There are C# books that are thousands of pages long that aim to be comprehensive references to the C# programming language and the .NET Framework.
This book is different. It is concise and aims to be a fast-paced read that is packed with hands-on walkthroughs. I wrote this book to be the best step-by-step guide to learning modern cross-platform C# proven practices using .NET Core.
I will point out the cool corners and gotchas of C#, so you can impress colleagues and employers and get productive fast. Rather than slowing down and boring some readers by explaining every little thing, I will assume that if a term I use is new to you, then you will know how to Google an answer.
At the end of each chapter is a section titled Practice and explore, in which you will complete hands-on practical exercises and explore topics deeper on your own with a little nudge in the right direction from me.
You can download solutions for the exercises from the following GitHub repository. I will provide instructions on how to do this using Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Studio Code at the end of Chapter 1, Hello, C#! Welcome, .NET Core!
https://github.com/markjprice/cs7dotnetcore2
Chapter 1, Hello, C#! Welcome, .NET Core!, is about setting up your development environment and using various tools to create the simplest application possible with C#. You will learn how to write and compile code using Visual Studio 2017 on Windows; Visual Studio Code on macOS, Linux, or Windows; or Visual Studio for Mac on macOS. You will learn the different .NET technologies: .NET Framework, .NET Core, .NET Standard, and .NET Native.
Chapter 2, Speaking C#, explains the grammar and vocabulary that you will use every day to write the source code for your applications. In particular, you will learn how to declare and work with variables of different types.
Chapter 3, Controlling the Flow and Converting Types, talks about writing code that makes decisions, repeats a block of statements, and converts between types, and writing code defensively to handle errors when they inevitably occur. You will also learn the best places to look for help.
Chapter 4, Writing, Debugging, and Testing Functions, is about following the Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle by writing reusable functions, and learning how to use debugging tools to track down and remove bugs, monitoring your code while it executes to diagnose problems, and rigorously testing your code to remove bugs and ensure stability and reliability before it gets deployed into production.
Chapter 5, Building Your Own Types with Object-Oriented Programming, discusses all the different categories of members that a type can have, including fields to store data and methods to perform actions. You will use OOP concepts, such as aggregation and encapsulation. You will learn the C# 7 language features such as tuple syntax support and out variables, and C# 7.1 language features such as default literals and inferred tuple names.
Chapter 6, Implementing Interfaces and Inheriting Classes, explains deriving new types from existing ones using object-oriented programming (OOP). You will learn how to define operators and C# 7 local functions, delegates and events, how to implement interfaces about base and derived classes, how to override a type member, how to use polymorphism, how to create extension methods, and how to cast between classes in an inheritance hierarchy.
Chapter 7, Understanding and Packaging .NET Standard Types, presents .NET Core 2.0 types that are part of .NET Standard 2.0, and how they are related to C#. You will learn how to deploy and package your own apps and libraries.
Chapter 8, Using Common .NET Standard Types, discusses the .NET Standard types that allow your code to perform common practical tasks, such as manipulating numbers and text, storing items in collections, and implementing internationalization.
Chapter 9, Working with Files, Streams, and Serialization, talks about interacting with the filesystem, reading and writing to files and streams, text encoding, and serialization.
Chapter 10, Protecting Your Data and Applications, is about protecting your data from being viewed by malicious users using encryption and from being manipulated or corrupted using hashing and signing. You will also learn about authentication and authorization to protect applications from unauthorized uses.
Chapter 11, Working with Databases Using Entity Framework Core, explains reading and writing to databases, such as Microsoft SQL Server and SQLite, using the object-relational mapping technology named Entity Framework Core.
Chapter 12, Querying and Manipulating Data Using LINQ, teaches you Language INtegrated Query (LINQ)—language extensions that add the ability to work with sequences of items and filter, sort, and project them into different outputs.
Chapter 13, Improving Performance and Scalability Using Multitasking, discusses allowing multiple actions to occur at the same time to improve performance, scalability, and user productivity. You will learn about the C# 7.1 async Main feature, and how to use types in the System.Diagnostics namespace to monitor your code to measure performance and efficiency.
Chapter 14, Building Web Sites Using ASP.NET Core Razor Pages, is about learning the basics of building websites with a modern HTTP architecture on the server-side using ASP.NET Core. You will learn the new ASP.NET Core feature known as Razor Pages that simplifies creating web pages for small web sites.
Chapter 15, Building Web Sites Using ASP.NET Core MVC, is about learning how to build large, complex websites in a way that is easy to unit test and manage with teams of programmers using ASP.NET Core. You will learn about startup configuration, authentication, routes, models, views, and controllers in ASP.NET Core MVC.
Chapter 16, Building Web Services and Applications Using ASP.NET Core, explains building web applications with a combination of a modern frontend technology, such as Angular or React, and a backend REST architecture web service using ASP.NET Core Web API.
Chapter 17, Building Windows Apps Using XAML and Fluent Design, talks about learning the basics of XAML that can be used to define the user interface for a graphical app for the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), and applying principles and features of Fluent Design to light it up. This app can then run on any device running Windows 10, Xbox One, and even Mixed Reality devices such as HoloLens.
Chapter 18, Building Mobile Apps Using XAML and Xamarin.Forms, discusses introducing you to taking C# mobile by building a cross-platform app for iOS and Android. The client-side mobile app will be created with Visual Studio for Mac using XAML and Xamarin.Forms.
Appendix, Answers to the Test Your Knowledge Questions, has the answers to the test questions at the end of each chapter.
You can develop and deploy C# on many platforms, including Windows, macOS, and many varieties of Linux. For the best programming experience, and to reach the most platforms, I recommend that you learn the basics of all members of the Visual Studio family: Visual Studio 2017, Visual Studio Code, and Visual Studio for Mac.
My recommendation for the operating system and development tool combinations is as follows:
- Visual Studio 2017 on Windows 10
- Visual Studio for Mac on macOS
- Visual Studio Code on Windows 10 or macOS
The best version of Windows to use is Microsoft Windows 10 because you will need this version to create Universal Windows Platform apps in Chapter 17, Building Windows Apps Using XAML and Fluent Design. Earlier versions of Windows, such as 7 or 8.1, will work for the other chapters.
The best version of macOS to use is Sierra or High Sierra because you will need macOS to build iOS mobile apps in Chapter 18, Building Mobile Apps Using XAML and Xamarin.Forms. Although you can use Visual Studio 2017 on Windows to write the code for iOS and Android mobile apps, you must have macOS and Xcode to compile them.
If you have heard that C# is a popular general-purpose programming language used to create every type of software, ranging from web applications and services, to business applications and games, then this book is for you.
If you have heard that C# can create software that runs on a wide range of devices, from desktop to server, from mobile to gaming systems such as Xbox One, then this book is for you.
If you have heard that .NET Core is Microsoft's bet on a cross-platform .NET future, optimized for server-side web development in the cloud, and Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) devices such as HoloLens, then this book is for you.
If you have heard that Microsoft has a popular cross-platform developer tool named Visual Studio Code that creates these cross-platform apps, and you are curious to try it, then this book is for you.
In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "The Controllers, Models, and Views folders contain ASP.NET Core classes and the .cshtml files for execution on the server."
A block of code is set as follows:
// storing items at index positions
names[0] = "Kate";
names[1] = "Jack";
names[2] = "Rebecca";
names[3] = "Tom";When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:
// storing items at index positions
names[0] = "Kate";
names[1] = "Jack";
names[2] = "Rebecca";
names[3] = "Tom";Any command-line input or output is written as follows:
dotnet new consoleNew terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "Clicking on the Next button moves you to the next screen."
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