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.

Chapter 1 - Introducing C#
Chapter 2 - Data Types
Chapter 3 - Operators and Control Flow
Chapter 4 - 4 Methods and Parameters
Chapter 5 - Classes
Chapter 6 - Inheritance
Chapter 7 - Interfaces
Chapter 8 - Value Types
Chapter 9 - Well-Formed Types
Chapter 10 - Exception Handling
Chapter 11 -  Generics
Chapter 12 - Delegates and Lambda Expressions
Chapter 13 - Events
Chapter 14 - Collection Interfaces with Standard Query Operators
Chapter 15 - LINQ with Query Expressions
Chapter 16 - Building Custom Collections
Chapter 17 -  Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming
Chapter 18 - Multithreading
Chapter 19 - Thread Synchronization
Chapter 20 - Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code
Chapter 21 - The Common Language Infrastructure
Appendix A - Downloading and Installing the C# Compiler and CLI Platform
Appendix B – Working with the .NET Compiler Platform (“Roslyn”)
Appendix C - Tic-Tac-Toe Source Code Listing