The Comprehensive, Expert Guide to C# 12.0 for Programmers at All Levels Updated for the Microsoft C# 12.0 Long Term Support (LTS) release, Essential C# 12.0 is a well-organized, no-fluff C# guide, suitable for every programmer. Building on the proven, high-value content of previous editions, world-class C# expert Mark Michaelis illuminates key enhancements in C# 12.0, including any-type aliases, inline arrays, default lambda expression parameters, and expanded support for primary constructors. Michaelis presents a comprehensive tutorial and reference for the entire C# language, helping you accelerate your journey to expert-level C# programmer. Succinct examples illustrate core constructs, and modern coding guidelines help you minimize bugs and write code that's easier to evolve. To help you quickly find what you need and maintain compatibility, the book includes version-specific icons and notes identifying when each innovation was introduced. Use structured programming constructs to write functioning code immediately Learn both the complexities and solutions to nullable reference types Thoroughly master C# object constructs, including classes, inheritance, and interfaces Reduce code redundancy with generics, delegates, and lambda expressions Take full advantage of collections with LINQ Improve multithreading with the taskbased async pattern and asynchronous streams Enhance performance through the parallel processing of data and multithreading tasks Make the most of refl ection, attributes, and the declarative programming paradigm Program complex types with enhanced pattern matching syntax Write succinct type defi nitions with record structs and classes Explore the new features of C# 8.0-C# 12.0 "Welcome to one of the most venerable and trusted franchises you could dream of in the world of C# book--and probably far beyond!" --From the Foreword by Mads Torgersen, C# Lead Designer, Microsoft Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.

Table of Contents:
Foreword xv Preface xvii Acknowledgments xxxi About the Author xxxiii Chapter 1: Introducing C# 1 Hello, World 2 C# Syntax Fundamentals 12 Working with Variables 24 Console Input and Output 28 Managed Execution and the Common Language Infrastructure 38 Multiple .NET Frameworks 44 Summary 48 Chapter 2: Data Types 49 Type Name Forms 50 Fundamental Numeric Types 52 More Fundamental Types 63 Conversions between Data Types 84 Summary 92 Chapter 3: More with Data Types 93 Categories of Types 93 Declaring Types That Allow null 96 Implicitly Typed Local Variables 102 Tuples 103 Arrays 112 Summary 134 Chapter 4: Operators and Control Flow 137 Operators 137 Introducing Flow Control 156 Code Blocks ({}) 161 Code Blocks, Scopes, and Declaration Spaces 164 Boolean Expressions 166 Programming with null 173 Bitwise Operators (<<, >>, |, &, ^, ~) 181 Control Flow Statements, Continued 187 Jump Statements 200 C# Preprocessor Directives 206 Summary 215 Chapter 5: Parameters and Methods 217 Calling a Method 218 Declaring a Method 225 Local Functions 232 Using Directives 233 Returns and Parameters on Main Method 242 Top-Level Statements 246 Advanced Method Parameters 247 Recursion 261 Method Overloading 264 Optional Parameters 267 Basic Error Handling with Exceptions 272 Summary 291 Chapter 6: Classes 293 Declaring and Instantiating a Class 298 Instance Fields 302 Instance Methods 305 Using the this Keyword 306 Access Modifiers 314 Properties 316 Constructors 333 Non-Nullable Reference Type Properties with Constructors 346 Nullable Attributes 354 Deconstructors 357 Static Members 359 Extension Methods 370 Encapsulating the Data 372 Nested Classes 376 Partial Classes 379 Summary 384 Chapter 7: Inheritance 385 Derivation 386 Overriding the Base Class 397 Abstract Classes 410 All Classes Derive from System.Object 417 Type Checking 419 Pattern Matching 423 Avoid Pattern Matching When Polymorphism Is Possible 438 Summary 440 Chapter 8: Interfaces 443 Introducing Interfaces 444 Polymorphism through Interfaces 446 Interface Implementation 451 Converting between the Implementing Class and Its Interfaces 457 Interface Inheritance 