C# 4.0 The Complete Reference | Complete Reference

C# 4.0 The Complete Reference

Authors: Herbert Schildt

Published: April 2010

eISBN: 9780071741170 0071741178 | ISBN: 9780071741163

Contents

Special Thanks

Preface

Part I: The C# Language

1 The Creation of C#

C#’s Family Tree

How C# Relates to the .NET Framework

How the Common Language Runtime Works

Managed vs. Unmanaged Code

2 An Overview of C#

Object-Oriented Programming

A First Simple Program

Handling Syntax Errors

A Small Variation

A Second Simple Program

Another Data Type

Two Control Statements

Using Code Blocks

Semicolons, Positioning, and Indentation

The C# Keywords

Identifiers

The .NET Framework Class Library

3 Data Types, Literals, and Variables

Why Data Types Are Important

C#’s Value Types

Integers

Floating-Point Types

The decimal Type

Characters

The bool Type

Some Output Options

Literals

A Closer Look at Variables

The Scope and Lifetime of Variables

Type Conversion and Casting

Type Conversion in Expressions

4 Operators

Arithmetic Operators

Relational and Logical Operators

The Assignment Operator

The Bitwise Operators

The ? Operator

Spacing and Parentheses

Operator Precedence

5 Program Control Statements

The if Statement

The switch Statement

The for Loop

The while Loop

The do-while Loop

The foreach Loop

Using break to Exit a Loop

Using continue

The goto

6 Introducing Classes and Objects

Class Fundamentals

How Objects Are Created

Reference Variables and Assignment

Methods

Constructors

The new Operator Revisited

Garbage Collection and Destructors

The this Keyword

7 Arrays and Strings

Arrays

Multidimensional Arrays

Jagged Arrays

Assigning Array References

Using the Length Property

Implicitly Typed Arrays

The foreach Loop

Strings

8 A Closer Look at Methods and Classes

Controlling Access to Class Members

Pass References to Methods

Use ref and out Parameters

Use a Variable Number of Arguments

Return Objects

Method Overloading

Overload Constructors

Object Initializers

Optional Arguments

Named Arguments

The Main( ) Method

Recursion

Understanding static

Static Classes

9 Operator Overloading

Operator Overloading Fundamentals

Handling Operations on C# Built-in Types

Overloading the Relational Operators

Overloading true and false

Overloading the Logical Operators

Conversion Operators

Operator Overloading Tips and Restrictions

Another Example of Operator Overloading

10 Indexers and Properties

Indexers

Properties

Use Access Modifiers with Accessors

Using Indexers and Properties

11 Inheritance

Inheritance Basics

Member Access and Inheritance

Constructors and Inheritance

Inheritance and Name Hiding

Creating a Multilevel Hierarchy

When Are Constructors Called?

Base Class References and Derived Objects

Virtual Methods and Overriding

Using Abstract Classes

Using sealed to Prevent Inheritance

The object Class

12 Interfaces, Structures, and Enumerations

Interfaces

Using Interface References

Interface Properties

Interface Indexers

Interfaces Can Be Inherited

Name Hiding with Interface Inheritance

Explicit Implementations

Choosing Between an Interface and an Abstract Class

The .NET Standard Interfaces

Structures

Enumerations

13 Exception Handling

The System.Exception Class

Exception-Handling Fundamentals

The Consequences of an Uncaught Exception

Exceptions Let You Handle Errors Gracefully

Using Multiple catch Clauses

Catching All Exceptions

Nesting try Blocks

Throwing an Exception

Using finally

A Closer Look at the Exception Class

Deriving Exception Classes

Catching Derived Class Exceptions

Using checked and unchecked

14 Using I/O

C#’s I/O Is Built Upon Streams

The Stream Classes

Console I/O

FileStream and Byte-Oriented File I/O

Character-Based File I/O

Redirecting the Standard Streams

Reading and Writing Binary Data

Random Access Files

Using MemoryStream

Using StringReader and StringWriter

The File Class

Converting Numeric Strings to Their Internal Representation

15 Delegates, Events, and Lambda Expressions

Delegates

Anonymous Functions

Anonymous Methods

Lambda Expressions

Events

Use Anonymous Methods and Lambda Expressions with Events

.NET Event Guidelines

Applying Events: A Case Study

16 Namespaces, the Preprocessor, and Assemblies

Namespaces

The Preprocessor

Assemblies and the internal Access Modifier

17 Runtime Type ID, Reflection, and Attributes

Runtime Type Identification

Reflection

Using Reflection

Attributes

Three Built-in Attributes

18 Generics

What Are Generics?

