Essential C# 3.0: For .NET Framework 3.5(Microsoft Windows Development Series)

Essential C# 3.0 is an extremely well-written and well-organized “no-fluff” guide to C# 3.0, which will appeal to programmers at all levels of experience with C#. This fully updated edition dives deep into the new features that are revolutionizing programming, with brand new chapters covering query expressions, lambda expressions, extension methods, collection interface extensions, standard query operators, and LINQ as a whole.   Author Mark Michaelis covers the C# language in depth, and each importantconstruct is illustrated with succinct, relevant code examples. (Complete code examples are available online.) Graphical “mind maps” at the beginning of each chapter show what material is covered and how each topic relates to the whole. Topics intended for beginners and advanced readers are clearly marked.   Following an introduction to C#, readers learn about  C# primitive data types, value types, reference types, type conversions, and arrays Operators and control flow, loops, conditional logic, and sequential programming Methods, parameters, exception handling, and structured programming Classes, inheritance, structures, interfaces, and object-oriented programming Well-formed types, operator overloading, namespaces, and garbage collection Generics, collections, custom collections, and iterators Delegates and lambda expressions Standard query operators and query expressions LINQ: language integrated query Reflection, attributes, and declarative programming Threading, synchronization, and multithreaded patterns Interoperability and unsafe code The Common Language Infrastructure that underlies C#  Whether you are just starting out as a programmer, are an experienced developer looking to learn C#, or are a seasoned C# programmer interested in learning the new features of C# 3.0, Essential C# 3.0 gives you just what you need to quickly get up and running writing C# applications.

Table of Contents:
Figures xxiii Tables xxv Foreword xxvii Preface xxxi Acknowledgments xliii About the Author xlv   Chapter 1: Introducing C# 1 Hello, World 2 Working with Variables 12 Comments 19   Chapter 2: Data Types 31 Fundamental Numeric Types 32 More Fundamental Types 40 null and void 51 Categories of Types 55 Nullable Modifier 57 Conversions between Data Types 58 Arrays 65   Chapter 3: Operators and Control Flow 83 Operators 84 Introducing Flow Control 98 Code Blocks ({}) 105 Scope 107 Boolean Expressions 108 Bitwise Operators (<<, >>, |, &, ^, ~) 114 Control Flow Statements, Continued 119 Jump Statements 130 C# Preprocessor Directives 136   Chapter 4: Methods and Parameters 147 Calling a Method 148 Declaring a Method 155 The using Directive 160 Returns and Parameters on Main() 164 Parameters 167 Recursion 174 Method Overloading 177 Basic Error Handling with Exceptions 180   Chapter 5: Classes 195 Defining and Instantiating a Class 199 Instance Fields 203 Instance Methods 205 Using the this Keyword 206 Access Modifiers 213 Properties 215 Constructors 229 Static 239 Extension Methods 249 Encapsulating the Data 250 Nested Classes 252 Partial Classes 254   Chapter 6: Inheritance 261 Derivation 262 Overriding the Base Class 272 Abstract Classes 284 Everything Ultimately Derives from System.Object 290 Verifying the Underlying Type with the is Operator 292 Conversion Using the as Operator 293   Chapter 7: Interfaces 295 Introducing Interfaces 296 Polymorphism through Interfaces 297 Interface Implementation 302 Casting between the Implementing Class and Its Interfaces 307 Interface Inheritance 308 Multiple Interface Inheritance 310 Extension Methods on Interfaces 311 Implementing Multiple Inheritance via Interfaces 313 Versioning 315 Interfaces Compared with Classes 317   Chapter 8: Value Types 321 Structs 322 Boxing 329 Enums 335   Chapter 9: Well-Formed Types 347 Overriding object Members 347 Operator Overloading 358 Referencing Other Assemblies 365 Defining Namespaces 370 XML Comments 373 Garbage Collection 377 Resource Cleanup 381   Chapter 10: Exception Handling 389 Multiple Exception Types 389 Catching Exceptions 391 General Catch Block 392 Guidelines for Exception Handling 395 Defining Custom Exceptions 397   Chapter 11: Generics 405 C# without Generics 406 Introducing Generic Types 411 Constraints 423 Generic Methods 436 Generic Internals 440   Chapter 12: Delegates and Lambda Expressions 445 Introducing Delegates 446 Anonymous Methods 456 System-Defined Delegates: Func<> 459 Lambda Expressions 460   Chapter 13: Events 479 Coding the Observer Pattern with Multicast Delegates 480 Events 495   Chapter 14: Collection Interfaces with Standard Query Operators 507 Anonymous Types and Implicit Local Variable Declaration 508 Collection Initializers 514 What Makes a Class a Collection: IEnumerable 517 Standard Query Operators 523   Chapter 15: Query Expressions 555 Introducing Query Expressions 556 Query Expressions as Method Invocations 573   Chapter 16: Building Custom Collections 577 More Collection Interfaces 578 Primary Collection Classes 583 Providing an Index Operator 597 Returning Null or an Empty Collection 601 Iterators 601   Chapter 17: Reflection and Attributes 617 Reflection 618 Attributes 629   Chapter 18: Multithreading 657 Running and Controlling a Separate Thread 660 Passing Parameters to Threads 665 Thread Pooling 669 Unhandled Exceptions 670 Synchronization 672 Timers 691   Chapter 19: Multithreading Patterns 699 Asynchronous Results Pattern 700 Background Worker Pattern 714 Windows Forms 719   Chapter 20: Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code 723 Platform Invoke 724 Pointers and Addresses 738   Chapter 21: The Common Language Infrastructure 749 Defining the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) 750 CLI Implementations 751 C# Compilation to Machine Code 752 Runtime 755 Application Domains 760 Assemblies, Manifests, and Modules 761 Common Intermediate Language (CIL) 764 Common Type System (CTS) 764 Common Language Specification (CLS) 765 Base Class Library (BCL) 766 Metadata 766   Appendix A: Downloading and Installing the C# Compiler and the CLI Platform 771   Appendix B: Full Source Code Listings 775   Appendix C: C# 3.0 Topics 801   Index 807