.NET and the C# language have continuously grown in adoption since its release in early 2001. C#'s main author, Anders Hejlsberg, has lead several groups of developers in constant growing and improvement, until reaching the current version, .NET 4.6, and the very important .NET Core 1.0/1.1, and keeps on going with this work, also linked to the new TypeScript language, which we will also cover in this book.
This book is a journey through the different options and possibilities .NET Framework in general, and C# in particular, provide to developers to build applications that run on Windows and, as seen in the last chapter, on other platforms and devices.
I believe that it can be a reference for programmers wanting to update their knowledge to the latest versions of this set of technologies, but also for those who, coming from other environments, would like to approach .NET and the C# language to extend their skills and programming toolset.
All the main points discussed in here are illustrated with examples, and the important parts of these demos are explained in detail, so you can easily follow this route.
Chapter 1, Inside the CLR, goes through the internal structure of .NET, the way assemblies are built, the tools and resources we have to work with them, and the way .NET integrates with the operating system.
Chapter 2, Core Concepts of C# and .NET, reviews the foundations of the language, its main characteristics, and some of the true reasons for the appearance of certain features, such as delegates.
Chapter 3, Advanced Concepts of C# and .NET, starts with version 4.0, viewing some common practices new to the language and Framework libraries, especially those related to synchronicity, execution threads, and dynamic programming. Finally, we can find many new aspects that appeared in versions 6.0 and 7.0, intended to simplify the way we write code.
Chapter 4, Comparing Approaches for Programming, deals with two members of the .NET language ecosystem: F# and TypeScript (also called functional languages), which are gaining momentum among the programmer's community.
Chapter 5, Reflection and Dynamic Programming, covers the ability of a .NET program to examine, introspect, and modify its own structure and behavior, and also how to interoperate with other programs, such as the Office Suite.
Chapter 6, SQL Database Programming, deals with access to databases built according to the principles of the Relational Model, and in particular to SQL databases. It covers Entity Framework 6.0 and gives a brief reminder of ADO.NET.
Chapter 7, NoSQL Database Programming, reviews the emerging database paradigm called NoSQL databases. We will use MongoDB, the most popular of its kind, and see how to manage it from C# code.
Chapter 8, Open Source Programming, goes through the current state of open source programming with Microsoft technologies, the open source ecosystem. We will review Node.js, Roselyn, and also TypeScript, although with a slightly different point of view.
Chapter 9, Architecture, goes through the structure of an application and the tools available in its construction, such as MSF, good practices, and so on.
Chapter 10, Design Patterns, focuses on the quality of the code and its structures in terms of efficacy, precision, and maintainability. It deals with SOLID principles, the Gang of Four patterns, and other proposals.
Chapter 11, Security, analyzes the OWASP Top 10 security recommendations from the point of view of the .NET developer.
Chapter 12, Performance, deals with common issues that a developer encounters in relation to an application's performance, and which techniques and tips are commonly suggested in order to obtain flexible, responsive, and well-behaved software, with a special emphasis on web performance.
Chapter 13, Advanced Topics, covers interaction with the OS via subclassing and platform/invoke, system data retrieval through WMI, parallel programming, and an introduction to the new .NET Core and ASP.NET Core multiplatform technologies.
As this book is dedicated to C# and .NET, the main tool to use is Visual Studio. However, you can use several versions to follow the majority of the sections in this book.
I've used Visual Studio 2015 Ultimate Update 3, but you can also use the free Community Edition for more than 90% of its contents. Other available options are Visual Studio 2015 Express Edition, which is also free, and Visual Studio Code, which is also free and multiplatform.
Additionally, a basic installation of SQL Server Express 2014, which is free, is required together with the SQL Server Management Studio (version 2016 works equally well with the topics covered here).
For the NoSQL part, MongoDB is also required in its basic installation.
To debug websites, it's good to have Chrome Canary or Firefox Developer Edition, for they have extended capabilities for developers.
Other tools and utilities can be installed from the Extensions and Updates menu option, linked to the Tools menu in the different versions of Visual Studio.
Finally, in some cases, there are tools that you can download from the sites indicated in this book; although, they're not an absolute requirement for the full comprehension of this book's contents.
This book was written exclusively for .NET developers. If you're creating C# applications for your clients, at work or at home, this book will help you develop the skills you need to create modern, powerful, and efficient applications in C#.
No knowledge of C# 6/7 or .NET 4.6 is needed to follow along—all the latest features are included to help you start writing cross-platform applications immediately. You will need to be familiar with Visual Studio, although all the new features in Visual Studio 2015 will also be covered.
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: "We use the ForEach method, which receives an Action delegate argument."
A block of code is set as follows:
static void GenerateStrings()
{
string initialString = "Initial Data-";
for (int i = 0; i < 5000; i++)
{
initialString += "-More data-";
}
Console.WriteLine("Strings generated");
}New 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: "In the Memory Usage tab, we can take a snapshot of what's going on."
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