Overview

C# is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language encompassing strong typing, imperative, declarative, functional, generic, object-oriented (class-based), and component-oriented programming disciplines. It was developed around 2000 by Microsoft within its .NET initiative and later approved as a standard by Ecma (ECMA-334) and ISO (ISO/IEC 23270:2006). C# is one of the programming languages designed for the Common Language Infrastructure.^[1]

C# is one of the most popular current programming languages^[2], is the primary language for Windows application development and is often used in computer science and gaming courses.

Example

Hello World

// This program displays "Hello world!"
//
// References:
// https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/programming-guide/inside-a-program/hello-world-your-first-program

public class Hello
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        System.Console.WriteLine("Hello world!");
    }
}

Output

Hello world!

Discussion

Each code element represents:^[3]

• // begins a comment
• public class Hello begins the Hello World program
• { begins a block of code
• public static void Main() begins the main function
• System.Console.WriteLine() calls the standard output write line function
• "Hello world!" is the literal string to be displayed
• ; ends each line of C# code
• } ends a block of code

C# IDEs

There are many free cloud-based and local IDEs available to begin coding in C#. Check with your instructor or do your own research for recommendations.

Cloud-Based IDEs

• CodeChef
• C# Pad
• .NET Fiddle
• Ideone
• paiza.IO
• Rextester
• repl.it
• TutorialsPoint

Local IDEs

• Microsoft Visual Studio
• Visual Studio Code

References

• Wikiversity: Computer Programming