A Simple Generics Example

A Generic Class with Two Type Parameters

The General Form of a Generic Class

Constrained Types

Creating a Default Value of a Type Parameter

Generic Structures

Creating a Generic Method

Generic Delegates

Generic Interfaces

Comparing Instances of a Type Parameter

Generic Class Hierarchies

Overriding Virtual Methods in a Generic Class

Overloading Methods That Use Type Parameters

Covariance and Contravariance in Generic Type Parameters

How Generic Types Are Instantiated

Some Generic Restrictions

Final Thoughts on Generics

19 LINQ

LINQ Fundamentals

Filter Values with where

Sort Results with orderby

A Closer Look at select

Use Nested from Clauses

Group Results with group

Use into to Create a Continuation

Use let to Create a Variable in a Query

Join Two Sequences with join

Anonymous Types

Create a Group Join

The Query Methods

Deferred vs. Immediate Query Execution

Expression Trees

Extension Methods

PLINQ

20 Unsafe Code, Pointers, Nullable Types, Dynamic Types, and Miscellaneous Topics

Unsafe Code

Nullable Types

Partial Types

Partial Methods

Create a Dynamic Type with dynamic

COM Interoperability

Friend Assemblies

Miscellaneous Keywords

Part II: Exploring the C# Library

21 Exploring the System Namespace

The Members of System

The Math Class

The .NET Structures Corresponding to the Built-in Value Types

The Array Class

BitConverter

Generating Random Numbers with Random

Memory Management and the GC Class

Object

Tuple

The IComparable and IComparable<T> Interfaces

The IEquatable<T> Interface

The IConvertible Interface

The ICloneable Interface

IFormatProvider and IFormattable

IObservable<T> and IObserver<T>

22 Strings and Formatting

Strings in C#

The String Class

Formatting

Using String.Format( ) and ToString( ) to Format Data

Creating a Custom Numeric Format

Formatting Date and Time

Formatting Enumerations

23 Multithreaded Programming, Part One

Multithreading Fundamentals

The Thread Class

Determining When a Thread Ends

Passing an Argument to a Thread

The IsBackground Property

Thread Priorities

Synchronization

Thread Communication Using Wait( ), Pulse( ), and PulseAll( )

Deadlock and Race Conditions

Using MethodImplAttribute

Using a Mutex and a Semaphore

Using Events

The Interlocked Class

Synchronization Classes Added by .NET 4.0

Terminating a Thread Via Abort( )

Suspending and Resuming a Thread

Determining a Thread’s State

Using the Main Thread

Additional Multithreading Features Added by .NET 4.0

Multithreading Tips

Starting a Separate Task

24 Multithreading, Part Two: Exploring the Task Parallel Library and PLINQ

Two Approaches to Parallel Programming

The Task Class

Using Wait Methods

Using TaskFactory to Start a Task

Use a Lambda Expression as a Task

Create a Task Continuation

Returning a Value from a Task

Cancelling a Task and Using AggregateException

Some Other Task Features

The Parallel Class

Exploring PLINQ

25 Collections, Enumerators, and Iterators

Collections Overview

The Non-Generic Collections

Storing Bits with BitArray

The Specialized Collections

The Generic Collections

The Concurrent Collections

Storing User-Defined Classes in Collections

Implementing IComparable

Using an IComparer

Using StringComparer

Accessing a Collection via an Enumerator

Implementing IEnumerable and IEnumerator

Using Iterators

Collection Initializers

26 Networking Through the Internet Using System.Net

The System.Net Members

Uniform Resource Identifiers

Internet Access Fundamentals

Handling Network Errors

The URI Class

Accessing Additional HTTP Response Information

MiniCrawler: A Case Study

Using WebClient

A: Documentation Comment Quick Reference

The XML Comment Tags

Compiling Documentation Comments

An XML Documentation Example

Index