C# Basics

C# is a modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language that runs on the .NET platform. It is the primary language for building Windows-native applications and high-performance server logic in the Microsoft ecosystem.

The .NET Platform

• Common Language Runtime (CLR): The execution engine that handles memory management, security, and type safety.
• Managed Code: Code written in C# that is compiled into Intermediate Language (IL) and executed by the CLR.
• Garbage Collection (GC): Automatic memory management that reclaims unused objects.

Core Language Features

• Strong Typing: Every variable and object has a defined type, enforced at compile time.
• Object-Oriented: Support for classes, inheritance, polymorphism, and interfaces.
• Properties: Syntactic sugar for getter and setter methods.
• Attributes: Metadata added to code elements to influence runtime behavior (e.g., [Serializable]).

Assembly Structure

• Namespaces: Organizes code and prevents naming collisions (e.g., using System.IO;).
• Crates vs. Assemblies: Similar to rust Crates, .NET uses Assemblies (.dll or .exe) as the unit of deployment and versioning.

References

• csharp-moc
• dotnet-moc
• programming-languages-moc
• ms-learn-csharp-overview
• ms-learn-dotnet-fundamentals