C# is also pronounced as “See Sharp.” It is a modern take on object-oriented programming and is also considered to be the safest of the family of C programming languages. In applications where developers need to create a source that should be secure and have built-in functions to keep the data safe, C# is the programming language of choice. Just from the name, you can make out that C# belongs to the family of the C language, but is it any better than all the other languages that are from the same family tree?
Well, that’s a question we are going to answer in this article. Today, we will show you what makes C# different from other programming languages. In addition to this, we will also talk about its main benefits and various applications that developers can create using C#. So let’s get the learning thing started, shall we?
History of C#?
Before we start showing you how amazing C# sharp is, let’s take a look at how far C# has come before it became the programming language that we now know. Back in the early days of development, C# was released with Visual Studio.NET 2002. The first version of it looked pretty much like the Java that we have today. But the goal of developers was to make it a simple, modern, general-purpose, object-oriented language. When we look back at the time of its first release, a programming language that looked quite like Java basically ticked these goals.
However, delve a little deeper into developing a project in C #. It appears to lack built-in sync capabilities as well as some functionality that we used to take for granted in other generic programming languages. All of these features will take years to become standard in C#. So, in reality, the early version of C is a stripped-down version of the C version that we have today. However, it was the only viable alternative to Java for the Windows platform at the time. Oh my goodness! We almost forgot to tell you about C #’s founder. Anders Hejlsberg was his name.
So then came C # version 1.2 with Visual Studio.Net 2003. There were minor tweaks here and there to enhance the language. One of the most notable changes was in the code generated in the foreach loop that used to be called Dispose on IEnumerator. With version 2.0, the addition of new features picked up pace, and with its release alongside Visual Studio 2005, we got generics, partial types, anonymous methods, iterators, and others. With the use of iterators as their first class, the language quickly became more readable. Still, it had a long road to tread in order to catch up with Java. But then Microsoft quickly pushed the paddle of adding more features, and new versions of C# were released year after year. Now the latest version of C# is version 9, with.NET 5.
C# is now the default language for writing code for any assembly required by a target for releasing code in.NET 5.There is an introduction to records in C #. Also, pattern matching capabilities are now expanded in a number of ways. C# version 9 also has a number of features that improve the developer’s productivity. This will help developers create better code.
What is the use of C#?
There are a number of general-purpose programming languages, but none of them has the extensive use case scenarios that C# has. We can use C# in a number of ways, and some of them are defined below to see its importance.
Web Development
Let’sLet’s start with the obvious: C# is used to create professional websites that need to have dynamic elements. These dynamic elements can be developed on the.Net platform or on any other open-source software. So even if you don’t want to use Microsoft’s architecture, you can still create a website in C#. Because this language is mainly object-oriented, it is more often used to create unique and efficient websites. Websites built in C# are easily scalable and manageable.
Windows Applications
Want to develop software that could run smoothly on Microsoft Windows? Well, in that case, C# is your perfect choice of programming language. C# applications need to have access to the.NET framework so they can perform at their best. This is also considered to be the strongest use case of the C# language, as programmes are specific to Microsoft’s architecture. As a result, they can be developed with ease and will show fewer errors during the development stage.
Game Development
Are you interested in creating video games? Then C# may be the only programming language you require. Unity, a well-known gaming engine, was created using C#, and we will discuss some fan-favourite titles in the following section. You may not be aware, but Unity is by far the most advanced gaming engine ever created by developers.
C# works fantastically well with the Unity engine. It is compatible with any modern smartphone and even consoles, enabling cross-platform gaming. To create games with C#, you have a large number of programs to choose from; some of them are listed here for your convenience. Windows Installer XML, Microsoft Visual Studio, Paint.NET, Open Dental, KeePass, and FlashDevelop are all examples of applications.
Components & Control
These are the two libraries used to create something that could be easily shareable and distributable. C# is considered the most common programming language that can help develop components and controls in the world of Microsoft. One of the perfect examples of this use case scenario is chart control. A GPS library in C# can develop a programme that can provide GPS tracking.
