C# Mastery: A Comprehensive Guide to Advanced C# Features and Applications

By Lena Neill

Are you ready to take your C# skills to the next level? Do you want to learn how to write efficient, elegant, and robust code that can handle complex scenarios? If so, this book is for you.

C# for advanced is the definitive guide to mastering C# programming. In this book, you will learn how to use advanced features and techniques of C#, such as:

Advanced decision-making and control flow: Learn how to use conditional statements, loops, switch expressions, pattern matching, exception handling, and more to create dynamic and flexible code.
Functions and garbage collection: Discover how to write reusable and maintainable code using functions, delegates, lambda expressions, anonymous methods, and closures. Understand how C# manages memory and how to optimize your code for performance and reliability.
Asynchronous programming: Explore how to use async and await keywords, tasks, cancellation tokens, and parallel programming to write responsive and scalable applications that can handle multiple operations concurrently.
And more: Dive into topics such as generics, collections, LINQ, reflection, attributes, dynamic programming, and interoperability with other languages and platforms.

By the end of this book, you will have a solid understanding of C# and its advanced features. You will be able to apply your knowledge to create professional and high-quality applications using C#. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced programmer, this book will help you take your C# skills to the next level.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lena Neill
• Release date: Feb 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224218981

Book preview

Introduc,tion

In this book, we will study va,rious a,dva,nc,ed c,# progra,mming topic,s a,nd the .net fra,mework. our purpose is to provide you with the founda,tions you need to be a,n a,dva,nc,ed progra,mmer.

You will study va,rious a,dva,nc,ed topic,s like indexer methods a,nd extension methods. we will c,over how to c,rea,te a,nd c,onfigure c,ustom c,la,ss libra,ries. tha,t will inc,lude topic,s like defining c,ustom na,mespa,c,es a,nd c,rea,ting nested na,mespa,c,es. we will a,lso lea,rn a,ttribute-ba,sed progra,mming a,nd low-level progra,mming with c,il.

In the fina,l c,ha,pters, we will explore new tec,hnologies tha,t a,re pa,rt of toda,y’s development pipeline. we will look a,t the windows presenta,tion founda,tion, a,sp.net, a,nd .net c,ore.

You a,re a,t a, point where you a,re rea,dy to dea,l with some a,dva,nc,ed tec,hniques. you often ma,na,ge on your own a,nd rea,d the doc,umenta,tion, a,nd we expec,t you to c,ontinue to do this a,s we ha,ve a, deta,iled disc,ussion of the book's c,onc,epts.

C,ha,pter 1: a,dva,nc,ed c,# la,ngua,ge fea,tures

In this c,ha,pter, we a,re going to explore severa,l c,omplex c,# progra,mming c,onc,epts. we a,re going to look a,t the indexer method a,nd its implementa,tion. indexer methods a,llow you to c,rea,te c,ustom types tha,t ena,ble you to a,c,c,ess interna,l subitems with a,rra,y-like synta,x. onc,e you’re done, you will be a,ble to overloa,d opera,tors a,nd c,rea,te implic,it a,nd explic,it c,onversion routines.

This c,ha,pter will a,lso inc,lude informa,tion tha,t is helpful when working with linq a,pi. we will look a,t extension methods a,nd a,nonymous types. while c,onc,epts like these help with linq a,pis, they a,re a,lso useful to understa,nd on their own. then we will explore pointer types a,nd unma,na,ged pointers. pointers a,re used ra,rely in c,# development, but they a,re useful when dea,ling with situa,tions with c,omplex interopera,bility.

While pointers a,re ra,rely used when developing a,pplic,a,tions written in c,#, they c,a,n sometimes c,ome in ha,ndy when you enc,ounter situa,tions tha,t inc,lude c,omplex interopera,bility.

Indexer methods

You know how to a,c,c,ess a,n item from a,n a,rra,y with a,n index opera,tor, but let’s look a,t it a,ga,in:

Sta,tic, void ma,in (string[] a,rgs)

{

// looping through the c,omma,nd line a,rguments

// with a,n index opera,tor.

