Unit – 2

The C#
Language
Road Map

• Introduction • Classes & Objects • Pass by

Reference
• Features • Encapsulation
• Collections
• Types • Inheritance
• Delegates
• Variables & • Polymorphism
Constants • Events
• Abstract & Sealed
• Operators Classes

• Control Structures • Interface

• Type Conversion • Properties

• Arrays • Indexers

• Pointers • Enumerations
Introductio
n
Introduction

• C# is a modern and high-level object-oriented programming

language developed by Microsoft. It is derived from C++ and
Java.

• C# was developed by Anders Hejlsberg and his team during

the
development of .NET Framework.

• C# is a .NET-compliant language, meaning it follows the

Common
Language Specifications (CLS).

• A C# Source Files is saved with .cs extension. The C#

Compiler converts the C# code into CIL/MSIL which is then
Featur
es
Features

• Simple:

• C# is more readable, understandable compared to

lower-level
languages such as C++.

• Modern:

• C# is used for building scalable, robust and powerful

apps.

• Object-Oriented:

• C# is a Pure Object-Oriented Programming Language.

• C# code is always encapsulated within classes.

Features

• Type Safety:

• C# does not allow unsafe type conversions such storing an

integer in
a character-type variable.
• Variables and objects are always initialized with some
default value.
• Arrays cannot be accessed outside of bounds.
Type
s
Type
s
• Types are used for specifying what type of data will be stored by
variables.

• C# uses the types provided by .NET Framework. Each .NET type

has an
alias in C#.

• There are three categories of types:

• Value Types

• Pointer Types

• Reference Types
Type
s
Types: Value
Types
• Value Type variables directly store the data in
memory.

• All the Value Types are derived from

System.ValueType class.

• There are 4 sub-categories of Value Types:

• Simple Types:

• Stores individual/atomic values

• All Simple Types in .NET are actually

structures.
• Nullable Types:

• Simple Types with the ability of storing null

Types: Value
Types
• Structures:

• A User Defined Type that stores values of

different types.
• Enum:

• A User Defined Type that stores named

constants.
Types: Value
Types
• These are the Simple Types
in .NET:

C# Type (Alias) .NET Type Size (bytes) Range

byte System.Byte 1 0 to 255

sbyte System.SByte 1 -128 to 127

short System.Int16 2 -32,768 to 32,767

ushort System.UInt16 2 0 to 65,535

int System.Int32 4 -2,147,483,648 to

2,147,483,647
uint System.UInt32 4 0 to 4294967295
Types: Value
Types
• These are the Simple Types
in .NET:

C# Type (Alias) .NET Type Size (bytes) Range

-9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to
long System.Int64 8
9,223,372,036,854,775,807
ulong System.UInt64 8 0 to
18,446,744,073,709,551,615
float System.Single 4 -3.4e38 to 3.4e38

double System.Doubl 8 -1.7e308 to 1.7e308

e
decimal System.Decim 16 (+ or -)1.0 x 10e-28 to 7.9 x
al 10e28
char System.Char 2 Unicode symbols used in text

bool System.Boolea 1 true or false

Types: Reference Types

• Reference Types do not store the values directly, instead they

store the reference (memory location) of the value.

• So, a single value can be referred by multiple Reference Type

variables. Changing the value through one variable is also
reflected on other variables.

• There are many reference types already provided in .NET.

C# Type (Alias) .NET Type (Class)

string System.String

object System.Object
Types: Reference Types

• Reference Types:

• string type:

• string type is used for storing

strings.
• It is an alias for System.String
class.
• It is derived from
System.Object class.
Types: Reference Types

• Reference Types:

• object type:

• object type is the ultimate parent of all .NET Types

(Value or
Reference Types)
• It is an alias for the System.Object class.

• Any type can be converted to object type and vice-

versa.
• So basically, object type can store any type of
data.
Types: Pointer
Types
• Pointer Types are similar to Reference Types. They store
memory addresses of variables of other types.

• C# pointers work the same way as C and C++ pointers.

However, they’re
considered unsafe. Thus, they can only be used in
unsafe context.
Variables &
Constants
Variables

• A Variable is a label given to a storage area in the Primary

Memory which stores some value.

