Book Image

C# 6 and .NET Core 1.0

Book Image

C# 6 and .NET Core 1.0

Overview of this book

With the release of .NET Core 1.0, you can now create applications for Mac OS X and Linux, as well as Windows, using the development tools you know and love. C# 6 and .NET Core 1.0 has been divided into three high-impact sections to help start putting these new features to work. First, we'll run you through the basics of C#, as well as object-orient programming, before taking a quick tour through the latest features of C# 6 such as string interpolation for easier variable value output, exception filtering, and how to perform static class imports. We'll also cover both the full-feature, mature .NET Framework and the new, cross-platform .NET Core. After quickly taking you through C# and how .NET works, we'll dive into the internals of the .NET class libraries, covering topics such as performance, monitoring, debugging, internationalization, serialization, and encryption. We'll look at Entity Framework Core 1.0 and how to develop Code-First entity data models, as well as how to use LINQ to query and manipulate that data. The final section will demonstrate the major types of applications that you can build and deploy cross-device and cross-platform. In this section, we'll cover Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps, web applications, and web services. Lastly, we'll help you build a complete application that can be hosted on all of today's most popular platforms, including Linux and Docker. By the end of the book, you'll be armed with all the knowledge you need to build modern, cross-platform applications using C# and .NET Core.
Table of Contents (25 chapters)
C# 6 and .NET Core 1.0
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Interoperating with unmanaged code


.NET applications are loaded, executed, and managed by the CLR. We use the term unmanaged to refer to any code that is outside the control of the CLR.

If a .NET developer needs to interact with unmanaged code, they can use two technologies: Component Object Model (COM) Interop and Platform Invoke (also known as P/Invoke).

Tip

Both of these technologies are specific to Windows and, therefore, are only supported by the .NET Framework, not by the .NET Core.

Automating Microsoft Excel using COM Interop

Most of the popular Microsoft Office products support being automated using COM. If you have Microsoft Excel (for Windows) installed, then you can complete this exercise.

Add a new console application project named Ch05_AutomatingExcel. In the Solution Explorer window, right-click on References and choose Add Reference….

In the Reference Manager window, on the left-hand side, click on COM, and then select the checkbox for Microsoft Excel 16.0 Object Library (or the...