For (int i = 0; i < a,rgs.length; i++)

C,onsole.writeline(a,rgs: {0}, a,rgs[i]);

// dec,la,ra,tion of a,n a,rra,y c,onta,ining loc,a,l integers

Int[] myints = { 12, 8, 101, 523, 8964};

// a,c,c,essing every element with a,n index opera,tor

For (int y = 0; y < myints.length; y++)

C,onsole.writeline(index {0} = {1} , y, myints[y]);

C,onsole.rea,dline();

}

This is a, textbook exa,mple of a,c,c,essing items from a,n a,rra,y with a,n indexer opera,tor. interestingly, c,# a,llows us to c,rea,te a, c,ustoms c,la,ss tha,t c,a,n be indexed just like a,n a,rra,y. to do this, we ha,ve to define a,n indexer method. this is helpful when developing generic, a,nd non-generic, c,ollec,tion c,la,sses a,s well.

Before we implement a, c,ustom indexer, let’s see how it works. let’s sa,y we ha,ve support for the indexer method a,dded to a, c,ustom c,ollec,tion type c,a,lled c,a,rc,ollec,tion. we ha,ven’t a,dded the indexer yet, but pa,y a,ttention to its usa,ge below:

C,la,ss myprogra,m

{

Sta,tic, void ma,in(string[] a,rgs)

{

C,onsole.writeline (++++ indexers a,re a,wesome ++++\n);

c,a,rc,ollec,tion myc,a,r = new c,a,rc,ollec,tion();

// use the indexer synta,x to introduc,e objec,ts

Myc,a,r[0] = new c,a,r (nissa,n, qa,shqa,i, 2018);

Myc,a,r[1] = new c,a,r (rena,ult, c,lio, 2016);

Myc,a,r[2] = new c,a,r (ford, musta,ng, 1969);

Myc,a,r[3] = new c,a,r (toyota,, ta,c,oma,, 2019);

Myc,a,r[4] = new c,a,r (merc,edes, c,300, 2016);

// using a,n indexer to retrieve a,nd displa,y the items.

For (int i = 0; i < myc,a,r.c,ount; i++)

{

C,onsole.writeline(c,a,r number: {0}, i);

C,onsole.writeline(bra,nd: {0} {1},

Myc,a,r[i].bra,ndna,me, myc,a,r[i].modelna,me);

C,onsole.writeline(yea,r: {0}, myc,a,r[i].yea,r);

C,onsole.writeline();

}

}

}

A,s you c,a,n see, indexers a,llow us to c,ontrol a, c,ollec,tion of subitems in a, wa,y simila,r to a,rra,ys. wha,t we need to figure out is how we c,a,n c,onfigure our c,a,rc,ollec,tion c,la,ss to exploit this func,tiona,lity. when you think of a,n indexer type of a, c,# property definition, here’s how we should modify the c,a,rtc,ollec,tion c,la,ss:

// introduc,e the indexer in the definition of the c,la,ss

Public, c,la,ss c,a,rc,ollec,tion : ienumera,ble

{

Priva,te a,rra,ylist a,rc,a,r = new a,rra,ylist();

// the c,la,ss’ c,ustom indexer

Public, c,a,r this[int index]

{

Get => (c,a,r)a,rc,a,r[index];

Set => a,rc,a,r.insert(index, va,lue);

}

}

A,s you c,a,n see, our indexer is the sa,me a,s property dec,la,ra,tion without the this keyword. we a,lso ha,ve the get synta,x used to return the right item. this mea,ns the request is delega,ted to the indexer, whic,h belongs to the a,rra,ylist item, the c,la,ss tha,t a,c,c,epts our indexer. we a,lso ha,ve the set synta,x, in whic,h we need to a,dd new c,a,r items with the insert method, whic,h belongs to the a,rra,ylist c,la,ss. in this c,a,se, the indexer serves the sa,me purpose a,s a, regula,r public, method, but indexer methods implemented into c,ustom c,ollec,tions a,re ea,sily integra,ted into a,ny .net libra,ry.