Benefits of using C#
There are many features of C#; some of them are listed down below alongside the benefits of C#.
1. Fast Execution Time
When you are working on complex code, do you want to check if a specific part of the code is working fine or not? In that case, when you compile the code for execution, it will take some time before you can see the end result. That’s not the case with C#; with this programming language, you can quickly execute the programme in mere seconds and see the result; this makes finding errors less time-consuming.
2. Object-Oriented
With the implementation of OOPs, the programme you develop becomes much easier to maintain than the procedure-oriented programming language. Keep in mind that it becomes pretty difficult when the code grows in length. But apart from that, it comes with all the different types of data encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, and interfaces as well.
3. The Morden Programming Language
This programming language is based on the latest trends that we have in the field of computer science. Still, it is pretty powerful and can be used for creating web and Windows-based complex applications.
4. Type-safe
C# only gives code and the developer access to a memory location where they can execute it. As a result, it does improve the security of the programme in a way.
5. Open Source
Even though C# is developed and maintained by Microsoft, it is still completely free to use, making it an excellent deal for developers looking to create projects at an affordable cost.
6. Amazing Community
In addition to being one of the best programming languages, C# also has a great community, which means you can post anything online. In a few hours or even minutes, you will get the answer from the community. So, if you want to learn a new language, you should start with C #.
Limitations of C#
Just like there are advantages to C #, you will also find some limitations to C #. So in this section, we will show you some of the limitations you need to take care of when working with C #.
- When working with C#, you cannot work with low-level things such as interacting directly with the hardware via drivers and even with the firmware.
- There is no independent compiler that can work with C #, so it cannot interpret the maximum levels of language in a much more straightforward way. You will need to use byte code along with the JIT compiler, which is heavily incorporated into the.Net framework.
- There is a hard learning curve when one starts learning C #. On the other hand, the.NET libraries add another layer of complexity. So to land a job with just C# knowledge isn’t enough for you, as you need to learn about their resources in the first place.
- Also, you need to work with multiple runtimes if you are looking to add cross-platform application ability.
- The runtime check omitted the pointer functions, which resulted in low performance or even breaks.
Note: You can get past all these issues by reading through the Microsoft documentation. So, even though it has some limitations, you should not be worried about using C# as your preferred programming language for application development.
Tips to be a good C# Coder
Writing code in C# is not difficult, but learning to write clean and scalable code is.In this section of the article, we will talk about some of the best tips and methods that can be used to make your coding in C# much more efficient.
Use A Good IDE
For your tech stack, it is best to choose one of the most advanced versions of the available IDEs. For most developers, the latest version of Visual Studio is the one they go for when using C #. This IDE is quite a robust application and is entirely free of cost. Some people refer to having a paid IDE instead of using free software.
Try to add in meaningful names.
Naming a variable is one of the hardest parts of writing code for the entire development cycle. It will take some time to come up with a meaningful name for every variable and method you will be using in your C# code. But this one tip will go a long way toward making things easier for you when the code is quite chunky.
Inherit Camel Or Pascal’s Case Notations
Apart from choosing any of the appropriate names for your variables, you need to come up with a notation for writing out the names. Mostly, we want developers to use the camel case or Pascal case for best coding practices. Do not use random capitals in your variables; they will make your code difficult to read.
Giving More Time to Formatting
Just like using camel or pascal notation in the same way, formatting your code in the right way will help you read the code with ease. The Visual Studio comes with a built-in feature that can be used to put your code in the proper format with just one click. In order to perform the formatting, go to the class that you want to format and press CTRL + K and CTRL + D.
Use comments whenever required.
This is something all developers hate to do, but adding comments to your code is necessary to provide a description of the class and make it more understandable. Even in this case, Visual Studios makes things easier for you. So to use the inbuilt comment feature, you need to go above the concerned method and type in “/”; this will trigger the automatically generated comment template in addition to the arguments of the method. You can choose a comment from the list, and then it will be added to your code.
