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/3829/timers
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Chapter 152: Tuples
Examples
Creating tuples
Tuples can also be created using static Tuple.Create methods. In this case, the types of the
elements are inferred by the C# Compiler.
7.0
(int number, bool flag, MyClass instance) tuple = (123, true, new MyClass());
To access tuple elements use Item1-Item8 properties. Only the properties with index number less
or equal to tuple size are going to be available (i.e. one cannot access Item3 property in
Tuple<T1,T2>).
var tuple = new Tuple<string, int, bool, MyClass>("foo", 123, true, new MyClass());
var item1 = tuple.Item1; // "foo"
var item2 = tuple.Item2; // 123
var item3 = tuple.Item3; // true
var item4 = tuple.Item4; // new My Class()
As an example, an enumerable whose elements are of type Tuple can be sorted based on
comparisons operators defined on a specified element:
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List<Tuple<int, string>> list = new List<Tuple<int, string>>();
list.Add(new Tuple<int, string>(2, "foo"));
list.Add(new Tuple<int, string>(1, "bar"));
list.Add(new Tuple<int, string>(3, "qux"));
// Output:
// (1, bar)
// (2, foo)
// (3, qux)
Tuples can be used to return multiple values from a method without using out parameters. In the
following example AddMultiply is used to return two values (sum, product).
void Write()
{
var result = AddMultiply(25, 28);
Console.WriteLine(result.Item1);
Console.WriteLine(result.Item2);
}
Output:
53
700
Now C# 7.0 offers an alternative way to return multiple values from methods using value tuples
More info about ValueTuple struct.
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Chapter 153: Type Conversion
Remarks
Type conversion is converting one type of data to another type. It is also known as Type Casting.
In C#, type casting has two forms:
Implicit type conversion - These conversions are performed by C# in a type-safe manner. For
example, are conversions from smaller to larger integral types and conversions from derived
classes to base classes.
Explicit type conversion - These conversions are done explicitly by users using the pre-defined
functions. Explicit conversions require a cast operator.
Examples
MSDN implicit operator example
class Digit
{
public Digit(double d) { val = d; }
public double val;
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Digit dig = new Digit(7);
//This call invokes the implicit "double" operator
double num = dig;
//This call invokes the implicit "Digit" operator
Digit dig2 = 12;
Console.WriteLine("num = {0} dig2 = {1}", num, dig2.val);
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
Output:
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Digit to double implict conversion called
double to Digit implict conversion called
num = 7 dig2 = 12
using System;
namespace TypeConversionApplication
{
class ExplicitConversion
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
double d = 5673.74;
int i;
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Chapter 154: Unsafe Code in .NET
Remarks
• In order to be able to use the unsafe keyword in a .Net project, you must check "Allow unsafe
code" in Project Properties => Build
• Using unsafe code can improve performance, however, it is at the expense of code safety
(hence the term unsafe).
For instance, when you use a for loop an array like so:
.NET Framework ensures that you do not exceed the bounds of the array, throwing an
IndexOutOfRangeException if the index exceeds the bounds.
However, if you use unsafe code, you may exceed the array's bounds like so:
unsafe
{
fixed (int* ptr = array)
{
for (int i = 0; i <= array.Length; i++)
{
*(ptr+i) = 0;
}
}
}
Examples
Unsafe Array Index
void Main()
{
unsafe
{
int[] a = {1, 2, 3};
fixed(int* b = a)
{
Console.WriteLine(b[4]);
}
}
}
Running this code creates an array of length 3, but then tries to get the 5th item (index 4). On my
machine, this printed 1910457872, but the behavior is not defined.
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Without the unsafe block, you cannot use pointers, and therefore cannot access values past the
end of an array without causing an exception to be thrown.
When accessing arrays with pointers, there are no bounds check and therefore no
IndexOutOfRangeException will be thrown. This makes the code faster.
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
unsafe
{
int[] array = new int[1000];
fixed (int* ptr = array)
{
for (int i = 0; i < array.Length; i++)
{
*(ptr+i) = i; //assigning the value with the pointer
}
}
}
}
}
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
int[] array = new int[1000];
The unsafe part will generally be faster and the difference in performance can vary depending on
the complexity of the elements in the array as well as the logic applied to each one. Even though it
may be faster, it should be used with care since it is harder to maintain and easier to break.
var s = "Hello"; // The string referenced by variable 's' is normally immutable, but
// since it is memory, we could change it if we can access it in an
// unsafe way.
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{
fixed (char* c = s) // get pointer to string originally stored in read only memory
for (int i = 0; i < s.Length; i++)
c[i] = 'a'; // change data in memory allocated for original string "Hello"
}
Console.WriteLine(s); // The variable 's' still refers to the same System.String
// value in memory, but the contents at that location were
// changed by the unsafe write above.
// Displays: "aaaaa"
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Chapter 155: Using Directive
Remarks
The using keyword is both a directive (this topic) and a statement.
For the using statement (i.e. to encapsulate the scope of an IDisposable object, ensuring that
outside of that scope the object becomes cleanly disposed) please see Using Statement.
Examples
Basic Usage
using System;
using BasicStuff = System;
using Sayer = System.Console;
using static System.Console; //From C# 6
class Program
{
public static void Main()
{
System.Console.WriteLine("Ignoring usings and specifying full type name");
Console.WriteLine("Thanks to the 'using System' directive");
BasicStuff.Console.WriteLine("Namespace aliasing");
Sayer.WriteLine("Type aliasing");
WriteLine("Thanks to the 'using static' directive (from C# 6)");
}
}
Reference a Namespace
using System.Text;
//allows you to access classes within this namespace such as StringBuilder
//without prefixing them with the namespace. i.e:
//...
var sb = new StringBuilder();
//instead of
var sb = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
using st = System.Text;
//allows you to access classes within this namespace such as StringBuilder
//prefixing them with only the defined alias and not the full namespace. i.e:
//...
var sb = new st.StringBuilder();
//instead of
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var sb = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
6.0
Allows you to import a specific type and use the type's static members without qualifying them with
the type name. This shows an example using static methods:
// ...
string GetName()
{
WriteLine("Enter your name.");
return ReadLine();
}
namespace Geometry
{
public class Circle
{
public double Radius { get; set; };
If you are using multiple namespaces that may have same-name classes(such as System.Random
and UnityEngine.Random), you can use an alias to specify that Random comes from one or the other
without having to use the entire namespace in the call.
For instance:
using UnityEngine;
using System;
This will cause the compiler to be unsure which Random to evaluate the new variable as. Instead,
you can do:
using UnityEngine;
using System;
using Random = System.Random;
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Random rnd = new Random();
This doesn't preclude you from calling the other by it's fully qualified namespace, like this:
using UnityEngine;
using System;
using Random = System.Random;
You can use using in order to set an alias for a namespace or type. More detail can be found in
here.
Syntax:
Example:
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Chapter 156: Using json.net
Introduction
Using JSON.net JsonConverter class.