• Each variable has a specific type which defines what type of

data the
variable will store.
Variables: Implicitly-typed Variables

• Variables can be created without specifying the type of the

variable.

• However, these variable must be (non-parameter) local

and must be
initialized during declaration.

• Instead of specifying the type of the variable, use the var

keyword.
Constants

• Constant is a fixed value which does not change during the

program.

• These are the categories of C# Constants:

• Integer Constants

• Float Constants

• Character Constants

• String Constants
Constants

• Integer Constants:
• It’s either a decimal or a hexadecimal value.

• Hexadecimal values have a prefix 0x or 0X.

• Unsigned Integer, Long and Unsigned Long have U or u, L or l

and UL or ul
suffixes respectively.
Constants

• Float Constants:
• It’s a float or a double value.

• A float value has a F or f suffix.

• A double value does not have any

suffix.
Constants

• Character Constants:
• Character Constants are enclosed in single
quotes.

• Character Constants can be either be a:

• A plain character

• An escape sequence
Constants

• Character Constants: Escape Sequences

• Escape Sequences are preceded by a back-slash (\)
character.

• These characters are transformed into another character at

run-time.
Escape sequence Meaning
\\ \ character
\' ' character
\" " character
\? ? character
\a Alert or bell
\b Backspace
\f Form feed
\n Newline
Constants

• Character Constants: Escape

Sequences
Escape sequence Meaning
\r Carriage return
\t Horizontal tab
\v Vertical tab
\xHHH... Hexadecimal number of one or more digits
\uXXX… Unicode character
Constants

• String Constants:
• String is a collection of characters that is enclosed in double
quotes.

• Similar to character, they can contain plain characters and escape

sequences.

• It’s possible to create a verbatim strings in which the escape

sequences are ignored and all the characters are considered
plain.
Constants

• Making a variable constant:

• A variable can be declared as a constant using the const
keyword.

• A variable declared with const cannot be modified and it must be

initialized.
Operato
rs
Operators

• An operator is a special symbol that performs a certain

operation. These operations are either mathematical or logical.

• These operations are performed on operands which are

variables or
values.

• An operator can have one, two or three operands. These

operators are
known as Unary, Binary and Ternary operators respectively.
Operators

• Categories of Operators in
C#:
• Arithmetic Operators

• Relational Operators

• Logical Operators

• Bitwise Operators

• Assignment Operators

• Increment/Decrement
Operators

• Conditional Operator

• Miscellaneous Operators
Operators: Arithmetic Operators

• These operators perform basic mathematical operations on

operands.

Operator Description
+ Adds two operands
- Subtracts second operand from the first
* Multiplies both operands
/ Divides numerator by de-numerator
% Modulus Operator and remainder of after an integer division
Operators: Relational Operators

• These operators perform logical relation operations on

operands.
Operator Description

== Checks if the values of two operands are equal.

!= Checks if the values of two operands are not equal.

Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the

>
value of right operand.

< Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of right
operand.
Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to
>=
the value of right operand.

Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to

<=
the value of right operand.
Operators: Logical Operators

• These operators are used for joining relational

expressions.

Operator Description
Called Logical AND operator. If both the operands are non
&&
zero then condition becomes true.
Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is non
||
zero then
condition becomes true.
Called Logical NOT Operator. Use to reverses the logical
! state of its operand. If a condition is true then Logical NOT
operator will make false.
Operators: Bitwise Operators

• These operators are used for performing operations

on bits.

Operator Description

Binary AND Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both

&
operands.
| Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in either operand.
Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is set in one
^
operand but not both.
Binary Ones Complement Operator is unary and has the effect
~ of
'flipping' bits.
Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved left
<<
by the
number of bits specified by the right operand.
Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operands value is
>>
Operators: Assignment Operators

• These operators are used for assigning values to

variables.
Operator Description

Simple assignment operator, Assigns values from right side

=
operands to left side operand
Add AND assignment operator, It adds right operand to the left
+=
operand and assign the result to left operand
Subtract AND assignment operator, It subtracts right operand
-=
from the left operand and assign the result to left operand
Multiply AND assignment operator, It multiplies right operand
*=
with the left operand and assign the result to left operand

Divide AND assignment operator, It divides left operand with

/=
the right operand and assign the result to left operand

Modulus AND assignment operator, It takes modulus using two

%=
operands and assign the result to left operand
Operators: Increment/Decrement

• Increases or decreases the value of the

operand by 1.

