Get a running start to learning C# programming with this fun and easy-to-read guide  As one of the most versatile and powerful programming languages around, you might think C# would be an intimidating language to learn. It doesn’t have to be!  In Beginning C# and .NET: 2021 Edition, expert Microsoft programmer and engineer Benjamin Perkins and program manager Jon D. Reid walk you through the precise, step-by-step directions you’ll need to follow to become fluent in the C# language and .NET.  Using the proven WROX method, you’ll discover how to understand and write simple expressions and functions, debug programs, work with classes and class members, work with Windows forms, program for the web, and access data. You’ll even learn about some of the new features included in the latest releases of C# and .NET, including data consumption, code simplification, and performance.  The book also offers:  Detailed discussions of programming basics, like variables, flow control, and object-oriented programming that assume no previous programming experience  “Try it Out” sections to help you write useful programming code using the steps you’ve learned in the book  Downloadable code examples from wrox.com  Perfect for beginning-level programmers who are completely new to C#, Beginning C# and .NET: 2021 Edition is a must-have resource for anyone interested in learning programming and looking for a fun and intuitive place to start. 

Table of Contents:
Introduction xxvii Part I: The C# Language Chapter 1: Introducing C# 3 What Is .NET? 3 .NET Framework, .NET Standard, and .NET Core 4 Writing Programs Using .NET 5 CIL and JIT 5 Assemblies 6 Managed Code 7 Garbage Collection 7 Fitting It Together 7 Linking 8 What Is C#? 8 Applications You Can Write with C# 9 C# in This Book 10 Visual Studio 10 Visual Studio Products 10 Solutions 11 Chapter 2: Writing a C# Program 13 The Visual Studio Development Environment 14 Console Applications 18 The Solution Explorer 21 The Properties Window 22 The Error List Window 23 Desktop Applications 23 Chapter 3: Variables and Expressions 29 Basic C# Syntax 30 Basic C# Console Application Structure 33 Variables 34 Simple Types 34 Variable Naming 39 Literal Values 39 Binary Literals and Digit Separators 40 String Literals 41 Expressions 42 Mathematical Operators 43 Assignment Operators 48 Operator Precedence 49 Namespaces 50 Chapter 4: Flow Control 55 Boolean Logic 56 Boolean Bitwise and Assignment Operators 58 Operator Precedence Updated 60 Branching 60 The Ternary Operator 61 The if Statement 61 Checking More Conditions Using if Statements 64 The switch Statement 65 Looping 68 do Loops 68 while Loops 71 for Loops 73 Interrupting Loops 74 Infinite Loops 75 Chapter 5: More About Variables 79 Type Conversion 80 Implicit Conversions 80 Explicit Conversions 82 Explicit Conversions Using the Convert Commands 84 Complex Variable Types 87 Enumerations 87 Defining Enumerations 88 Structs 91 Defining Structs 92 Arrays 94 Declaring Arrays 95 foreach Loops 98 Pattern Matching with switch case Expression 98 Multidimensional Arrays 102 Arrays of Arrays 104 String Manipulation 105 Chapter 6: Functions 113 Defining and Using Functions 114 Return Values 117 Parameters 118 Parameter Matching 121 Parameter Arrays 121 Reference and Value Parameters 123 Out Parameters 125 Tuples 126 Variable Scope 128 Variable Scope in Other Structures 131 Parameters and Return Values versus Global Data 132 Local Functions 134 The Main() Function 135 Struct Functions 137 Overloading Functions 138 Using Delegates 140 Chapter 7: Debugging and Error Handling 145 Debugging in Visual Studio 146 Debugging in Nonbreak (Normal) Mode 147 Outputting Debugging Information 148 Tracepoints 152 Diagnostics Output versus Tracepoints 154 Debugging in Break Mode 155 Entering Break Mode 155 Monitoring Variable Content 158 Stepping through Code 161 Immediate and Command Windows 162 The Call Stack Window 163 Error Handling 163 try catch finally 164 Throw Expressions 172 Listing and Configuring Exceptions 172 Chapter 8: Introduction to Object-oriented Programming 175 What Is Object-Oriented Programming? 176 What Is an Object? 