Examples
Using JsonConverter on simple values
Example using JsonCoverter to deserialize the runtime property from the api response into a
Timespan Object in the Movies model
JSON (
http://www.omdbapi.com/?i=tt1663662)
{
Title: "Pacific Rim",
Year: "2013",
Rated: "PG-13",
Released: "12 Jul 2013",
Runtime: "131 min",
Genre: "Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi",
Director: "Guillermo del Toro",
Writer: "Travis Beacham (screenplay), Guillermo del Toro (screenplay), Travis Beacham
(story)",
Actors: "Charlie Hunnam, Diego Klattenhoff, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi",
Plot: "As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and
a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to
save the world from the apocalypse.",
Language: "English, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin",
Country: "USA",
Awards: "Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 6 wins & 46 nominations.",
Poster: "https://images-na.ssl-images-
amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTY3MTI5NjQ4Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTU1OTU0OQ@@._V1_SX300.jpg",
Ratings: [{
Source: "Internet Movie Database",
Value: "7.0/10"
},
{
Source: "Rotten Tomatoes",
Value: "71%"
},
{
Source: "Metacritic",
Value: "64/100"
}
],
Metascore: "64",
imdbRating: "7.0",
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imdbVotes: "398,198",
imdbID: "tt1663662",
Type: "movie",
DVD: "15 Oct 2013",
BoxOffice: "$101,785,482.00",
Production: "Warner Bros. Pictures",
Website: "http://pacificrimmovie.com",
Response: "True"
}
Movie Model
using Project.Serializers;
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Runtime.Serialization;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace Project.Models
{
[DataContract]
public class Movie
{
public Movie() { }
[DataMember]
public int Id { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string ImdbId { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public string Title { get; set; }
[DataMember]
public DateTime Released { get; set; }
[DataMember]
[JsonConverter(typeof(RuntimeSerializer))]
public TimeSpan Runtime { get; set; }
}
}
RuntimeSerializer
using Newtonsoft.Json;
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
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using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace Project.Serializers
{
public class RuntimeSerializer : JsonConverter
{
public override bool CanConvert(Type objectType)
{
return objectType == typeof(TimeSpan);
}
JToken jt = JToken.Load(reader);
String value = jt.Value<String>();
int timespanMin;
if(!Int32.TryParse(value, out timespanMin))
{
throw new NotSupportedException();
}
Calling It
Movie m = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Movie>(apiResponse));
using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
using System.Collections.Generic;
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CollectFields(token);
}
Usage:
Demo
For this JSON object
{
"User": "John",
"Workdays": {
"Monday": true,
"Tuesday": true,
"Friday": false
},
"Age": 42
}
User: 'John'
Workdays.Monday: 'True'
Workdays.Tuesday: 'True'
Workdays.Friday: 'False'
Age: '42'
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Read Using json.net online: https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/9879/using-json-net
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Chapter 157: Using SQLite in C#
Examples
Creating simple CRUD using SQLite in C#
First of all we need to add SQLite support to our application. There are two ways of doing that
• Download DLL suiting your system from SQLite download page and then add to the project
manually
• Add SQLite dependency via NuGet
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Installation can also be done from Package Manager Console with
First create a simple SQLite database with this table and add it as a file to the project
Also do not forget to set the Copy to Output Directory property of the file to Copy if newer of
Copy always, based on your needs
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Create a class called User, which will be the base entity for our database
We'll write two methods for query execution, first one for inserting, updating or removing from
database
return numberOfRowsAffected;
}
}
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da.Dispose();
return dt;
}
}
}
Adding user
Editing user
Deleting user
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};
Getting user by Id
return user;
}
Executing Query
Note: Setting FailIfMissing to true creates the file data.db if missing. However, the file will be
empty. So, any required tables have to be recreated.
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Chapter 158: Using Statement
Introduction
Provides a convenient syntax that ensures the correct use of IDisposable objects.
Syntax
• using (disposable) { }
• using (IDisposable disposable = new MyDisposable()) { }
Remarks
The object in the using statement must implement the IDisposable interface.
More complete examples for IDisposable implementation can be found at the MSDN docs.
Examples
Using Statement Basics
usingis syntactic sugar that allows you to guarantee that a resource is cleaned up without needing
an explicit try-finally block. This means your code will be much cleaner, and you won't leak non-
managed resources.
Standard Dispose cleanup pattern, for objects that implement the IDisposable interface (which the
FileStream's base class Stream does in .NET):
int Foo()
{
var fileName = "file.txt";
{
FileStream disposable = null;
try
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{
disposable = File.Open(fileName, FileMode.Open);
return disposable.ReadByte();
}
finally
{
// finally blocks are always run
if (disposable != null) disposable.Dispose();
}
}
}
int Foo()
{
var fileName = "file.txt";
Just like finally blocks always execute regardless of errors or returns, using always calls Dispose()
, even in the event of an error:
int Foo()
{
var fileName = "file.txt";
Note: Since Dispose is guaranteed to be called irrespective of the code flow, it's a good idea to
make sure that Dispose never throws an exception when you implement IDisposable. Otherwise an
actual exception would get overridden by the new exception resulting in a debugging nightmare.
Because of the semantics of try..finally to which the using block translates, the return statement
works as expected - the return value is evaluated before finally block is executed and the value
disposed. The order of evaluation is as follows:
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1. Evaluate the try body
2. Evaluate and cache the returned value
3. Execute finally block
4. Return the cached return value
However, you may not return the variable disposable itself, as it would contain invalid, disposed
reference - see related example.
It is possible to use multiple nested using statements without added multiple levels of nested
braces. For example:
An alternative is to write:
Note: Nested using statements might trigger Microsoft Code Analysis rule CS2002 (see this
answer for clarification) and generate a warning. As explained in the linked answer, it is generally
safe to nest using statements.
When the types within the using statement are of the same type you can comma-delimit them and
specify the type only once (though this is uncommon):
This can also be used when the types have a shared hierarchy:
The var keyword cannot be used in the above example. A compilation error would occur. Even the
comma separated declaration won't work when the declared variables have types from different
hierarchies.
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Gotcha: returning the resource which you are disposing
The following is a bad idea because it would dispose the db variable before returning it.
This looks ok, but the catch is that the LINQ expression evaluation is lazy, and will possibly only
be executed later when the underlying DBContext has already been disposed.
So in short the expression isn't evaluated before leaving the using. One possible solution to this
problem, which still makes use of using, is to cause the expression to evaluate immediately by
calling a method that will enumerate the result. For example ToList(), ToArray(), etc. If you are
using the newest version of Entity Framework you could use the async counterparts like
ToListAsync() or ToArrayAsync().
It is important to note, though, that by calling ToList() or ToArray(), the expression will be eagerly
evaluated, meaning that all the persons with the specified age will be loaded to memory even if
you do not iterate on them.
You don't have to check the IDisposable object for null. using will not throw an exception and
Dispose() will not be called:
DisposableObject TryOpenFile()
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{
return null;
}
if(disposable != null)
{
// here we are safe because disposable has been checked for null
disposable.DoSomething();
}
}
try
{
using (var disposable = new MyDisposable())
{
throw new Exception("Couldn't perform operation.");
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
You may expect to see "Couldn't perform operation" printed to the Console but you would actually
see "Couldn't dispose successfully." as the Dispose method is still called even after the first
exception is thrown.
It is worth being aware of this subtlety as it may be masking the real error that prevented the
object from being disposed and make it harder to debug.
The using keyword ensures that the resource defined within the statement only exists within the
scope of the statement itself. Any resources defined within the statement must implement the
IDisposable interface.
These are incredibly important when dealing with any connections that implement the IDisposable
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interface as it can ensure the connections are not only properly closed but that their resources are
freed after the using statement is out of scope.
• SqlConnection,SqlCommand,SqlDataReader, etc.
• OleDbConnection,OleDbCommand,OleDbDataReader, etc.
• MySqlConnection, MySqlCommand, MySqlDbDataReader, etc.
• DbContext
All of these are commonly used to access data through C# and will be commonly encountered
throughout building data-centric applications. Many other classes that are not mentioned that
implement the same FooConnection,FooCommand,FooDataReader classes can be expected to behave
the same way.
Or if you were just performing a simple update and didn't require a reader, the same basic concept
would apply :
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connection.Open();
For some use cases, you can use the using syntax to help define a custom scope. For example,
you can define the following class to execute code in a specific culture.
You can then use use this class to define blocks of code that execute in a specific culture.
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{
// Code in this block uses the "es-ES" culture
Console.WriteLine(new DateTime(2016, 12, 25)); // Output: 25/12/2016 0:00:00
}
Note: as we don't use the CultureContext instance we create, we don't assign a variable for it.
If you have code (a routine) you want to execute under a specific (constraint) context, you can use
dependency injection.
The following example shows the constraint of executing under an open SSL connection. This first
part would be in your library or framework, which you won't expose to the client code.
if (!sslStream.IsAuthenticated)
{
throw new SecurityException("SSL tunnel not authenticated");
}
if (!sslStream.IsEncrypted)
{
throw new SecurityException("SSL tunnel not encrypted");
}
Now the client code which wants to do something under SSL but does not want to handle all the
SSL details. You can now do whatever you want inside the SSL tunnel, for example exchange a
symmetric key:
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public void ExchangeSymmetricKey(BinaryReader sslReader, BinaryWriter sslWriter)
{
byte[] bytes = new byte[8];
(new RNGCryptoServiceProvider()).GetNonZeroBytes(bytes);
sslWriter.Write(BitConverter.ToUInt64(bytes, 0));
}
SSLContext.ClientTunnel(tcpClient, this.ExchangeSymmetricKey);
To do this, you need the using() clause because it is the only way (apart from a try..finally
block) you can guarantee the client code (ExchangeSymmetricKey) never exits without properly
disposing of the disposable resources. Without using() clause, you would never know if a routine
could break the context's constraint to dispose of those resources.
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Chapter 159: Value type vs Reference type
Syntax
• Passing by reference: public void Double(ref int numberToDouble) { }
Remarks
Introduction
Value types
Value types are the simpler of the two. Value types are often used to represent data itself. An
integer, a Boolean or a point in 3D space are all examples of good value types.
Value types (structs) are declared by using the struct keyword. See the syntax section for an
example of how to declare a new struct.
Generally speaking, We have 2 keywords that are used to declare value types:
• Structs
• Enumerations
Reference types
Reference types are slightly more complex. Reference types are traditional objects in the sense of
Object Oriented Programming. So, they support inheritance (and the benefits there of) and also
support finalizers.