When c,rea,ting c,ustom c,ollec,tions, it is a,dvisa,ble to ta,ke a,dva,nta,ge of indexer methods. however, you c,a,n a,lso use generic, types, a,s they offer the sa,me kind of func,tiona,lity. ima,gine we ha,ve a, method with ba,sic, list or c,a,r items, a,nd you wa,nt to use a,n index of list. here’s how it would look:

Sta,tic, void usegeneric,listofc,a,rs()

{

List myc,a,r = new list();

Myc,a,r.a,dd(new c,a,r (ford, musta,ng, 1969));

Myc,a,r.a,dd(new c,a,r (toyota,, ta,c,oma,, 2019));

// use the indexer to c,ha,nge the first c,a,r.

Myc,a,r[0] = new c,a,r (merc,edes, c,300, 2016);

// a,c,quire a,nd displa,y every single objec,t with the indexer.

For (int i = 0; i < myc,a,r.c,ount; i++)

{

C,onsole.writeline(c,a,r number: {0}, i);

C,onsole.writeline(bra,nd: {0} {1},

Myc,a,r[i].bra,ndna,me, myc,a,r[i].modelna,me);

C,onsole.writeline(yea,r: {0}, myc,a,r[i].yea,r);

C,onsole.writeline();

}}

Da,ta, indexing with string va,lues

The c,a,rc,ollec,tion c,la,ss defines a,n indexer, whic,h a,llows the c,a,ller to determine the subobjec,ts through a, numeric,a,l va,lue. however, this is not something required in order to use a,n indexer method. you c,a,n repla,c,e the a,rra,ylist with a, system c,ollec,tions generic, dic,tiona,ry, for exa,mple. dic,tiona,ries give a,c,c,ess to a,ll enc,losed types with a, key. let’s ha,ve a, look below:

Public, c,la,ss c,a,rc,ollec,tion : ienumera,ble

{

Priva,te dic,tiona,ry listc,a,r = new dic,tiona,ry ();

// depending on the string index we will return a, c,a,r objec,t using the indexer

Public, c,a,r this[string na,me]

{

Get => (c,a,r)listc,a,r[na,me];

Set => listc,a,r[na,me] = va,lue;

}

Public, void c,lea,rc,a,r()

{ listc,a,r.c,lea,r(); }

Public, int c,ount => listc,a,r.c,ount;

Ienumera,tor ienumera,ble.getenumera,tor() => listc,a,r.getenumera,tor();

}

Let’s see how the c,a,ller c,a,n intera,c,t with the c,a,r objec,ts:

Sta,tic, void ma,in(string[] a,rgs)

{

C,onsole.writeline (++++ indexers a,re a,wesome ++++\n);

C,a,rc,ollec,tion myc,a,r = new c,a,rc,ollec,tion();

Myc,a,r[nissa,n] = new c,a,r (nissa,n, qa,shqa,i, 2018);

Myc,a,r [rena,ult] = new c,a,r(rena,ult, c,lio, 2016);

// get nissa,n a,nd print da,ta,.

C,a,r nissa,n = myc,a,r[nissa,n];

C,onsole.writeline(nissa,n.tostring());

C,onsole.rea,dline();

}

In this c,a,se, a, generic,s dic,tiona,ry c,ould a,lso be used. we would ha,ve the sa,me func,tiona,lity without a, c,ustom c,la,ss to support a,n indexer. ta,ke note tha,t the indexer’s da,ta, type depends on the c,ollec,tion's type, whic,h a,llows the c,a,llers to obta,in the subobjec,ts.

Indexer overloa,ding

You c,a,n overloa,d the indexer method on one c,la,ss. you c,a,n a,lso define more tha,n one indexer for one type to ena,ble the c,a,ller to use a, numeric,a,l or string index to a,c,c,ess subobjec,ts. for exa,mple, the .nets da,ta, a,c,c,ess a,pi (a,do.net) ha,s a, da,ta,set c,la,ss tha,t supports the ta,bles"