458 Multiple Interface Inheritance 461 Extension Methods on Interfaces 461 Versioning 464 Extension Methods versus Default Interface Members 480 Interfaces Compared with Abstract Classes 482 Interfaces Compared with Attributes 484 Summary 484 Chapter 9: Introducing Structs and Records 487 Reference Equality versus Value Equality 493 Structs 494 Record Classes 500 Record Class Inheritance 503 Records 504 Overriding object Members 513 Customizing Record Behavior 521 Boxing 523 Enums 532 Summary 544 Chapter 10: Well-Formed Types 547 Operator Overloading 548 Referencing Other Assemblies 557 Encapsulation of Types 564 Defining Namespaces 567 XML Comments 571 Garbage Collection and Weak References 576 Resource Cleanup 580 Lazy Initialization 596 Summary 598 Chapter 11: Exception Handling 601 Multiple Exception Types 601 Catching Exceptions 604 Rethrowing an Existing Exception 607 General Catch Block 609 Guidelines for Exception Handling 610 Defining Custom Exceptions 614 Rethrowing a Wrapped Exception 618 Summary 622 Chapter 12: Generics 623 C# without Generics 624 Introducing Generic Types 630 Constraints 646 Generic Methods 663 Covariance and Contravariance 669 Generic Internals 676 Summary 681 Chapter 13: Delegates and Lambda Expressions 683 Introducing Delegates 684 Declaring Delegate Types 688 Lambda Expressions 698 Statement Lambdas 699 Expression Lambdas 702 Anonymous Methods 705 Delegates Do Not Have Structural Equality 707 Outer Variables 710 Static Anonymous Functions 712 Expression Trees 716 Summary 724 Chapter 14: Events 727 Coding the Publish–Subscribe Pattern with Multicast Delegates 728 Understanding Events 743 Summary 753 Chapter 15: Collection Interfaces with Standard Query Operators 755 Collection Initializers 756 What Makes a Class a Collection: IEnumerable 759 Standard Query Operators 766 Anonymous Types with LINQ 796 Summary 806 Chapter 16: LINQ with Query Expressions 809 Introducing Query Expressions 810 Query Expressions Are Just Method Invocations 829 Summary 831 Chapter 17: Building Custom Collections 833 More Collection Interfaces 834 Primary Collection Classes 837 Providing an Indexer 859 Returning null or an Empty Collection 862 Iterators 863 Summary 879 Chapter 18: Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming 881 Reflection 881 nameof Operator 894 Attributes 895 Programming with Dynamic Objects 920 Summary 931 Chapter 19: Introducing Multithreading 933 Multithreading Basics 935 Asynchronous Tasks 943 Canceling a Task 965 Working with System.Threading 972 Summary 973 Chapter 20: Programming the Task-Based Asynchronous Pattern 975 Synchronously Invoking a High-Latency Operation 975 Asynchronously Invoking a High-Latency Operation Using the TPL 979 The Task-Based Asynchronous Pattern with async and await 984 Introducing Asynchronous Return of ValueTask 991 Asynchronous Streams 994 IAsyncDisposable and the await using Declaration and Statement 998 Using LINQ with IAsyncEnumerable 999 Returning void from an Asynchronous Method 1001 Asynchronous Lambdas and Local Functions 1006 Task Schedulers and the Synchronization Context 1013 async/await with the Windows UI 1015 Summary 1019 Chapter 21: Iterating in Parallel 1021 Executing Loop Iterations in Parallel 1021 Running LINQ Queries in Parallel 1032 Summary 1039 Chapter 22: Thread Synchronization 1041 Why Synchronization? 1042 Timers 1073 Summary 1076 Chapter 23: Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code 1077 Platform Invoke 1078 Pointers and Addresses 1093 Executing Unsafe Code via a Delegate 1104 Summary 1105 Chapter 24: The Common Language Infrastructure 1107 Defining the Common Language Infrastructure 1107 CLI Implementations 1109 .NET Standard 1113 Base Class Library 1113 C# Compilation to Machine Code 1114 Runtime 1116 Assemblies, Manifests, and Modules 1121 Common Intermediate Language 1124 Common Type System 1125 Common Language Specification 1125 Metadata 1126 .NET Native and Ahead of Time Compilation 1127 Summary 1128 Index 1131 Index of 8.0 Topics 1187 Index of 9.0 Topics 1190 Index of 10.0 Topics 1191 Index of 11.0 Topics 1192 Index of 12.0 Topics 1193