• Classes
• Delegates
• Interfaces
New reference types (classes) are declared using the class keyword. For an example, see the
syntax section for how to declare a new reference type.
Major Differences
The major differences between reference types and value types can be seen below.
Value types exist on the stack, reference types exist on the heap
This is the often mentioned difference between the two, but really, what it boils down to is that
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when you use a value type in C#, such as an int, the program will use that variable to refer directly
to that value. If you say int mine = 0, then the variable mine refers directly to 0, which is efficient.
However, reference types actually hold (as the name suggests) a reference to the underlying
object, this is akin to pointers in other languages such as C++.
You might not notice the effects of this immediately, but the effects are there, are powerful and are
subtle. See the example on changing reference types elsewhere for an example.
This difference is the primary reason for the following other differences, and is worth knowing.
Value types don't change when you change them in a method, reference types
do
When a value type is passed into a method as a parameter, if the method changes the value in
any way, the value is not changed In contrast, passing a reference type into that same method
and changing it will change the underlying object, so that other things that use that same object
will have the newly changed object rather than their original value.
See the example of value types vs reference types in methods for more info.
Simply pass them into your method using the "ref" keyword, and you are then passing this object
by reference. Meaning, it's the same object in memory. So modifications you make will be
respected. See the example on passing by reference for an example.
Pretty much as it says, you can assign null to a reference type, meaning the variable you've
assigned can have no actual object assigned to it. In the case of value types, however, this is not
possible. You can, however, use Nullable, to allow your value type to be nullable, if this is a
requirement, though if this is something you are considering, think strongly whether a class might
not be the best approach here, if it is your own type.
Examples
Changing values elsewhere
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// oops, we've noticed typos in the names, so we fix those
studentList[0].LastName = "Duke";
studentList[1].LastName = "Kong";
studentList[2].LastName = "Brett";
You'll notice that even though the printingList list was made before the corrections to student
names after the typos, the PrintPrintingList method still prints out the corrected names:
Scott Duke
Vincent Kong
Craig Brett
This is because both lists hold a list of references to the same students. SO changing the
underlying student object propogates to usages by either list.
Passing by reference
If you want the Value Types vs Reference Types in methods example to work properly, use the ref
keyword in your method signature for the parameter you want to pass by reference, as well as
when you call the method.
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public void DoubleNumber(ref int number)
{
number += number;
}
Making these changes would make the number update as expected, meaning the console output
for number would be 8.
The difference between ref and out is that out means that the passed parameter has to be
assigned before the function ends.in contrast parameters passed with ref can be changed or left
unchanged.
using System;
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
int a = 20;
Console.WriteLine("Inside Main - Before Callee: a = {0}", a);
Callee(a);
Console.WriteLine("Inside Main - After Callee: a = {0}", a);
Console.ReadLine();
}
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static void CalleeOut(out int a)
{
a = 7;
Console.WriteLine("Inside CalleeOut a : {0}", a);
}
}
Output :
Assignment
Assigning to a variable of a List<int> does not create a copy of the List<int>. Instead, it copies the
reference to the List<int>. We call types that behave this way reference types.
There are two possible ways to pass a value type by reference: ref and out. The difference is that
by passing it with ref the value must be initialized but not when passing it with out. Using out
ensures that the variable has a value after the method call:
value = 4;
Console.WriteLine(nameof(ByOut) + value);
}
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{
int outValue1;
ByOut(out outValue1); // prints 4
int outValue2 = 10; // does not make any sense for out
ByOut(out outValue2); // prints 4
}
int refValue2 = 0;
ByRef(ref refValue2); // prints 0 and 4
The catch is that by using out the parameter must be initialized before leaving the method,
therefore the following method is possible with ref but not with out:
Code
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
int a = 20;
Console.WriteLine("Inside Main - Before Callee: a = {0}", a);
Callee(a);
Console.WriteLine("Inside Main - After Callee: a = {0}", a);
Console.WriteLine();
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CalleeRef(ref a);
Console.WriteLine("Inside Main - After CalleeRef: a = {0}", a);
Console.WriteLine();
Output
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Chapter 160: Verbatim Strings
Syntax
• @"verbatim strings are strings whose contents are not escaped, so in this case \n does not
represent the newline character but two individual characters: \ and n. Verbatim strings are
created prefixing the string contents with the @ character"
Remarks
To concatenate string literals, use the @ symbol at the beginning of each string.
Examples
Multiline Strings
multiline paragraph";
Output:
This is a
multiline paragraph
Multi-line strings that contain double-quotes can also be escaped just as they were on a single
line, because they are verbatim strings.
""San Diego""
It should be noted that the spaces/tabulations at the start of lines 2 and 3 here are actually present
in the value of the variable; check this question for possible solutions.
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Escaping Double Quotes
Double Quotes inside verbatim strings can be escaped by using 2 sequential double quotes "" to
represent one double quote " in the resulting string.
Output:
Verbatim strings can be combined with the new String interpolation features found in C#6.
Console.WriteLine($@"Testing \n 1 2 {5 - 2}
New line");
Output:
Testing \n 1 2 3
New line
As expected from a verbatim string, the backslashes are ignored as escape characters. And as
expected from an interpolated string, any expression inside curly braces is evaluated before being
inserted into the string at that position.
In a normal string, the backslash character is the escape character, which instructs the compiler to
look at the next character(s) to determine the actual character in the string. (Full list of character
escapes)
In verbatim strings, there are no character escapes (except for "" which is turned into a "). To use
a verbatim string, just prepend a @ before the starting quotes.
Output:
c:\temp\newfile.txt
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As opposed to using an ordinary (non-verbatim) string:
c: emp
ewfile.txt
using character escaping. (The \t is replaced with a tab character and the \n is replace with a
newline.)
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Chapter 161: Windows Communication
Foundation
Introduction
Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is a framework for building service-oriented
applications. Using WCF, you can send data as asynchronous messages from one service
endpoint to another. A service endpoint can be part of a continuously available service hosted by
IIS, or it can be a service hosted in an application. The messages can be as simple as a single
character or word sent as XML, or as complex as a stream of binary data.
Examples
Getting started sample
The service describes the operations it performs in a service contract that it exposes publicly as
metadata.
The service implementation calculates and returns the appropriate result, as shown in the
following example code.
The service exposes an endpoint for communicating with the service, defined using a
configuration file (Web.config), as shown in the following sample configuration.
<services>
<service
name="StackOverflow.ServiceModel.Samples.CalculatorService"
behaviorConfiguration="CalculatorServiceBehavior">
<!-- ICalculator is exposed at the base address provided by
host: http://localhost/servicemodelsamples/service.svc. -->
<endpoint address=""
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binding="wsHttpBinding"
contract="StackOverflow.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />
...
</service>
</services>
The framework does not expose metadata by default. As such, the service turns on the
ServiceMetadataBehavior and exposes a metadata exchange (MEX) endpoint at
http://localhost/servicemodelsamples/service.svc/mex. The following configuration demonstrates
this.
<system.serviceModel>
<services>
<service
name="StackOverflow.ServiceModel.Samples.CalculatorService"
behaviorConfiguration="CalculatorServiceBehavior">
...
<!-- the mex endpoint is explosed at
http://localhost/servicemodelsamples/service.svc/mex -->
<endpoint address="mex"
binding="mexHttpBinding"
contract="IMetadataExchange" />
</service>
</services>
The client communicates using a given contract type by using a client class that is generated by
the ServiceModel Metadata Utility Tool (Svcutil.exe).
Run the following command from the SDK command prompt in the client directory to generate the
typed proxy:
svcutil.exe /n:"http://StackOverflow.ServiceModel.Samples,StackOverflow.ServiceModel.Samples"
http://localhost/servicemodelsamples/service.svc/mex /out:generatedClient.cs
Like the service, the client uses a configuration file (App.config) to specify the endpoint with which
it wants to communicate. The client endpoint configuration consists of an absolute address for the
service endpoint, the binding, and the contract, as shown in the following example.
<client>
<endpoint
address="http://localhost/servicemodelsamples/service.svc"
binding="wsHttpBinding"
contract="StackOverflow.ServiceModel.Samples.ICalculator" />
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</client>
The client implementation instantiates the client and uses the typed interface to begin
communicating with the service, as shown in the following example code.
// Create a client.
CalculatorClient client = new CalculatorClient();
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Chapter 162: XDocument and the
System.Xml.Linq namespace
Examples
Generate an XML document
<FruitBasket xmlns="http://www.fruitauthority.fake">
<Fruit ID="F0001">
<FruitName>Banana</FruitName>
<FruitColor>Yellow</FruitColor>
</Fruit>
<Fruit ID="F0002">
<FruitName>Apple</FruitName>
<FruitColor>Red</FruitColor>
</Fruit>
</FruitBasket>
Code:
To modify an XML file with XDocument, you load the file into a variable of type XDocument, modify it in
memory, then save it, overwriting the original file. A common mistake is to modify the XML in
memory and expect the file on disk to change.