• Can be prefixed or suffixed.

Operator Description
++ Increment operator increases integer value by one
-- Decrement operator decreases integer value by one
Operators: Conditional Operator

• Used for conditional assignment.

• It has 3 operands so it’s also known as Ternary

Operator.
Operators: Miscellaneous Operators

Operator Description

sizeof() Returns the size of a data type.

typeof() Returns the type of a class.
& Returns the address of an variable.
* Pointer to a variable.
is Determines whether an object is of a certain type.
as Cast without raising an exception if the cast fails.
Control
Structures
Control
Structures
 Control Structures are used for controlling the flow of the
execution.
 There are 2 types of Control Structures:
1. Decision Making Statements
• if…else if…else
• switch…case
2. Looping Statements
• for
• while
• do…while
• foreach
Control Structures: Decision Making

 Decision Making statements are used for branching the

execution flow of the program.
 if…else if…else:
 This statement allows to execute a block of code based on
condition(s).
 The conditions of the if and else if statements must evaluate to
a Boolean value (true or false).
 Whichever block’s condition evaluates to true will be executed,
rest of the blocks will be ignored.
 If none of the conditions match, the else block will be
executed.
 The curly braces are optional if the block contains only 1 line of
code.
Control Structures: Decision Making

 if…else if…
else:
Control Structures: Decision Making

 switch…case: Execute a block of code based on the value of

a variable.
Control Structures: Looping

 Looping Statements are used for executing a block of code

repeatedly.
 For loop:
 For loop repeats a block predefined number of times.
 It is an Entry Controlled loop because the condition is checked
before the body of loop is executed.
Control Structures: Looping

 While loop:
 While loop repeats a block predefined or unknown number of
times.
 It is an Entry Controlled loop because the condition is checked
before the
body of loop is executed.
Control Structures: Looping

 Do…while loop:
 Do…while loop repeats a block predefined or unknown number
of times.
 It is an Exit Controlled loop because the condition is checked
after the
body of loop has been executed at least once.
Control Structures: Looping

 Foreach loop:
 Foreach loop is used for iterating through the elements of an
array or a
collection.
 It copies individual values from the collection into a variable
as the loop progresses.
Control Structures: Looping

 A look can be terminated prematurely by using the break

keyword which will skip all the remaining iterations
(repetition) of the loop.
 For skipping a singe iteration, the continue statement
can be used.
 The break and continue statements can be used by all 4
type of loops.
Type
Conversion
Type Conversion

 Type Conversion means to convert one type to

another.
 There are 2 ways type conversion can be
performed:
 Implicit Type Conversion
 Explicit Type Conversion
Type Conversion: Implicit Type
Conversion
 These conversions are performed automatically by .NET in a
type-safe manner.
 Such as:
 Converting smaller integral types to larger ones.

 Converting derived class objects to base class

objects.
Type Conversion: Explicit Type
Conversion
 These conversions are performed manually by the
developer using either casting operator or built-in
methods.
 These conversions are not usually type-safe, so there are
chances of
data loss.
 Explicit Type Conversion is required in cases such as
converting larger type to smaller one or converting parent
class object to child class object.
 C# provides 2 casting operators.
Type Conversion: Explicit Type
Conversion
 Casting operator:
 One of the Casting Operator is the type written in round
brackets
before the variable or the value which is to be
converted.
 However, if the conversion is not successful, an
exception will be thrown.
Type Conversion: Explicit Type
Conversion
 Casting operator:
 Another Casting Operator is the as keyword.
 If the conversion is not successful, no exceptions will
be thrown
and null will be returned
 Moreover, as operator cannot be used with Value
Types.
Type Conversion: Explicit Type
Conversion
 Type Conversion Methods:
 .NET provides a Convert class which contains the
following static
methods for converting types.

