The Comprehensive, Expert Guide to C# Language Programming “This book has been a classic for years, and remains one of the most venerable and trusted titles in the world of C# content, and probably far beyond! . . . Mark is super smart, insists on understanding everything to the core, and has phenomenal insight into how things affect real developers. . . . He goes right to the essence and communicates with great integrity—no sugarcoating—and has a keen eye for practical value and real-world problems.” –Mads Torgersen, C# Program Manager, Microsoft Essential C# 7.0 is a well-organized, no-fluff guide to C# 7.0 for programmers at all levels of experience. Reflecting the most important C# features from 3.0 through 7.0 and including modern programming patterns, it will help you write code that’s simple, powerful, robust, secure, and maintainable. Author Mark Michaelis is a world-class C# expert: a long-time Microsoft MVP and Regional Director who also has served on Microsoft’s C# design review team. He presents a comprehensive tutorial and reference for the entire language, including expert coverage of key C# 7.0 enhancements, C# 7.0’s use with .NET Core/.NET Standard, and cross-platform compilation. He illustrates key C# constructs with succinct examples, and presents best-practice coding guidelines. To help you maintain existing code, separate indexes provide version-specific answers for C# 5.0, 6.0, and 7.0, and visual icons show when each language innovation was introduced. Make the most of C# 7.0 enhancements, including tuples, deconstructors, pattern matching, local functions, and ref returns Work efficiently with C# data types, operators, control flow, methods, and parameters Write more robust code with C# object-oriented constructs Implement reliable, effective exception handling Reduce code complexity with generics, delegates, lambda expressions, and events Leverage advanced dynamic and declarative programming techniques Query diverse data collections using LINQ with query expressions Create custom collections that operate against business objects Access .NET collections via collection interfaces and standard query operators Master multithreading and synchronization, including the async/await paradigm Optimize performance and interoperability with P/Invoke and unsafe code Run your code on Linux or macOS with C# 7.0 cross-platform compilation Includes C# 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3 language enhancements This guide offers you a complete foundation for successful development with modern versions of the C# language in any project or environment.

Table of Contents:
Figures xv Tables xvii Foreword xix Preface xxi Acknowledgments xxxiii About the Author xxxv Chapter 1: Introducing C# 1 Hello, World 2 C# Syntax Fundamentals 11 Working with Variables 20 Console Input and Output 24 Managed Execution and the Common Language Infrastructure 32 Multiple .NET Frameworks 37 Chapter 2: Data Types 43 Fundamental Numeric Types 44 More Fundamental Types 53 null and void 67 Conversions between Data Types 69 Chapter 3: More with Data Types 77 Categories of Types 77 Nullable Modifier 80 Tuples 83 Arrays 90 Chapter 4: Operators and Control Flow 109 Operators 110 Introducing Flow Control 126 Code Blocks ({}) 132 Code Blocks, Scopes, and Declaration Spaces 135 Boolean Expressions 137 Bitwise Operators (<<, >>, |, &, ^, ~) 147 Control Flow Statements, Continued 153 Jump Statements 165 C# Preprocessor Directives 171 Chapter 5: Methods and Parameters 181 Calling a Method 182 Declaring a Method 189 The using Directive 195 Returns and Parameters on Main() 200 Advanced Method Parameters 203 Recursion 215 Method Overloading 217 Optional Parameters 220 Basic Error Handling with Exceptions 225 Chapter 6: Classes 241 Declaring and Instantiating a Class 245 Instance Fields 249 Instance Methods 251 Using the this Keyword 252 Access Modifiers 259 Properties 261 Constructors 278 Static Members 289 Extension Methods 299 Encapsulating the Data 301 Nested Classes 304 Partial Classes 307 Chapter 7: Inheritance 313 Derivation 314 Overriding the Base Class 326 Abstract Classes 338 All Classes Derive from System.Object 344 Verifying the Underlying Type with the is Operator 345 Pattern Matching with the is Operator 346 Pattern Matching within a switch Statement 347 Conversion Using the as Operator 349 Chapter 8: Interfaces 353 Introducing Interfaces 354 Polymorphism through Interfaces 355 Interface Implementation 360 Converting between the Implementing Class and Its Interfaces 366 Interface Inheritance 366 Multiple Interface Inheritance 369 Extension Methods on Interfaces 369 Implementing Multiple Inheritance via Interfaces 371 Versioning 374 Interfaces Compared with Classes 375 Interfaces Compared with Attributes 377 Chapter 9: Value Types 379 Structs 383 Boxing 390 Enums 398 Chapter 10: Well-Formed Types 411 Overriding object Members 411 Operator Overloading 424 Referencing Other Assemblies 432 Defining Namespaces 442 XML Comments 445 Garbage Collection 449 Resource Cleanup 452 Lazy Initialization 461 Chapter 11: Exception Handling 465 Multiple Exception Types 465 Catching Exceptions 469 General Catch Block 473 Guidelines for Exception Handling 475 Defining Custom Exceptions 479 Rethrowing a Wrapped Exception 483 Chapter 12: Generics 487 C# without Generics 488 Introducing Generic Types 493 Constraints 506 Generic Methods 519 Covariance and Contravariance 524 Generic Internals 531 Chapter 13: Delegates and Lambda Expressions 537 Introducing Delegates 538 Declaring Delegate Types 542 Lambda Expressions 550 Anonymous Methods 556 Chapter 14: Events 575 Coding the Publish-Subscribe Pattern with Multicast Delegates 576 Understanding Events 591 Chapter 15: Collection Interfaces with Standard Query Operators 603 Collection Initializers 604 What Makes a Class a Collection: IEnumerable 607 Standard Query Operators 613 Anonymous Types with LINQ 646 Chapter 16: LINQ with Query Expressions 657 Introducing Query Expressions 658 Query Expressions Are Just Method Invocations 676 Chapter 17: Building Custom Collections 679 More Collection Interfaces 680 Primary Collection Classes 683 Providing an Indexer 702 Returning Null or an Empty Collection 705 Iterators 705 Chapter 18: Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming 721 Reflection 722 nameof Operator 733 Attributes 735 Programming with Dynamic Objects 759 Chapter 19: Multithreading 771 Multithreading Basics 774 Working with System.Threading 781 Asynchronous Tasks 789 Canceling a Task 810 The Task-based Asynchronous Pattern 816 Executing Loop Iterations in Parallel 846 Running LINQ Queries in Parallel 856 Chapter 20: Thread Synchronization 863 Why Synchronization? 864 Timers 893 Chapter 21: Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code 897 Platform Invoke 898 Pointers and Addresses 910 Executing Unsafe Code via a Delegate 920 Chapter 22: The Common Language Infrastructure 923 Defining the Common Language Infrastructure 924 CLI Implementations 925 .NET Standard 928 Base Class Library 929 C# Compilation to Machine Code 929 Runtime 932 Assemblies, Manifests, and Modules 936 Common Intermediate Language 939 Common Type System 939 Common Language Specification 940 Metadata 941 .NET Native and Ahead of Time Compilation 942 Index 945 Index of 7.0 Topics 995 Index of 6.0 Topics 998 Index of 5.0 Topics 1001