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Given an XML file:
// 1.
string xmlFilePath = "c:\\users\\public\\fruit.xml";
// 2.
XDocument xdoc = XDocument.Load(xmlFilePath);
// 3.
XNamespace ns = "http://www.fruitauthority.fake";
//4.
var elBanana = xdoc.Descendants()?.
Elements(ns + "FruitName")?.
Where(x => x.Value == "Banana")?.
Ancestors(ns + "Fruit");
// 5.
var elColor = elBanana.Elements(ns + "FruitColor").FirstOrDefault();
// 6.
if (elColor != null)
{
elColor.Value = "Brown";
}
// 7.
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xdoc.Save(xmlFilePath);
Goal:
<FruitBasket xmlns="http://www.fruitauthority.fake">
<Fruit>
<FruitName>Banana</FruitName>
<FruitColor>Yellow</FruitColor>
</Fruit>
<Fruit>
<FruitName>Apple</FruitName>
<FruitColor>Red</FruitColor>
</Fruit>
</FruitBasket>
Code:
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Chapter 163: XML Documentation Comments
Remarks
Some times you need to create extended text documentation from you xml comments.
Unfortunatly there is no standard way for it.
But there are some separate projects that you can use for this case:
• Sandcastle
• Docu
• NDoc
• DocFX
Examples
Simple method annotation
Documentation comments are placed directly above the method or class they describe. They
begin with three forward slashes ///, and allow meta information to be stored via XML.
/// <summary>
/// Bar method description
/// </summary>
public void Bar()
{
Information inside the tags can be used by Visual Studio and other tools to provide services such
as IntelliSense:
/// <summary>
/// This interface can do Foo
/// </summary>
public interface ICanDoFoo
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{
// ...
}
/// <summary>
/// This Bar class implements ICanDoFoo interface
/// </summary>
public class Bar : ICanDoFoo
{
// ...
}
Result
Interface summary
Class summary
/// <summary>
/// Returns the data for the specified ID and timestamp.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="id">The ID for which to get data. </param>
/// <param name="time">The DateTime for which to get data. </param>
/// <returns>A DataClass instance with the result. </returns>
public DataClass GetData(int id, DateTime time)
{
// ...
}
Tip: If Intellisense doesn't display in Visual Studio, delete the first bracket or comma and then type
it again.
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To generate an XML documentation file from documentation comments in the code, use the /doc
option with the csc.exe C# compiler.
In Visual Studio 2013/2015, In Project -> Properties -> Build -> Output, check the XML
documentation file checkbox:
When you build the project, an XML file will be produced by the compiler with a name
corresponding to the project name (e.g. XMLDocumentation.dll -> XMLDocumentation.xml).
When you use the assembly in another project, make sure that the XML file is in the same
directory as the DLL being referenced.
This example:
/// <summary>
/// Data class description
/// </summary>
public class DataClass
{
/// <summary>
/// Name property description
/// </summary>
public string Name { get; set; }
}
/// <summary>
/// Foo function
/// </summary>
public class Foo
{
/// <summary>
/// This method returning some data
/// </summary>
/// <param name="id">Id parameter</param>
/// <param name="time">Time parameter</param>
/// <returns>Data will be returned</returns>
public DataClass GetData(int id, DateTime time)
{
return new DataClass();
}
}
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<?xml version="1.0"?>
<doc>
<assembly>
<name>XMLDocumentation</name>
</assembly>
<members>
<member name="T:XMLDocumentation.DataClass">
<summary>
Data class description
</summary>
</member>
<member name="P:XMLDocumentation.DataClass.Name">
<summary>
Name property description
</summary>
</member>
<member name="T:XMLDocumentation.Foo">
<summary>
Foo function
</summary>
</member>
<member name="M:XMLDocumentation.Foo.GetData(System.Int32,System.DateTime)">
<summary>
This method returning some data
</summary>
<param name="id">Id parameter</param>
<param name="time">Time parameter</param>
<returns>Data will be returned</returns>
</member>
</members>
</doc>
The <see> tag can be used to link to another class. It contains the cref member which should
contain the name of the class that is to be referenced. Visual Studio will provide Intellsense when
writing this tag and such references will be processed when renaming the referenced class, too.
/// <summary>
/// You might also want to check out <see cref="SomeOtherClass"/>.
/// </summary>
public class SomeClass
{
}
In Visual Studio Intellisense popups such references will also be displayed colored in the text.
/// <summary>
/// An enhanced version of <see cref="List{T}"/>.
/// </summary>
public class SomeGenericClass<T>
{
}
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Read XML Documentation Comments online: https://riptutorial.com/csharp/topic/740/xml-
documentation-comments
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Chapter 164: XmlDocument and the
System.Xml namespace
Examples
Basic XML document interaction
// All XML documents must have one, and only one, root element
xml.AppendChild(root);
// Displays the XML document in the screen; optionally can be saved to a file
xml.Save(Console.Out);
}
<Sample>
<Account>
<One number="12"/>
<Two number="14"/>
</Account>
<Account>
<One number="14"/>
<Two number="16"/>
</Account>
https://riptutorial.com/ 907
</Sample>
using System.Xml;
using System.Collections.Generic;
1. Xml Document
2. XDocument
3. XmlReader/XmlWriter
Before LINQ to XML we were used XMLDocument for manipulations in XML like
adding attributes, elements and so on. Now LINQ to XML uses XDocument for the
same kind of thing. Syntaxes are much easier than XMLDocument and it requires a
minimal amount of code.
XmlDocument
https://riptutorial.com/ 908
XmlDocument _doc = new XmlDocument();
_doc.Load(filename);
XDocument
Create XmlDocument
XmlDocument
XDocument
/*result*/
<root name="value">
<child>"TextNode"</child>
</root>
XmlDocument
XDocument
https://riptutorial.com/ 909
XmlDocument
XDocument
Retreive value from all from all child elements where attribute = something.
XmlDocument
XDocument
Append a node
XmlDocument
XDocument
_doc.XPathSelectElement("ServerManagerSettings/TcpSocket").Add(new
XElement("SecondLevelNode"));
https://riptutorial.com/ 910
Chapter 165: Yield Keyword
Introduction
When you use the yield keyword in a statement, you indicate that the method, operator, or get
accessor in which it appears is an iterator. Using yield to define an iterator removes the need for
an explicit extra class (the class that holds the state for an enumeration) when you implement the
IEnumerable and IEnumerator pattern for a custom collection type.
Syntax
• yield return [TYPE]
• yield break
Remarks
Putting the yield keyword in a method with the return type of IEnumerable, IEnumerable<T>,
IEnumerator, or IEnumerator<T> tells the compiler to generate an implementation of the return type (
IEnumerable or IEnumerator) that, when looped over, runs the method up to each "yield" to get each
result.
The yield keyword is useful when you want to return "the next" element of a theoretically unlimited
sequence, so calculating the entire sequence beforehand would be impossible, or when
calculating the complete sequence of values before returning would lead to an undesirable pause
for the user.
yield break can also be used to terminate the sequence at any time.
As the yield keyword requires an iterator interface type as the return type, such as IEnumerable<T>,
you cannot use this in an async method as this returns a Task<IEnumerable<T>> object.
Further reading
• https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/9k7k7cf0.aspx
Examples
Simple Usage
The yield keyword is used to define a function which returns an IEnumerable or IEnumerator (as well
as their derived generic variants) whose values are generated lazily as a caller iterates over the
returned collection. Read more about the purpose in the remarks section.
The following example has a yield return statement that's inside a for loop.
https://riptutorial.com/ 911
public static IEnumerable<int> Count(int start, int count)
{
for (int i = 0; i <= count; i++)
{
yield return start + i;
}
}
Console Output
4
5
6
...
14
Each iteration of the foreach statement body creates a call to the Count iterator function. Each call
to the iterator function proceeds to the next execution of the yield return statement, which occurs
during the next iteration of the for loop.
There are other ways of getting an IEnumerable<User> from an SQL database, of course -- this just
demonstrates that you can use yield to turn anything that has "sequence of elements" semantics
into an IEnumerable<T> that someone can iterate over.
Early Termination
You can extend the functionality of existing yield methods by passing in one or more values or
https://riptutorial.com/ 912
elements that could define a terminating condition within the function by calling a yield break to
stop the inner loop from executing.
while (true)
{
if (earlyTerminationSet.Contains(curr))
{
// we've hit one of the ending values
yield break;
}
if (curr == Int32.MaxValue)
{
// don't overflow if we get all the way to the end; just stop
yield break;
}
curr++;
}
}
The above method would iterate from a given start position until one of the values within the
earlyTerminationSet was encountered.