Method Description

ToBoolean Converts a type to Boolean type

ToChar Converts a type to character type
ToByte Converts a value to byte type
ToDecimal Converts a value to decimal type
ToDouble Converts a type to double
ToString Converts a type to string
Type Conversion: Explicit Type
Conversion
 Type Conversion
Methods:
Method Description

ToInt16 Converts a type to short (16-bit integer)

ToInt32 Converts a type to int (32 bit integer)
ToInt64 Converts a type to long (64 bit integer)
ToUInt16 Converts a type to ushort (unsigned 16 bit
integer)
ToUInt32 Converts a type to uint (unsigned 32 bit integer)
ToUInt64 Converts a type to ulong (unsigned 64 bit integer)
Type Conversion: Explicit Type
Conversion
 Type Conversion Methods:
 The System.Object class provides a method ToString( )
which can
be used to convert any type to string.
 The Object class is the parent of all other classes,
meaning the
ToString( ) method is also available in all of its children.
Array
s
Arrays

 Arrays are fixed-size collection of values of the same type

under a single name which are stored in a contiguous
manner in the Memory.
 These values are known as Elements. Each value (element)
has a 0-
based index.
 The base/parent of any array is System.Array class.
 Dimension-wise, there are 3 types of arrays in C#:
 Single Dimensional Array
 Multi-Dimensional Array
 Jagged Array
Arrays: Single Dimensional Array

 The elements of a Single Dimensional Array are atomic

type values.

 Array Initializers are used for initializing an array with

predefined values.
 Array elements can be accessed using their indices.
Arrays: Single Dimensional Array
Arrays: Multi-Dimensional Array

 The elements of a Multi-Dimensional Array are other

arrays.
 It is an array of arrays.
 It’ll create a matrix of rows x columns.
 Each row will have same number of cells.
Arrays: Multi-Dimensional Array
Arrays: Jagged Array

 Jagged Array is an array of arrays where each array can

have different number of elements.
 Basically, it’s a table where each row may have different
number of
cells.
Arrays: Jagged Array
Pointer
s
Pointers

 A pointer stores address of a Value Type or an Enumeration

variable.
 Pointers cannot point to Reference Types because Garbage
Collector
does not support pointers.
 Pointers are considered unsafe in C#. They must be created
inside an
unsafe context (block, method or class).
 Use the unsafe keyword to create a block, or add it to a
method or class definition.
 Moreover, a C# program containing a pointer must be
compiled with the Allow Unsafe Code option enabled in
Pointers
Classes &
Objects
Object

 An Object is a basic runtime entity in an Object-Oriented

Application.
 An Object contains data and its related functionalities.
 An Object has 3 characteristics:
 Identity
 Properties / States
 Functionalities / Behaviours
Class

 Class is a user-defined type which describes what

properties and functionalities an Object will contain.
 An Object is a variable or an instance of a class.
 A Class can contain various members such as variables,
functions, classes, enumerations and such.
 Inside a class, variables are known as Fields or Instance
Variables and the functions are known as Methods.
 The class itself and all of its members are bound by an
Access Modifier
which describes the visibility of the class and its members.
Class: Access Modifiers

 Access Modifiers specify the visibility of class and its

members.
 In C#, there are 6 access modifiers:
 private: Accessible only within the same class.
 protected: Accessible within the same class and children
classes.
 public: Accessible everywhere.
 internal: Accessible everywhere within the same
assembly.
 protected internal: Accessible within the same
assembly or the children classes from different
Assembly.
Classes & Objects

 If an access modifier is not specified, then by default the

access of a class is internal and access of members is
private.
 A top-level class can only be public or internal.
 An object of a class is created using the new memory
management operator.
Classes & Objects
Classes & Objects: Static Members

 A class can also have static members.

 Static Members have the following
characteristics:
 They are shared between all the objects of
a class.
 They are accessible directly using class
name.
 Static methods can only access static
variables.
Classes & Objects: Static Members
Classes & Objects: Static Class

 A class can be declared as static. It has the following

characteristics:
 It can only contain static members.
 Its object cannot be created.
 It cannot be inherited.