177 Properties and Fields 178 Methods 179 Everything’s an Object 180 The Life Cycle of an Object 180 Constructors 180 Destructors 181 Static and Instance Class Members 181 Static Constructors 181 Static Classes 182 OOP Techniques 182 Interfaces 182 Disposable Objects 184 Inheritance 184 Polymorphism 187 Interface Polymorphism 188 Relationships between Objects 189 Containment 189 Collections 190 Operator Overloading 191 Events 191 Reference Types versus Value Types 192 OOP in Desktop Applications 192 Chapter 9: Defining Classes 199 Class Definitions in C# 200 Interface Definitions 202 System.Object 205 Constructors and Destructors 207 Constructor Execution Sequence 209 OOP Tools in Visual Studio 212 The Class View Window 212 The Object Browser 214 Adding Classes 216 Class Diagrams 217 Class Library Projects 219 Interfaces versus Abstract Classes 223 Struct Types 225 Shallow Copying versus Deep Copying 227 Chapter 10: Defining Class Members 231 Member Definitions 232 Defining Fields 232 Defining Methods 233 Defining Properties 234 Tuple Deconstruction 239 Refactoring Members 240 Automatic Properties 241 Additional Class Member Topics 242 Hiding Base Class Methods 242 Calling Overridden or Hidden Base Class Methods 244 The this Keyword 244 Using Nested Type Definitions 245 Interface Implementation 247 Implementing Interfaces in Classes 248 Explicit Interface Member Implementation 249 Additional Property Accessors 249 Partial Class Definitions 250 Partial Method Definitions 251 Example Application 252 Planning the Application 253 The Card Class 253 The Deck Class 253 Writing the Class Library 253 Adding the Suit and Rank Enumerations 254 Adding the Card Class 256 Adding the Deck Class 258 A Client Application for the Class Library 261 The Call Hierarchy Window 262 Chapter 11: Collections, Comparisons, and Conversions 265 Collections 266 Using Collections 267 Defining Collections 272 Indexers 273 Adding a CardCollection to CardLib 275 Keyed Collections and IDictionary 278 Iterators 279 Iterators and Collections 284 Deep Copying 285 Adding Deep Copying to CardLib 286 Comparisons 288 Type Comparisons 288 Boxing and Unboxing 289 The is Operator 290 Pattern Matching with the is Operator Pattern Expression 293 Value Comparisons 294 Operator Overloading 294 Adding Operator Overloads to CardLib 299 The IComparable and IComparer Interfaces 304 Sorting Collections 306 Conversions 309 Overloading Conversion Operators 310 The as Operator 311 Chapter 12: Generics 315 What Are Generics? 316 Using Generics 317 Nullable Types 317 Operators and Nullable Types 318 The ?? Operator 319 The ?. Operator 320 Working with Nullable Types 321 The System.Collections.Generic Namespace 325 List 326 Sorting and Searching Generic Lists 327 Dictionary 333 Modifying CardLib to Use a Generic Collection Class 334 Defining Generic Types 335 Defining Generic Classes 336 The default Keyword 338 Constraining Types 338 Inheriting from Generic Classes 344 Generic Operators 345 Generic Structs 346 Defining Generic Interfaces 346 Defining Generic Methods 346 Defining Generic Delegates 348 Variance 348 Covariance 349 Contravariance 350 Chapter 13: Additional C# Techniques 355 The :: Operator and the Global Namespace Qualifier 356 Custom Exceptions 357 Adding Custom Exceptions to CardLib 358 Events 359 What Is an Event? 359 Handling Events 361 Defining Events 363 Multipurpose Event Handlers 367 The EventHandler and Generic EventHandler Types 370 Return Values and Event Handlers 370 Anonymous Methods 370 Expanding and Using CardLib 371 Attributes 380 Reading Attributes 380 Creating Attributes 381 Initializers 382 Object Initializers 383 Collection Initializers 385 Type Inference 388 Anonymous Types 390 Dynamic Lookup 394 The dynamic Type 395 Advanced Method Parameters 399 Optional Parameters 399 Optional Parameter Values 400 The OptionalAttribute Attribute 400 Optional Parameter Order 401 Named Parameters 401 Lambda Expressions 405 Anonymous Methods Recap 405 Lambda Expressions for Anonymous Methods 407 Lambda Expression Parameters 410 Lambda Expression Statement Bodies 411 Lambda Expressions as Delegates and Expression Trees 412 Lambda Expressions and Collections 413 Part II: Data Access Chapter 14: Files 423 File Classes for Input and Output 424 The File and Directory Classes 424 The FileInfo Class 426 The DirectoryInfo Class 428 Path Names and Relative Paths 428 Streams 429 Classes for Using Streams 429 The FileStream Object 429 File Position 430 Reading Data 432 Writing Data 434 The StreamWriter Object 436 The StreamReader Object 439 Reading Data 440 Asynchronous File Access 441 Reading and Writing Compressed Files 442 Monitoring the File System 445 Chapter 15: XML and JSON 453 XML Basics 454 JSON Basics 455 XML Schemas 455 XML Document Object Model 458 The XmlDocument Class 458 The XmlElement Class 459 Changing the Values of Nodes 463 Inserting New Nodes 465 Deleting