// Iterate from a starting point until you encounter any elements defined as
// terminating elements
var terminatingElements = new HashSet<int>{ 7, 9, 11 };
// This will iterate from 1 until one of the terminating elements is encountered (7)
foreach(var x in CountUntilAny(1,terminatingElements))
{
// This will write out the results from 1 until 7 (which will trigger terminating)
Console.WriteLine(x);
}
Output:
1
2
3
4
5
6
An iterator method is not executed until the return value is enumerated. It's therefore
https://riptutorial.com/ 913
advantageous to assert preconditions outside of the iterator.
Output:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
When a method uses yield to generate an enumerable the compiler creates a state machine that
when iterated over will run code up to a yield. It then returns the yielded item, and saves its state.
This means you won't find out about invalid arguments (passing null etc.) when you first call the
method (because that creates the state machine), only when you try and access the first element
(because only then does the code within the method get ran by the state machine). By wrapping it
https://riptutorial.com/ 914
in a normal method that first checks arguments you can check them when the method is called.
This is an example of failing fast.
When using C# 7+, the CountCore function can be conveniently hidden into the Count function as a
local function. See example here.
Lazy Evaluation
Only when the foreach statement moves to the next item does the iterator block evaluate up to the
next yield statement.
Starting iteration
https://riptutorial.com/ 915
Inside iterator: 0
Inside foreach: 0
Inside iterator: 1
Inside foreach: 1
Inside iterator: 2
Inside foreach: 2
View Demo
As a consequence:
• "Starting iteration" is printed first even though the iterator method was called before the line
printing it because the line Integers().Take(3); does not actually starts iteration (no call to
IEnumerator.MoveNext() was made)
• The lines printing to console alternate between the one inside the iterator method and the
one inside the foreach, rather than all the ones inside the iterator method evaluating first
• This program terminates due to the .Take() method, even though the iterator method has a
while true which it never breaks out of.
Try...finally
If an iterator method has a yield inside a try...finally, then the returned IEnumerator will execute
the finally statement when Dispose is called on it, as long as the current point of evaluation is
inside the try block.
When calling:
enumerator.MoveNext();
Console.WriteLine(enumerator.Current);
enumerator.Dispose();
}
https://riptutorial.com/ 916
Then it prints:
View Demo
When calling:
enumerator.MoveNext();
Console.WriteLine(enumerator.Current);
enumerator.MoveNext();
Console.WriteLine(enumerator.Current);
enumerator.Dispose();
}
Then it prints:
1
2
Finally executed
View Demo
The IEnumerable<T> interface has a single method, GetEnumerator(), which returns an IEnumerator<T>
.
While the yield keyword can be used to directly create an IEnumerable<T>, it can also be used in
exactly the same way to create an IEnumerator<T>. The only thing that changes is the return type of
the method.
This can be useful if we want to create our own class which implements IEnumerable<T>:
https://riptutorial.com/ 917
yield return item;
}
}
IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator()
{
return GetEnumerator();
}
}
(Note that this particular example is just illustrative, and could be more cleanly implemented with a
single iterator method returning an IEnumerable<T>.)
Eager evaluation
The yield keyword allows lazy-evaluation of the collection. Forcibly loading the whole collection
into memory is called eager evaluation.
IEnumerable<int> myMethod()
{
for(int i=0; i <= 8675309; i++)
{
yield return i;
}
}
...
// define the iterator
var it = myMethod.Take(3);
// force its immediate evaluation
// list will contain 0, 1, 2
var list = it.ToList();
Calling ToList, ToDictionary or ToArray will force the immediate evaluation of the enumeration,
retrieving all the elements into a collection.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Numerics; // also add reference to System.Numberics
namespace ConsoleApplication33
{
class Program
{
private static IEnumerable<BigInteger> Fibonacci()
{
BigInteger prev = 0;
BigInteger current = 1;
while (true)
{
yield return current;
https://riptutorial.com/ 918
var next = prev + current;
prev = current;
current = next;
}
}
How it works under the hood (I recommend to decompile resulting .exe file in IL Disaambler tool):
Also note, that 10001th number is 468 bytes long. State machine only saves current and prev
variables as fields. While if we would like to save all numbers in the sequence from the first to the
10000th, the consumed memory size will be over 4 megabytes. So lazy evaluation, if properly
used, can reduce memory footprint in some cases.
Using yield break as opposed to break might not be as obvious as one may think. There are lot of
bad examples on the Internet where the usage of the two is interchangeable and doesn't really
demonstrate the difference.
The confusing part is that both of the keywords (or key phrases) make sense only within loops (
foreach, while...) So when to choose one over the other?
It's important to realize that once you use the yield keyword in a method you effectively turn the
method into an iterator. The only purpose of the such method is then to iterate over a finite or
infinite collection and yield (output) its elements. Once the purpose is fulfilled, there's no reason to
continue method's execution. Sometimes, it happens naturally with the last closing bracket of the
method }. But sometimes, you want to end the method prematurely. In a normal (non-iterating)
method you would use the return keyword. But you can't use return in an iterator, you have to use
https://riptutorial.com/ 919
yield break.
In other words, yield break for an iterator is the same as return for a standard
method. Whereas, the break statement just terminates the closest loop.
/// <summary>
/// Yields numbers from 0 to 9
/// </summary>
/// <returns>{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}</returns>
public static IEnumerable<int> YieldBreak()
{
for (int i = 0; ; i++)
{
if (i < 10)
{
// Yields a number
yield return i;
}
else
{
// Indicates that the iteration has ended, everything
// from this line on will be ignored
yield break;
}
}
yield return 10; // This will never get executed
}
/// <summary>
/// Yields numbers from 0 to 10
/// </summary>
/// <returns>{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}</returns>
public static IEnumerable<int> Break()
{
for (int i = 0; ; i++)
{
if (i < 10)
{
// Yields a number
yield return i;
}
else
{
// Terminates just the loop
break;
}
}
// Execution continues
yield return 10;
}
https://riptutorial.com/ 920
Credits
S.
Chapters Contributors
No
https://riptutorial.com/ 921
Ahmed Khan, Mahmoud
Elgindy, Malick, Marcus
Höglund, Mateen Ulhaq,
Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt,
Michael B, Michael
Brandon Morris, Miljen
Mikic, Millan Sanchez,
Nate Barbettini, Nick,
Nick Cox, Nipun Tripathi,
NotMyself, Ojen,
PashaPash, pijemcolu,
Prateek, Raj Rao, Rajput
, Rakitić, Rion Williams,
RokumDev, RomCoo,
Ryan Hilbert, sebingel,
SeeuD1, solidcell,
Steven Ackley, sumit
sharma, Tofix, Tom
Bowers, Travis J, Tushar
patel, User 00000,
user3185569, Ven,
Victor Tomaili, viggity,
void, Wen Qin, Ziad Akiki
, Zze
Botond Balázs, H.
Pauwelyn, hatcyl, John,
3 Access Modifiers Justin Rohr, Kobi, Robert
Woods, Thaoden,
ZenLulz
ATechieThought,
ravindra, Rion Williams,
5 Accessing Databases
The_Outsider,
user2321864
https://riptutorial.com/ 922
Jeremy Kato, Jon
Schneider, Jorge, Juha
Palomäki, Leon
Husmann, Michael
Mairegger, Michael
Richardson, Nikita, rene,
Rob, Sebi, TarkaDaal,
wertzui, Will Ray
Fernando Matsumoto,
9 Anonymous types
goric, Stephen Leppik
HappyCoding,
11 ASP.NET Identity
Skullomania
https://riptutorial.com/ 923
Hromadskyi
Alexander Mandt,
Andrew Diamond, Doruk,
LosManos, Lukas
16 Attributes Kolletzki,
NikolayKondratyev,
Pavel Sapehin, SysVoid,
TKharaishvili
David, Maxim,
19 Binary Serialization RamenChef, Stephen
Leppik
https://riptutorial.com/ 924
Alexander Mandt, David,
F_V, Haseeb Asif,
21 Built-in Types
matteeyah, Patrick
Hofman, Wai Ha Lee
0xFF, bob0the0mighty,
22 C# 3.0 Features FrenkyB, H. Pauwelyn,
ken2k, Maniero, Rob
Benjamin Hodgson,
Botond Balázs, H.
Pauwelyn, Proxima,
23 C# 4.0 Features
Sibeesh Venu,
Squidward, Theodoros
Chatzigiannakis
Abob, alex.b, H.