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Classes & Objects: Partial Classes

 A class can be divided into multiple files using the partial

keyword.
 At compile-time, partial classes are merged into a single
class.
 Characteristics:
 The same partial class must have same name, accessibility and
must be in the same namespace.
 If a single partial class inherits, is abstract or sealed, then it’ll be
applied on all partial classes.
 Advantages:
 Multiple developers can work on a single class at the same time.
 Visual Studio uses this feature to separate the Windows Forms
Classes & Objects: Partial Classes
Classes & Objects: Constructor

 Constructor is a special method of a class with the

following characteristics:
 It has the same name as class and does not have
any return type.
 It’s called automatically when an object of the
class is created.
 The purpose of a constructor is to initialize the data
members of the object.
 These are the types of Constructors in C#:
 Default Constructor
 Parameterized Constructor
 Static Constructor
Classes & Objects: Constructor

 Default Constructor:
 It does not accept any parameters. If a constructor is not
specified, C#
automatically adds a default constructor.
Classes & Objects: Constructor

 Parameterized Constructor:
 It accepts 1 or more parameters which will be used to
initialize the data
member of the class when the object is created.
Classes & Objects: Constructor

 Static Constructor:
 Static Constructor is created using the static
keyword.
 No access modifier is specified for a static
constructor.
 It cannot accept any parameters.
 It’s called automatically when the class is loaded into
memory.
Classes & Objects: Constructor

 Private Constructor:
 It’s a default or a parameterized constructor which has a
private access
modifier.
 An object of a class cannot be created which is having
a Private Constructor.
 Private Constructors are generally created in a class
which only has static
members to prevent object creation.
Classes & Objects: Destructor

 Destructor is a special method which is automatically called

when the object is being collected (destroyed) by the
Garbage Collector.
 Characteristics of Destructor:
 It’s name is same as class name with tilde symbol (~) as
prefix.
 A Destructor cannot have access modifiers or parameters.
 It is called automatically when GC destroys the object.
Encapsulati
on
Encapsulation

 Encapsulation is the process of hiding internal details of an

object and showing only required information to other
objects.
 Encapsulation prevents unauthorized access to the data of
an object.
 In C#, Encapsulation is implemented by creating a class and
making its sensitive members private.
Inheritan
ce
Inheritance

 Inheritance means a class obtains properties and

functionalities of another class.
 It is a code re-usability mechanism for creating new
classes from
existing ones rather than creating from scratch.
 This generally defines is relationship between parent and
child classes.
 For example, Computer is a Machine where Computer
is the child class and Machine is the parent class.
Inheritance

 Parent class is also known as Base Class or Super Class

and child class is also known as Derived Class or Sub
Class.
 Private members cannot be inherited.
 C# supports 4 types of Inheritance
1. Single
2. Multi-level
3. Hierarchical
4. Hybrid
 Multiple Inheritance is not supported in C#, however
it can be emulated using interface.
Inheritan
ce
Singe Inheritance 1 parent,
1 child
Inheritan
ce
Multi-Level Inheritance Grandparent, parent, child
and so on…
Inheritan
ce
Hierarchical Inheritance 1 parent, multiple
children
Inheritan
ce
Hybrid Inheritance Combination of
various types
Inheritance

Accessing base class members:

 The members of the parent class can be accessed directly inside the
child class;
this keyword can also be used.
 C# also provides base keyword to access the members of parent
class within child class.
 Using base is only necessary when parent and child both has
members with
same name.
 In above case, accessing member normally or with this refers to the
member of child accessing with base refers to the member of

parent.
Inheritan
ce
Accessing base class
members:
Inheritance

Parent with Parameterized Constructor:

 If the parent has a parameterized constructor, then the parameters
have to be
passed through the child’s constructor.
 The call to the parent’s constructor is specified right after the
argument list of the child constructor using the base keyword like
a method call following a colon sign:
Inheritan
ce
Parent with Parameterized
Constructor:
Polymorphis
m
Polymorphis
m
 Polymorphism means one name, many forms.
 A single name or symbol can be used for more than one type
of tasks.
 For example:
 The + operator can be used for adding numbers as well as
joining strings.
 The – operator can be used for subtracting numbers
as well as representing negative numbers.
Polymorphis
m
There are 2 types of Polymorphism in C#:
 Compile-time (Static) Polymorphism:
 The “form” of the name/symbol to be used is decided by the
compiler when
the program is compiled.
 These are the types of Static Polymorphism:
 Method Overloading
 Operator Overloading
 Run-time (Dynamic) Polymorphism:
 The “form” of the name/symbol to be used is decided at runtime.
 These are the types of Dynamic Polymorphism:
 Method Overriding
Polymorphism: Method Overloading

 Method Overloading means a class contains multiple

methods with same name but their number and/or types of
parameters are different.
 The compiler matches the number and/or type of parameters
passed
and decides which method to call at compile-time.
 If no matches are found, an error will be thrown by the
compiler and the program will not run.
Polymorphism: Method Overloading
Polymorphism: Operator Overloading

 Built-in operators do not accept the operands of user-defined

types.
 It’s possible to do so by creating an operator method in the
class.
 The operator method must be static.
 Number and Type of args will be same as the number
and type of operands.
 The return type depends on what type of operator is
being overloaded.
 For example: Arithmetic operator methods should return the
same type as the operands and Relational operator methods
should return a Boolean value.
Polymorphism: Operator Overloading

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Polymorphism: Method Overriding

 Method Overriding means a child class replaces the

method of a parent by re-creating the same method with
exact same signature.
 Only abstract, virtual or override methods of the
parent can be
overridden. Doing otherwise can result in error or
unexpected behavior.
 The override keyword must be present when overriding a
method in the child class.
 This makes sure that even if an object of child is assigned to a
reference of parent, calling the overridden method still calls
the child’s method.
Polymorphism: Method Overriding

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Abstract
Class
Abstract Class

 Abstract class works as a parent class and provides common

specifications or implementations that can be used by
children classes.
 An object of an Abstract class cannot be created. Its sole
purpose is to
act as a parent.
 Like a normal class, abstract class can have all kinds of
members and additionally, it can have abstract methods.
 Abstract methods must be overridden by the child class, not
doing so will yield compiler error.
Abstract Class

 Abstract class can have constructors and destructors which

are invoked when the child class objects are created and
destroyed.
 It’s recommended (not a requirement) to suffix abstract
classes with
“Base” to easily distinguish them from normal classes.

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Sealed
Class
Sealed Class

 Making a class sealed prevents it from being

inherited.
 A sealed class cannot have virtual methods.
Interfac
e
Interface

 Interface provides a syntactical structure a class should follow.

 They’re used for enforcing a particular structure on the classes
that
implements it.
 An Interface can have declarations of methods, indexers,
properties and events.
 By default, all the members of an interface are public and
abstract.
 Interfaces are implemented, not inherited. A class can
implement multiple interfaces, giving a sense of multiple
inheritance.

Interface

 The objects of implementing classes can be assigned to

references of the interface.
 In .NET, generally interface names have an “I” prefix to
easily distinguish
them from classes.

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Propertie
s
Properties

 Properties are a mechanism to read and modify private fields

of a class.
 A Property contains Accessors which contain executable
statements for
getting (reading) and setting (writing/modifying) field values.
 The accessor used for getting field value is known as Get
Accessor and the one used for setting field value is known as
Set Accessor.
 A Property must contain either Set Accessor or Get
Accessor or both.
 Inside a Property, the following Contextual Keywords are
used:
Properties

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Indexe
rs
Indexers

 An Indexer is a special type of property that allows indexing

of an object. When a class has an indexer, its object can
behave as an array.
 The this keyword is used as the name of the property.
 It takes an index (kind of a parameter) and may return a
value.
Indexers

 Synta
x:

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Enumeratio
ns
Enumerations

 An enumeration is a set of named integer constants.

