1. Introduction
C# is a new, simple programming language based on the older programming language called C++. The similarities between C# and C++ are easily notified. This chapter is an overview of the C# programming language. In this chapter we might use some instructions or expressions without explaining their meaning. These materials will be covered in subsequent chapters.
The original digipen webcast for this session can be found here on the codeplex site for this tutorial
As this section is quite lengthy, I am going to push it out in just over one week. Most of the C# programming concepts are easy to pick up and it is still worthwhile glancing over at least once even if you are familiar already with C#.
As in previous sections, where the Digipen tutorial differs from XNA and also where new improvements in .NET 3.5 and /NET 4 arise, I will comment as appropriate.
Another good reference for this section of the series is the following webcast – MSDN Video – introduction to C# language. The available content on the Microsoft events webcasts are always invaluable.
Over the course of the next week or so, this section of the tutorial will be covering (I’ll update with links as each is posted):
The overview below previews some of the facilities above as an introduction before we delve into detail.
P.S
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2. The Smallest C# Program
{
}
| OR |
static void Main( ) { } |
The main function is the entry point of a C# program. All standard C# programs start by executing the content of the main function. However, this program does not do anything because the main function does not have instructions.
Facts:
- An open and close parenthesis is placed after the function name.
- Parentheses are used to hold the function arguments.
- The type of the value returned by the function is specified before the function name.
- Void is a C# type specifying a typeless type.
- The body of the function is written within the function block specified by the open and close curly braces.
- The C# programming language is a free format language.
3. Displaying a Message
The canonical “hello, world” program can be written as follows:
using System; class Hello { static void Main() { Console.WriteLine(“hello, world”); } }
The source code for a C# program is typically stored in one or more text files with a file extension of .cs, as in hello.cs. Using the command-line compiler, such a program can be compiled with the command line
Directive
csc hello.cs
Which produces an application named hello.exe. The output produced by this application when it is run is:
hello, world
Close examination of this program is illuminating:
- The using System; directive references a namespace called System. This namespace contains the Console class referred to in the Main method. Namespaces provide a hierarchical means of organising the elements of one or more programs. A “using” directive enables unqualified use of the types that are members of the namespace. The “hello, world” program uses Console.WriteLine as shorthand for System.Console.WriteLine. (For the sake of brevity, most examples in this specification omit the using System; directive.)
- The Main method is a member of the class Hello. The entry point for an application—the method that is called to begin execution—is always a static method named Main.
- The “hello, world” output is produced using a class library. The language does not itself provide a class library. Instead, it uses a class library that is also used by other programming languages.
Two forms of comments are supported: single-line comments and delimited comments. Single-line comments start with the characters // and extend to the end of the source line. Delimited comments start with the characters /* and end with the characters */. Delimited comments may span multiple lines.
Comments do not nest. The character sequences /* and */ have no special meaning within a // comment, and the character sequences // and /* have no special meaning within a delimited comment.
The example below includes a delimited comment.
using System; /\* Hello, world program This program writes “hello, world” to the console \*/ class Hello { static void Main() { Console.WriteLine(“hello, world”); } }
The following example shows several single-line comments.
using System; // Hello, world program // This program writes “hello, world” to the console // class Hello // any name will do for this class { static void Main() // this method must be named “Main” { Console.WriteLine(“hello, world”); } }
5. Multiple Instructions Program
A function is a block of code written to perform a specific task (“function”) and packaged in a unit so that it can be executed at desired points in a program. Dividing a program into separate functions makes the program more manageable and easier to understand.
class hello { static void Main() { DisplayHello();DisplayWorld(); DisplayHelloWorld(); } /\* Function definition \*/ static void DisplayHello() { Console.WriteLine("Hello"); } static void DisplayWorld() { Console.WriteLine("World"); } static void DisplayHelloWorld() { Console.WriteLine("Hello World"); } }
Facts:
- The program contains three user functions.
- Functions need to be defined before being used or executed.
- The main function contains three function calls or three statements.
- User functions are declared outside the main function.
- Functions can be called many times.
- The program starts by executing the first instruction in Main, which is the DisplayHello function.
- When the DisplayHello function is called, the execution flow changes to the first instruction within the function definition of DisplayHello.
- When the last instruction (which is also the first instruction) of the function DisplayHello is executed, the execution returns to the instruction right after the function call, which is DisplayWorld.
6. Functions with Argument Returning a Value
A function contains the parameters and the return type. The parameters provide data needed by the function to do its job. For each parameter specify its name and data type; if no parameters are needed, specify the keyword void inside the parentheses. The return type specifies the data type of the data that is returned by the function.
Some functions do not return any data; in this case specify the keyword void as the return type.
Example:
void foo();
void foo(int i);
int foo();
int foo(int i);
class hello { static void Main( ) { Console.WriteLine("{0}",Add(3,5)); } /\* Function definition \*/ static int Add(int x, int y) { return x+y; } }
Facts:
- int is a C# type specifying whole or integral numbers.
- int means integer.
- The function prototype specifies that the function takes two integer arguments and returns an integer.
- When a function has more than one argument, a comma is used to separate the arguments.
- When a function with arguments is called, the arguments are received as parameters by the function where the function’s instructions are specified.
- When arguments are passed to the parameters, the order of the arguments is respected. In our case, x would be equal to 3 and y would be equal to 5.
- The last statement of the function definition returns the result of the arithmetic expression x + y.
- x and y are called variables. A variable is a name assigned to a data storage location.
- The variables x and y are defined in the parameter list of the function: (int x, int y).
- In C#, a variable must be defined before it can be used.
- A variable definition specifies its name and type.
- The compiler uses the type in order to know how much memory to allocate.
7. Variables
class add { static void Main( ) { int i,j; i=3; j=5; Console.WriteLine("{0}", Add(i,j)); } static int Add(int x, int y) { return x+y; } }
Facts:
- Two integer variables i and j are declared and defined.
-
By declaration, we mean that the rest of the function main knows about the presence and type of i and j.
class test { static void Main( ) { int x1=2,y1=1,x2=7,y2=3; Console.WriteLine(“{0}”, Distance(x1,y1,x2,y2)); } static double Distance(int x1, int y1, int x2, int y2) { int deltaX, deltaY; deltaX=x2-x1; deltaY=y2-y1; return Math.Sqrt(deltaX*deltaX + deltaY*deltaY); } }
In other words, the scope and type of i and j is within the body of function main. Then, an assignment operator is used in order to assign the value 3 and 5 to i and j respectively. The function Add is used by having two variables as arguments, while in the previous example the arguments were constants.
Part 2 of overview next
Simon (darkside) Jackson
Engineer, industry executive, research enthusiast. Avid learner with diverse interests in coding, game development, Mixed Reality (AR/VR/XR) and reinforcement learning. 25+ years of experience working in multinational corporations and startups.
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