24 C# 5.0 Features
Pauwelyn
A_Arnold, Aaron
Anodide, Aaron Hudon,
Adil Mammadov, Adriano
Repetti, AER, AGB,
Akshay Anand, Alan
McBee, Alex Logan,
Amitay Stern,
anaximander, andre_ss6
, Andrea,
AndroidMechanic, Ares,
Arthur Rizzo, Ashwin
Ramaswami, avishayp,
Balagurunathan
Marimuthu, Bardia, Ben
25 C# 6.0 Features Aaronson, Blubberguy22
, Bobson, bpoiss,
Bradley Uffner, Bret
Copeland, C4u, Callum
Watkins, Chad Levy,
Charlie H, ChrFin,
Community,
Conrad.Dean, Cyprien
Autexier, Dan, Daniel
Minnaar, Daniel
Stradowski, DarkV1,
dasblinkenlight, David,
David G., David Pine,
Deepak gupta, DLeh,
dotctor, Durgpal Singh,
https://riptutorial.com/ 925
Ehsan Sajjad, el2iot2,
Emre Bolat, enrico.bacis,
Erik Schierboom,
fabriciorissetto, faso,
Franck Dernoncourt,
FrankerZ, Gabor
Kecskemeti, Gary, Gates
Wong, Geoff,
GingerHead, Gordon
Bell, Guillaume Pascal,
H. Pauwelyn, hankide,
Henrik H, iliketocode,
Iordanis , Irfan, Ivan
Yurchenko, J. Steen,
Jacob Linney, Jamie
Rees, Jason Sturges,
Jeppe Stig Nielsen, Jim,
JNYRanger, Joe, Joel
Etherton, John Slegers,
Johnbot, Jojodmo, Jonas
S, Juan, Kapep, ken2k,
Kit, Konamiman, Krikor
Ailanjian, Lafexlos, LaoR
, Lasse Vågsæther
Karlsen, M.kazem
Akhgary, Mafii, Magisch,
Makyen, MANISH
KUMAR CHOUDHARY,
Marc, MarcinJuraszek,
Mark Shevchenko,
Matas Vaitkevicius,
Mateen Ulhaq, Matt,
Matt, Matt, Matt Thomas,
Maximillian Laumeister,
mbrdev, Mellow, Michael
Mairegger, Michael
Richardson, Michał
Perłakowski, mike z,
Minhas Kamal, Mitch
Talmadge, Mohammad
Mirmostafa, Mr.Mindor,
mshsayem,
MuiBienCarlota, Nate
Barbettini, Nicholas Sizer
, nik, nollidge, Nuri
Tasdemir, Oliver Mellet,
Orlando William, Osama
https://riptutorial.com/ 926
AbuSitta, Panda, Parth
Patel, Patrick, Pavel
Voronin, PSN, qJake,
QoP, Racil Hilan,
Radouane ROUFID,
Rahul Nikate, Raidri,
Rajeev, Rakitić, ravindra,
rdans, Reeven, Richa
Garg, Richard, Rion
Williams, Rob, Robban,
Robert Columbia, Ryan
Hilbert, ryanyuyu, Sam,
Sam Axe, Samuel,
Sender, Shekhar, Shoe,
Slayther, solidcell,
Squidward, Squirrel,
stackptr, stark, Stilgar,
Sunny R Gupta, Suren
Srapyan, Sworgkh,
syb0rg, takrl, Tamir
Vered, Theodoros
Chatzigiannakis, Timothy
Shields, Tom Droste,
Travis J, Trent,
Trikaldarshi, Troyen,
Tushar patel, tzachs, Uri
Agassi, Uriil, uTeisT,
vcsjones, Ven, viggity,
Vishal Madhvani, Vlad,
Wai Ha Lee, Xiaoy312,
Yury Kerbitskov, Zano,
Ze Rubeus, Zimm1
https://riptutorial.com/ 927
ferday, Florian
Greinacher, ganchito55,
Ginkgo, H. Pauwelyn,
Henrik H, Icy Defiance,
Igor Ševo, iliketocode,
Jatin Sanghvi, Jean-
Bernard Pellerin, Jesse
Williams, Jon Schoning,
Kimmax, Kobi, Kris
Vandermotten, Kritner,
leppie, Llwyd, Maakep,
maf-soft, Marc Gravell,
MarcinJuraszek, Mariano
Desanze, Matt Rowland,
Matt Thomas, MemphiZ,
mnoronha, MotKohn,
Name, Nate Barbettini,
Nico, Niek, nietras,
NikolayKondratyev, Nuri
Tasdemir, PashaPash,
Pavel Mayorov, PeteGO,
petrzjunior, Philippe,
Pratik, Priyank Gadhiya,
Pyritie, qJake, Raidri,
Rakitić, RamenChef,
Ray Vega, RBT, René
Vogt, Rob, samuelesque
, Squidward, Stavm,
Stefano, Stefano
d'Antonio, Stilgar, Tim
Pohlmann, Uriil,
user1304444,
user2321864,
user3185569, uTeisT,
Uwe Keim, Vlad, Vlad,
Wai Ha Lee, Wasabi Fan
, WerWet, wezten,
Wojciech Czerniak, Zze
mehrandvd, Squidward,
28 C# Script
Stephen Leppik
https://riptutorial.com/ 928
StriplingWarrior
Austin T French,
Blachshma, bluish,
CharithJ, Chief Wiggum,
cyberj0g, Daryl, deloreyk
, jaycer, Jaydip Jadhav,
Jon G, Jon Schneider,
37 Common String Operations
juergen d, Konamiman,
Maniero, Paul Weiland,
Racil Hilan, RoelF,
Stefan Steiger, Steven,
The_Outsider, tiedied61,
un-lucky, WizardOfMenlo
Alexander Mandt,
Ameya Deshpande,
38 Conditional Statements EJoshuaS, H. Pauwelyn,
Hayden, Kroltan,
RamenChef, Sklivvz
https://riptutorial.com/ 929
Rînea, Andrew Diamond,
Arjan Einbu, Avia,
BackDoorNoBaby,
BanksySan, Ben Fogel,
Benjamin Hodgson,
Benjol, Bogdan Gavril,
Bovaz, Carlos Muñoz,
Dan Hulme, Daryl, DLeh,
Dmitry Bychenko,
drusellers, Ehsan Sajjad,
Fernando Matsumoto,
guntbert, hatchet, Ian,
Jeremy Kato, Jon Skeet,
Julien Roncaglia, kamilk,
Konamiman, ltiveron,
Michael Richardson,
Neel, Oly, Pavel
Mayorov, Pavel Sapehin,
Pavel Voronin, Peter
Hommel, pinkfloydx33,
Robert Columbia,
RomCoo, Roy Dictus,
Sam, Saravanan Sachi,
Seph, Sklivvz,
The_Cthulhu_Kid, Tim
Medora, usr, Verena
Haunschmid, void,
Wouter, ZenLulz
glaubergft, MikeS159,
43 Cryptography (System.Security.Cryptography)
Ogglas, Pete
https://riptutorial.com/ 930
C4u, Christian Gollhardt,
Felipe Oriani, Guilherme
de Jesus Santos, James
Hughes, Matas
Vaitkevicius,
midnightsyntax, Mostafiz
, Oluwafemi, Pavel
Yermalovich, Sondre,
theinarasu, Thulani
Chivandikwa
Daryl, David, H.
