What is C# ?

C# is a simple, modern, general-purpose, object-oriented programming language developed by Microsoft within its .NET initiative led by Anders Hejlsberg.

C# is designed for Common Language Infrastructure (CLI), which consists of the executable code and runtime environment that allows use of various high-level languages to be used on different computer platforms and architectures.

The following reasons make C# a widely used professional language:

• Modern, general purpose programming language
• Object oriented.
• Component oriented.
• Easy to learn.
• Structured language.
• It produces efficient programs.
• It can be compiled on a variety of computer platforms.
• Part of .Net Framework.

Strong Programming Features of C#

Although C# constructs closely follows traditional high level languages C and C++ and being an object oriented programming language, it has strong resemblance with Java, it has numerous strong programming features that make it endearing to multitude of programmers worldwide.

Following is the list of few important features:

• Boolean Conditions
• Automatic Garbage Collection
• Standard Library
• Assembly Versioning
• Properties and Events
• Delegates and Events Management
• Easy to use Generics
• Indexers
• Conditional Compilation
• Simple Multithreading
• LINQ and Lambda Expressions
• Integration with Windows

The .Net Framework 

The .Net framework is a revolutionary platform that helps you to write the following types applications:

• Windows applications
• Web applications
• Web services

The .Net framework applications are multi-platform applications. The framework has been designed in such a way that it can be used from any of the following languages: C#, C++, Visual Basic, Jscript, COBOL etc. All these languages can access the framework as well as communicate with each other.

The .Net framework consists of an enormous library of codes used by the client languages like C#.

Following are some of the components of the .Net framework:

• Common Language Runtime (CLR)
• The .Net Framework Class Library
• Common Language Specification
• Common Type System
• Metadata and Assemblies
• Windows Forms
• ASP.Net and ASP.Net AJAX
• ADO.Net
• Windows Workflow Foundation (WF)
• Windows Presentation Foundation
• Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
• LINQ

For the jobs each of these components perform, please see ASP.Net - Introduction and for details of each component, please consult Microsoft's documentation.

Integrated Development Environment (IDE) For C#

Microsoft provides the following development tools for C# programming:

• Visual Studio 2010 (VS)
• Visual C# 2010 Express (VCE)
• Visual Web Developer

The last two are freely available from Microsoft official website. Using these tools you can write all kinds of C# programs from simple command-line applications to more complex applications. You can also write C# source code files using a basic text editor, like Notepad, and compile the code into assemblies using the command-line compiler, which is again a part of the .NET Framework.

Visual C# Express and Visual Web Developer Express edition are trimmed down versions of Visual Studio and has the same look and feel. They retain most features of Visual Studio. In this tutorial, we have used Visual C # 2010 Express.

You can download it from Microsoft Visual Studio. It gets automatically installed in your machine. Please note that you need an active internet connection for installing the express edition.

Writing C# Programs on Linux or Mac OS

Although the.NET Framework runs on the Windows operating system, there are some alternative versions that work on other operating systems. Mono is an open-source version of the .NET Framework, which includes a C# compiler and runs on several operating systems, including various flavors of Linux and Mac OS. Kindly check Go Mono.

                                                   The stated purpose of Mono is not only to be able to run Microsoft .NET applications cross-platform, but also to bring better development tools to Linux developers. Mono can be run on many operating systems including Android, BSD, iOS, Linux, OS X, Windows, Solaris and UNIX.