Nodes 467 Selecting Nodes 469 Searching XML with XPath 469 JSON Serialization and Deserialization 473 Chapter 16: LINQ 479 LINQ to XML 480 LINQ to XML Functional Constructors 480 Working with XML Fragments 483 LINQ Providers 486 LINQ Query Syntax 486 Declaring a Variable for Results Using the var Keyword 488 Specifying the Data Source: from Clause 489 Specify Condition: where Clause 489 Selecting Items: select Clause 490 Finishing Up: Using the foreach Loop 490 Deferred Query Execution 490 LINQ Method Syntax 490 LINQ Extension Methods 491 Query Syntax versus Method Syntax 491 Lambda Expressions 492 Ordering Query Results 494 Understanding the orderby Clause 495 Querying a Large Data Set 496 Using Aggregate Operators 498 Using the Select Distinct Query 502 Ordering by Multiple Levels 504 Using Group Queries 506 Using Joins 508 Chapter 17: Databases 513 Using Databases 514 Entity Framework 514 Code- First versus Database- First 514 Migrations and Scaffolding 515 Install SQL Server Express LocalDB 515 A Code- First Database 516 Exploring Your Database 527 Navigating Database Relationships 530 Creating and Querying XML from an Existing Database 536 Part III: Additional Techniques Chapter 18: .NET and ASP.NET 545 Cross- Platform Basics and Key “Must Know” Terms 547 What was .NET Standard? 549 Shared Project, PCL, and .NET Standard 551 Building and Packaging a .NET Standard Library 553 Referencing and Targeting .NET 557 What was .NET Core? 558 Cross Platform 558 Open Source 559 Optimized for the Cloud 560 Performance 560 Modular Design 561 Self- Contained Deployment Model 562 Porting from .NET Framework to .NET 565 Identifying Third- Party Dependencies 567 Understanding Which Features Are Not Available 567 Upgrading the Current .NET Framework Target 567 Overview of Web Applications 568 Which ASP.NET to Use and Why 569 ASP.NET Web Forms 570 Server Controls 572 Input Validation 573 State Management 574 Authentication and Authorization 575 ASP.NET Web Site versus ASP.NET Web Applications 575 ASP.NET MVC/ASP.NET Core Web App MVC 577 ASP.NET Core Web API 579 ASP.NET Core Web App 580 IIS and Kestrel 581 Blazor App and Razor Pages 582 Input Validation 584 State Management 585 Authentication and Authorization 586 Dependency Injection 586 Chapter 19: Basic Cloud Programming 591 The Cloud, Cloud Computing, and the Cloud Optimized Stack 592 Cloud Patterns and Best Practices 595 Using Microsoft Azure C# Libraries to Create a Storage Container 597 Creating an ASP.NET Core Web Application That Uses the Storage Container 607 Chapter 20: Basic Web API and WCF Programming 617 Creating an ASP.NET Core Web API 617 Consuming an ASP.NET Core Web API 622 What Is REST? 629 What Is WCF? 630 WCF Concepts 631 WCF Communication Protocols 631 Addresses, Endpoints, and Bindings 632 Contracts 634 Message Patterns 634 Behaviors 635 Hosting 635 WCF Programming 635 The WCF Test Client 642 Defining WCF Service Contracts 644 Data Contracts 645 Service Contracts 645 Operation Contracts 646 Message Contracts 647 Fault Contracts 647 Self- Hosted WCF Services 652 Chapter 21: Basic Desktop Programming 663 XAML 664 Separation of Concerns 665 XAML in Action 665 Namespaces 666 Code- Behind Files 667 The Playground 667 WPF Controls 669 Properties 670 Dependency Properties 673 Attached Properties 673 Events 674 Handling Events 675 Routed Events 676 Routed Commands 676 Control Types 679 Control Layout 679 Basic Layout Concepts 679 Stack Order 679 Alignment, Margins, Padding, and Dimensions 680 Border 680 Visual Debugging Tools 681 Layout Panels 682 Canvas 682 DockPanel 684 StackPanel 686 WrapPanel 687 Grid 688 The Game Client 691 The About Window 691 Designing the User Interface 692 The Image Control 692 The Label Control 692 The TextBlock Control 693 The Button Control 693 The Options Window 696 The TextBox Control 697 The CheckBox Control 698 The RadioButton Control 699 The ComboBox Control 700 The TabControl 701 Handling Events in the Options Window 705 Data Binding 707 The DataContext 708 Binding to Local Objects 708 Static Binding to External Objects 709 Dynamic Binding to External Objects 710 Starting a Game with the ListBox Control 712 Creating and Styling Controls 716 Styles 716 Templates 717 Triggers 719 Animations 720 WPF User Controls 721 Implementing Dependency Properties 722 The Main Window 736 The Menu Control 736 Routed Commands with Menus 736 Putting It All Together 741 Refactoring the Domain Model 741 The View Model 748 Completing the Game 757 Appendix: Exercise Solutions 769 Index 809