Pauwelyn, Kilazur, Mark
49 Dynamic type
Shevchenko, Nate
Barbettini, Rob
https://riptutorial.com/ 931
Kyle Trauberman, Martin
Zikmund, Matthew
Whited, Maxime, mbrdev
, Michael Mairegger,
MuiBienCarlota,
NikolayKondratyev,
Osama AbuSitta, PSGuy
, recursive, Richa Garg,
Richard, Rob, sdgfsdh,
Sergii Lischuk, Squirrel,
Stefano d'Antonio,
Tanner Swett, TarkaDaal
, Theodoros
Chatzigiannakis, vesi,
Wasabi Fan, Yanai
Alexey, BanksySan,
hatcyl, ja72, Jeppe Stig
52 Equals and GetHashCode Nielsen, meJustAndrew,
Rob, scher, Timitry,
viggity
https://riptutorial.com/ 932
Jack, James Hughes,
Jamie Rees, John Meyer
, Jonesopolis,
MadddinTribleD,
Marimba, Matas
Vaitkevicius, Matt,
matteeyah, Mendhak,
Michael Bisbjerg, Nate
Barbettini, Nathaniel
Ford, nik0lias, niksofteng
, Oly, Pavel Pája Halbich
, Pavel Voronin, PMF,
Racil Hilan, raidensan,
Rasa , Robert Columbia,
RomCoo, Sam Hanley,
Scott Koland, Squidward
, Steve Dunn, Thulani
Chivandikwa, vesi
Benjamin Hodgson,
dasblinkenlight, Dileep,
George Duckett,
just.another.programmer
, Matas Vaitkevicius,
55 Expression Trees matteeyah,
meJustAndrew, Nathan
Tuggy,
NikolayKondratyev, Rob,
Ruben Steins, Stephen
Leppik, Рахул Маквана
Aaron Hudon,
AbdulRahman Ansari,
Adi Lester, Adil
Mammadov, AGB,
AldoRomo88,
anaximander, Aphelion,
Ashwin Ramaswami,
ATechieThought, Ben
56 Extension Methods
Aaronson, Benjol, binki,
Bjørn-Roger Kringsjå,
Blachshma, Blorgbeard,
Brett Veenstra, brijber,
Callum Watkins, Chad
McGrath, Charlie H,
Chris Akridge,
Chronocide,
https://riptutorial.com/ 933
CorrectorBot, cubrr,
Dan-Cook, Daniel
Stradowski, David G.,
David Pine, Deepak
gupta, diiN__________,
DLeh, Dmitry Bychenko,
DoNot, DWright, Ðаn,
Ehsan Sajjad, ekolis,
el2iot2, Elton,
enrico.bacis, Erik
Schierboom, ethorn10,
extremeboredom, Ezra,
fahadash, Federico
Allocati, Fernando
Matsumoto, FrankerZ,
gdziadkiewicz, Gilad
Naaman, GregC,
Gudradain, H. Pauwelyn,
HimBromBeere, Hsu Wei
Cheng, Icy Defiance,
Jamie Rees, Jeppe Stig
Nielsen, John Peters,
John Slegers, Jon
Erickson, Jonas S,
Jonesopolis, Kev, Kevin
Avignon, Kevin DiTraglia
, Kobi, Konamiman,
krillgar, Kurtis Beavers,
Kyle Trauberman,
Lafexlos, LMK, lothlarias,
Lukáš Lánský, Magisch,
Marc, MarcE, Marek
Musielak, Martin
Zikmund, Matas
Vaitkevicius, Matt, Matt
Dillard, Maximilian Ast,
mbrdev,
MDTech.us_MAN,
meJustAndrew, Michael
Benford, Michael
Freidgeim, Michael
Richardson, Michał
Perłakowski, Nate
Barbettini, Nick Larsen,
Nico, Nisarg Shah, Nuri
Tasdemir, Parth Patel,
pinkfloydx33, PMF,
https://riptutorial.com/ 934
Prashanth Benny, QoP,
Raidri, Reddy, Reeven,
Ricardo Amores, Richard
, Rion Williams, Rob,
Robert Columbia, Ryan
Hilbert, ryanyuyu, S. Tar
ık Çetin, Sam Axe, Shoe
, Sibeesh Venu, solidcell
, Sondre, Squidward,
Steven, styfle, SysVoid,
Tanner Swett, Timothy
Rascher, TKharaishvili,
T-moty, Tobbe, Tushar
patel, unarist,
user3185569, user40521
, Ven, Victor Tomaili,
viggity
BanksySan, Blachshma,
dbmuller, DJCubed,
Feelbad Soussi Wolfgun
57 File and Stream I/O DZ, intox, Mikko Viitala,
Sender, Squidward,
Tolga Evcimen, Wasabi
Fan
58 FileSystemWatcher Sondre
Theodoros
59 Func delegates Chatzigiannakis,
Valentin
https://riptutorial.com/ 935
64 Generic Lambda Query Builder 4444, PedroSouki
Bearington, Botond
Balázs, elibyy, Jonas S,
Osama AbuSitta,
67 Guid
Sherantha, TarkaDaal,
The_Outsider, Tim
Ebenezer, void
72 IComparable alex
https://riptutorial.com/ 936
Aaron Hudon, Adam,
BatteryBackupUnit, binki,
Bogdan Gavril, Bryan
Crosby, ChrisWue,
Dmitry Bychenko, Ehsan
Sajjad, H. Pauwelyn,
Jarrod Dixon, Josh
73 IDisposable interface Peterson, Matas
Vaitkevicius, Maxime,
Nicholas Sizer,
OliPro007, Pavel
Mayorov, pinkfloydx33,
pyrocumulus,
RamenChef, Rob,
Thennarasan, Will Ray
Aleks Andreev,
75 ILGenerator
thehennyy
https://riptutorial.com/ 937
Robert Columbia, Steven
, Suren Srapyan,
VirusParadox, Yehuda
Shapira
Blorgbeard, hatchet,
jaycer, Michael Sorens,
83 Initializing Properties
Parth Patel, Stephen
Leppik
https://riptutorial.com/ 938
Bjørn-Roger Kringsjå,
Botz3000, Brandon,
brijber, BrunoLM,
BunkerMentality,
BurnsBA, bwegs, Callum
Watkins, Chris, Chris
Akridge, Chris H., Chris
Skardon, ChrisPatrick,
Chuu, Cihan Yakar, cl3m
, Craig Brett, Daniel,
Daniel J.G., Danny Chen
, Darren Davies, Daryl,
dasblinkenlight, David,
David G., David L, David
Pine, DAXaholic,
deadManN,
DeanoMachino,
digitlworld, Dmitry
Bychenko, dotctor,
DPenner1, Drew
Kennedy, DrewJordan,
Ehsan Sajjad, EJoshuaS
, Elad Lachmi, Eric
Lippert, EvenPrime, F_V,
Felix, fernacolo,
Fernando Matsumoto,
forsvarir, Francis Lord,
Gavin Greenwalt, gdoron
, George Duckett, Gilad
Naaman, goric, greatwolf
, H. Pauwelyn,
Happypig375, Icemanind
, Jack, Jacob Linney,
Jake, James Hughes,
Jcoffman, Jeppe Stig
Nielsen, jHilscher, João
Lourenço, John Slegers,
JohnD, Jon Schneider,
Jon Skeet,
JoshuaBehrens, Kilazur,
Kimmax, Kirk Woll, Kit,
Kjartan, kjhf, Konamiman
, Kyle Trauberman,
kyurthich, levininja,
lokusking, Mafii, Mamta
D, Mango Wong, MarcE,
MarcinJuraszek, Marco
https://riptutorial.com/ 939
Scabbiolo, Martin, Martin
Klinke, Martin Zikmund,
Matas Vaitkevicius,
Mateen Ulhaq, Matěj
Pokorný, Mat's Mug,
Matthew Whited, Max,
Maximilian Ast, Medeni
Baykal, Michael
Mairegger, Michael
Richardson, Michel
Keijzers, Mihail Shishkov
, mike z, Mr.Mindor,
Myster, Nicholas Sizer,
Nicholaus Lawson, Nick
Cox, Nico, nik,
niksofteng,
NotEnoughData,
numaroth, Nuri Tasdemir
, pascalhein, Pavel
Mayorov, Pavel Pája
Halbich, Pavel
Yermalovich, Pavieł
Kraskoŭski, Paweł Mach,
petelids, Peter Gordon,
Peter L., PMF, Rakitić,
RamenChef, ranieuwe,
Razan, RBT, Renan
Gemignani, Ringil, Rion
Williams, Rob, Robert
Columbia, ro
binmckenzie, RobSiklos,
Romain Vincent,
RomCoo, ryanyuyu, Sain
Pradeep, Sam, Sándor
Mátyás Márton, Sanjay
Radadiya, Scott,
sebingel, Skipper,
Sobieck, sohnryang,
somebody, Sondre,
Squidward, Stephen
Leppik, Sujay Sarma,
Suyash Kumar Singh,
svick, TarkaDaal,
th1rdey3, Thaoden,
Theodoros
Chatzigiannakis,
https://riptutorial.com/ 940
Thorsten Dittmar, Tim
Ebenezer, titol, tonirush,
topolm, Tot Zam,
user3185569, Valentin,
vcsjones, void, Wasabi
Fan, Wavum,
Woodchipper,
Xandrmoro, Zaheer Ul
Hassan, Zalomon, Zohar
Peled
https://riptutorial.com/ 941
Diligent Key Presser,
Dmitry Bychenko, Dmitry
Egorov, dotctor, Ehsan
Sajjad, Erick, Erik
Schierboom, EvenPrime,
fabriciorissetto, faso,
Finickyflame, Florin M,
forsvarir, fubo,
gbellmann, Gene, Gert
Arnold, Gilad Green, H.