Also, it is better to keep a handle on how many comments you want to add in; too many comments can ruin the whole code. If a code is too complex, you need to provide an in-depth explanation.
Reuse Code
Code that can be used again and again is often used, which decreases the time of writing it up. Also, this will make your code much shorter, and the compilation time will be much lower. To make the most use of reuse code, you need to create a shared library project, and then you can reference this library in each of the required projects.
This results in code reusability beyond a single code file. Moreover, if there’s any change you need to make, all you have to do is edit the code, and its functioning will be changed in all the other codes as well where the library was used.
Try to keep the class size small.
It is best to segregate classes into small blocks, which will only provide a single responsibility function to the code. As a result, this will lead to loosely coupled code. Likewise, it is an excellent coding practice. When you are done writing the code, you don’t need to scroll over and over while viewing a class. This is a general rule of thumb when you are writing a program.
Structure your solution well.
Are you using a structured solution for your program? Well, if you are not, you should be doing it because it is highly satisfying and essential at the same time. It is possible to do everything in a single project, but you need to keep scalability in mind, and you need to have loosely coupled solutions.
This can be done by splitting up the various layers into things like application, domain, infrastructure, and so on. With this, you are not only making your code accessible to other programmers in your team. You will also end up making code highly maintainable, scalable, and even improving security.
Use of Magic Strings or Numbers should be Avoided
What do you mean by “magic strings,” you may ask? Well, these are the strings that are directly present in your code and have a direct impact on the behaviour of your application. In more simple words, it is best if you don’t use hard-coded strings or values when developing an application. On the other hand, it would be tricky when it comes to keeping track of these strings as your code starts to grow.
Remove the unwanted code
Commenting out unused code is frequently regarded as best practice.But this usually happens when more than one person is developing a massive program. When you remove the unwanted code, it becomes easier for the compiler to read only those lines of code that matter.
Keep in mind that we are not asking you to remove the lines from your code or convert them into comments. Instead, you can use Git to make sure if you need those lines, they can be quickly added at any time.
Applications where C# has been used before
Given below is the list of applications and software programs that have been developed using C#.
Microsoft Office
Let’s start with the most obvious application, which is the Microsoft Office suite. It is a programme that comes with sub-applications that are used for productivity and completing common tasks on a computer. With this software, you can create, edit, and manage documents, presentations, PDF files, and more. Also, you can use a spreadsheet for attaining databases in the proper format. Moreover, all the aspects of Microsoft Office can be easily integrated with cloud services.
Fox Sports App for Mobile
If you are someone who loves to watch sports, then you might have heard about the biggest name in sports broadcast, which is FoxSports. The application FoxSport uses on the Android and Windows operating systems was developed using C #. This US-based sports corporation uses C# as its base programming language, even for developing their website where you can watch tonnes of live content and highlights of all different sports tournaments.
Windows Store Apps:
Microsoft introduced its own Windows Store app with the release of Windows 8. These apps are different from mobile applications, and they are built using C# and XAML. The whole Windows store was created using these two programming languages, and it has tonnes of applications that you can download straight from the AppStore.
Wasteland 2
As we mentioned earlier in this article, C# is one of the preferred programming languages when it comes to developing video games. C# can be used to create games for Android, iOS, Windows, and even macOS as well. The easiest programming language that can be used to develop a game using Unity is C #. Wasteland 2 is one of the games that was developed using C# in Unity, and the results are, as you can see, spectacular. This game received a lot of praise from video game lovers around the world.
Wrapping Up
So this is what C# is all about. Yes, the learning curve is pretty steep, but once you get the hang of it, you can develop almost anything using just a single programming language. C# is an upgraded version of C and C++. When you learn these two languages, it becomes easier for you to comprehend the properties and functionality of C #.
If you are thinking about whether learning C# is a good idea or not in 2022, then our answer is to go for it and don’t wait any further. C# is considered to be a developer’s favorite language for creating video games and even other programs as well. We hope this article helped you to clear up all your doubts about C # and catapult your desire to learn C # this year.