 It’s created using the enum keyword.
 Enumerations are user-defined Value Types.
 Each enum value will have a constant associated, starting
from 0.
 An enum value can be assigned a user-defined constant;
doing so will cause the following unassigned values to have
incrementing constants.
 The purpose of enum is to describe a constant, making the
code more readable.
Enumerations

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Pass by
Reference
Pass by
Reference
 All the Value Types are, by default, passed by value as
a method parameter: Copies are passed instead of
actual values.
 All the Reference Types are passed by reference:
Instead of copies, the
reference of the objects are passed to methods.
 To pass references of Value Types, C# provides 2
keywords: ref and out
 Rules for ref:
 Must be initialized.
 The value of variable may or may not change in the
method
Pass by
Reference
Collectio
ns
Collections

 Collections are specialized classes for data storage and

retrieval which uses various data structures such as Queue,
Stack, List and Hash Tables.
 .NET supports 3 types of collections:
 Non-generic Collections
 Generic Collections
 Specialized Collections
 Most of the Collection classes (directly or indirectly)
implement the ICollection interface.
Collections: Non-generic

 Non-generic collections can store and retrieve object type

of data.
 It can store any type of data because all types derive from
the object
type in .NET.
 However, when retrieving data from a non-generic
collection, it will return only object type, so a type
conversion is generally required to convert the value to its
original type.
Collections: Non-generic

ArrayList:
 An ordered list of items (think of it as a dynamic array).
 Each item can be accessed/updated individually using its 0-
based index.
 Supports item addition, insertion, updating and removal.
 Resizes automatically as items are added/removed.
 Click here for an example
Collections: Non-generic

Hashtable:
 A collection of key-value pairs.
 Supports custom indexing. May not maintain ordering.
 Each item can be accessed/updated individually using its
custom index.
 Click here for an example
Collections: Non-generic

SortedList:
 A list of key-value pairs, supports 0-based indexing and custom
indexing.
 Basically, a combination of ArrayList and Hashtable.
 Items are sorted by Keys.
 Click here for an example
Collections: Non-generic

Stack:
 Stores and retrieves data using Last-In-First-Out (LIFO)
approach.
 Click here for example
 Supports Push, Pop and Peek operations:
 Push adds an item at the Top of the Stack (TOS)
 Pop removes an item from the TOS and returns it.
 Peek returns an item from the TOS without removing
it.
 Click here for an example
Collections: Non-generic

Queue:
 Stores and retrieves data using First-In-First-Out (FIFO)
approach.
 Supports Enqueue, Dequeue and Peek operations:
 Enqueue appends an item into the queue.
 Dequeue removes an item from the end and returns
it.
 Peek returns an item from the end without removing
it.
 Click here for an example
Collections: Generic

 Generic collections can store and retrieve only specific type

of data.
 .NET provides generic collection classes such as:
 List<T> (Generic version of ArrayList, supports all operations of
ArrayList)
 Stack<T> (Generic version of Stack, supports all operations of
Stack)
 Queue<T> (Generic version of Queue, supports all operations
of Queue)
Delegat
es
Delegates

 A Delegate is an object which holds a references to a Method.

 Primary purpose of delegates is to provide call-back mechanism for
events.
 All delegates are derived from System.Delegate type.
 A delegate can refer to a method which has the same signature
(arguments and return type) as itself.
 There are 2 types of delegates:
1. Simple delegates
2. Multicast delegates
Delegates: Simple Delegates

 A simple delegate can hold reference to a single

method.
 Creating a delegate:
 Syntax:
 Example:
 Using the delegate:
 Create an object of the delegate,
and pass a method of matching
signature in the constructor without ( ).
 Now, “call” the delegate
object just like a method.
 Click here for an example
Delegates: Multicast Delegates

 It’s possible to create a delegate which refers to multiple

methods.
 Create multiple objects of the same delegate referring to single
methods.

 Add the using the + operator and assign the result into a 3rd
delegate object.

 Call the 3rd delegate object as a method.

 Click here for an example

Even
ts
Events

 Events are some occurrence of a user action, such as, key press,
button click.
 C# provides a mechanism to call a method when an event occurs.
 Before using events, their delegates must be created.
 Basically, events are a collections of delegates which are called
when user performs a specific operation.
 See this example
 Methods can be added into an event using += operator and,
similarly, removed
using -= operator.