Pauwelyn, Hari Prasad,
hellyale, HimBromBeere,
hWright, iliketocode,
Ioannis Karadimas,
Jagadisha B S, James
Ellis-Jones, jao,
jiaweizhang, Jodrell, Jon
Bates, Jon G, Jon
Schneider, Jonas S,
karaken12, KevinM,
Koopakiller, leppie, LINQ
, Lohitha Palagiri,
ltiveron, Mafii, Martin
Zikmund, Matas
Vaitkevicius, Mateen
Ulhaq, Matt, Maxime,
mburleigh, Meloviz,
Mikko Viitala,
Mohammad Dehghan,
mok, Nate Barbettini,
Neel, Neha Jain, Néstor
Sánchez A., Nico, Noctis
, Pavel Mayorov, Pavel
Yermalovich, Paweł
Hemperek, Pedro, Phuc
Nguyen, pinkfloydx33,
przno, qJake, Racil Hilan
, rdans, Rémi, Rion
Williams, rjdevereux,
RobPethi, Ryan Abbott,
S. Rangeley, S.Akbari,
S.L. Barth, Salvador
Rubio Martinez, Sanjay
Radadiya, Satish Yadav,
sebingel, Sergio
Domínguez, SilentCoder,
Sivanantham Padikkasu,
https://riptutorial.com/ 942
slawekwin, Sondre,
Squidward, Stephen
Leppik, Steve Trout,
Tamir Vered, techspider,
teo van kot, th1rdey3,
Theodoros
Chatzigiannakis, Tim Iles
, Tim S. Van Haren,
Tobbe, Tom, Travis J,
tungns304, Tushar patel,
user1304444,
user3185569, Valentin,
varocarbas, VictorB,
Vitaliy Fedorchenko,
vivek nuna, void, wali,
wertzui, WMios,
Xiaoy312, Yaakov Ellis,
Zev Spitz
brijber, Christian
Gollhardt, FortyTwo,
93 Linq to Objects Kevin Green, Raphael
Pantaleão, Simon
Halsey, Tanveer Badar
jaycer, NotEnoughData,
95 Literals
Racil Hilan
https://riptutorial.com/ 943
Squidward, Vahid
Farahmandian
RamenChef, Sibeesh
Venu, Testing123,
101 Named and Optional Arguments
The_Outsider, Tim
Yusupov
https://riptutorial.com/ 944
Lawson, Salih Karagoz,
shawty, Squirrel, Xander
Luciano
Benjamin Hodgson,
Braydie, DmitryG,
Gordon Bell, Jasmin
Solanki, Jon Schneider,
Konstantin Vdovkin,
106 Nullable types
Maximilian Ast, Mikko
Viitala, Nicholas Sizer,
Patrick Hofman, Pavel
Mayorov, pinkfloydx33,
Vitaliy Fedorchenko
aashishkoirala, Ankit
Rana, Aristos, Bradley
Uffner, David Arno,
David G., David Pine,
demonplus, Denis
Elkhov, Diligent Key
Presser, Eamon Charles,
Ehsan Sajjad,
eouw0o83hf, Fernando
107 Null-Coalescing Operator
Matsumoto, H. Pauwelyn
, Jodrell, Jon Schneider,
Jonesopolis, Martin
Zikmund, Mike C, Nate
Barbettini, Nic Foster,
petelids, Prateek, Rahul
Nikate, Rion Williams,
Rob, smead, tonirush,
Wasabi Fan, Will Ray
4444, Agramer,
Ashutosh, krimog, Kyle
109 NullReferenceException Trauberman, Mathias
Müller, Philip C,
RamenChef, S.L. Barth,
https://riptutorial.com/ 945
Shelby115, Squidward,
vicky, Zikato
Andrei, Kroltan,
LeopardSkinPillBoxHat,
111 Object initializers
Marco, Nick DeVore,
Stephen Leppik
demonplus, GeralexGR,
113 ObservableCollection Jonathan Anctil,
MuiBienCarlota
https://riptutorial.com/ 946
slawekwin, slinzerthegod
, Squidward, Testing123,
TyCobb, Wasabi Fan,
Xiaoy312, Zaheer Ul
Hassan
https://riptutorial.com/ 947
4444, DLeh, Naveen
127 Reading and writing .zip files
Gogineni, Nisarg Shah
Artificial Stupidity,
131 Runtime Compile
Stephen Leppik, Tommy
https://riptutorial.com/ 948
Ehsan Sajjad, Krzysztof
Branicki, lothlarias, Mark
Shevchenko, Pavel
Mayorov, Sklivvz,
snickro, Squidward,
Squirrel, Stephen Leppik
, Victor Tomaili,
Xandrmoro
MCronin, The_Outsider,
133 Static Classes
Xiaoy312
Adam, demonplus,
dotctor, Gavin Greenwalt
134 Stopwatches
, Jeppe Stig Nielsen,
Sondre
Danny Bogers,
jlawcordova, Jon
135 Stream
Schneider, Nuri
Tasdemir, Pushpendra
Arjan Einbu,
ATechieThought, avs099
, bluray, Brendan L,
Dave Zych, DLeh, Ehsan
138 String Interpolation Sajjad, fabriciorissetto,
Guilherme de Jesus
Santos, H. Pauwelyn,
Jon Skeet, Nate
Barbettini, RamenChef,
https://riptutorial.com/ 949
Rion Williams,
Squidward, Stephen
Leppik, Tushar patel,
Wasabi Fan
Blachshma, Jon
139 String Manipulation Schneider, sferencik,
The_Outsider
ATechieThought, brijber,
Jeremy Kato, Jon
141 StringBuilder
Schneider, Robert
Columbia, The_Outsider
codeape, Mark
144 Synchronization Context in Async-Await Shevchenko,
RamenChef
https://riptutorial.com/ 950
146 System.Management.Automation Mikko Viitala
Benjamin Hodgson,
Brandon, Collin Stevens,
148 Task Parallel Library
i3arnon, Mokhtar Ashour
, Murtuza Vohra
149 Task Parallel Library (TPL) Dataflow Constructs Droritos, Stephen Leppik
Community, connor,
153 Type Conversion
Ehsan Sajjad, Lijo
Fernando Matsumoto,
155 Using Directive Jesse Williams,
JohnLBevan, Kit,
https://riptutorial.com/ 951
Michael Freidgeim, Nuri
Tasdemir, RamenChef,
Tot Zam
Aleks Andreev,
156 Using json.net
Snipzwolf
Carmine,
157 Using SQLite in C# NikolayKondratyev,
th1rdey3, Tim Yusupov
Adam Houldsworth,
Ahmar, Akshay Anand,
Alex Wiese, andre_ss6,
Aphelion, Benjol, Boris
Callens, Bradley
Grainger, Bradley Uffner,
bubbleking, Chris Marisic
, ChrisWue, Cristian T,
cubrr, Dan Ling, Danny
Chen, dav_i, David
Stockinger, dazerdude,
Denis Elkhov, Dmitry
Bychenko, Erik
Schierboom, Florian
Greinacher, gdoron, H.
Pauwelyn, Herbstein,
Jon Schneider, Jon
158 Using Statement
Skeet, Jonesopolis, JT.,
Ken Keenan, Kev, Kobi,
Kyle Trauberman, Lasse
Vågsæther Karlsen,
LegionMammal978,
Lorentz Vedeler, Martin,
Martin Zikmund, Maxime
, Nuri Tasdemir, Peter K,
Philip C, pid, René Vogt,
Rion Williams, Ryan
Abbott, Scott Koland,
Sean, Sparrow, styfle,
Sunny R Gupta,
Sworgkh, Thaoden,
The_Cthulhu_Kid, Tom
Droste, Tot Zam, Zaheer
Ul Hassan
https://riptutorial.com/ 952
Blubberguy22,
Chronocide, Craig Brett,
docesam, GWigWam,
matiaslauriti,
meJustAndrew, Michael
Mairegger, Michele Ceo,
Moe Farag, Nate
Barbettini, RamenChef,
Rob, scher, Snympi,
Tagc, Theodoros
Chatzigiannakis
Crowcoder, Jon
162 XDocument and the System.Xml.Linq namespace
Schneider
https://riptutorial.com/ 953
David Pine, Dmitry
Bychenko, dotctor,
Ehsan Sajjad, erfanrazi,
Gajendra, George
Duckett, H. Pauwelyn,
HimBromBeere, Jeremy
Kato, João Lourenço,
Joe Amenta, Julien
Roncaglia, just.ru,
Karthik AMR, Mark
Shevchenko, Michael
Richardson,
MuiBienCarlota, Myster,
Nate Barbettini, Noctis,
Nuri Tasdemir, Olivier
De Meulder, OP313,
ravindra, Ricardo
Amores, Rion Williams,
rocky, Sompom, Tot
Zam, un-lucky, Vlad,
void, Wasabi Fan,
Xiaoy312, ZenLulz
https://riptutorial.com/ 954