Essential C# 4.0

  Essential C# 4.0 is a well-organized,“no-fluff” guide to all versions of C# for programmers at all levels of C# experience. This fully updated edition shows how to make the most of C# 4.0’s new features and programming patterns to write code that is simple, yet powerful.   This edition contains two new chapters on parallel programming, multi­threading, and concurrency, as well as extensive coverage of new C# 4.0 features: dynamic typing, variance, optional/named parameters, and many other new topics.   Mark Michaelis covers the C# language in depth, illustrating key constructs with succinct, downloadable code examples. Graphical “mind maps” at the beginning of each chapter show what material is covered and how individual topics interrelate. Topics intended for beginners and advanced readers are clearly marked, and the book includes indexes of C# versions (2.0, 3.0, and 4.0), which make it easy for readers to reference topics specific to a given release of C#.   Following an introduction to C#, readers learn about  Best practices for object-oriented programming in C# C# primitive data types, value and reference types, implicitly typed variables, anonymous types, plus dynamic typing in C# 4.0 Methods and parameters–including extension methods, partial meth­ods, and C# 4.0’s optional and named parameters Generics, concurrent collections, and custom collections with iterators Delegates, events, and lambda expressions Collection interfaces and standard query operators Query expressions and the tree expressions on which LINQ providers are based Reflection, attributes, and dynamic programming Parallel Query Processing with PLINQ Multithreaded programming with the Task Parallel Library Platform interoperability and unsafe code The Common Language Infrastructure that underlies C#  Whether you’re just starting out, are an experienced developer moving to C#, or are a seasoned C# programmer seeking to master C# 4.0’s most valuable enhancements, Essential C# 4.0 will help you write high-quality, highly effective code.

Table of Contents:
Contents of C# 4.0 Topics xxv Figures xxvii Tables xxix Foreword xxxi Preface xxxv Acknowledgments xlvii About the Author li   Chapter 1: Introducing C# 1 Hello, World 2 C# Syntax Fundamentals 4 Working with Variables 12 Console Input and Output 16 Comments 20 Managed Execution and the Common Language Infrastructure 23 C# and .NET Versioning 26 Common Intermediate Language and ILDASM 27 Summary 30   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 64 Summary 81   Chapter 3: Operators and Control Flow 83 Operators 84 Introducing Flow Control 98 Code Blocks ({}) 105 Scope and Declaration Space 107 Boolean Expressions 109 Bitwise Operators (<<, >>, |, &, ^, ~) 115 Control Flow Statements, Continued 121 Jump Statements 132 C# Preprocessor Directives 138 Summary 145   Chapter 4: Methods and Parameters 149 Calling a Method 150 Declaring a Method 157 The using Directive 161 Returns and Parameters on Main() 165 Parameters 168 Recursion 176 Method Overloading 179 Optional Parameters 182 Basic Error Handling with Exceptions 186 Summary 199   Chapter 5: Classes 201 Declaring and Instantiating a Class 205 Instance Fields 209 Instance Methods 211 Using the this Keyword 213 Access Modifiers 220 Properties 222 Constructors 236 Static Members 247 Extension Methods 256 Encapsulating the Data 258 Nested Classes 260 Partial Classes 262 Summary 267   Chapter 6: Inheritance 269 Derivation 270 Overriding the Base Class 281 Abstract Classes 293 All Classes Derive from System.Object 299 Verifying the Underlying Type with the is Operator 301 Conversion Using the as Operator 302 Summary 303   Chapter 7: Interfaces 305 Introducing Interfaces 306 Polymorphism through Interfaces 307 Interface Implementation 312 Converting between the Implementing Class and Its Interfaces 318 Interface Inheritance 318 Multiple Interface Inheritance 321 Extension Methods on Interfaces 322 Implementing Multiple Inheritance via Interfaces 323 Versioning 326 Interfaces Compared with Classes 328 Summary 329   Chapter 8: Value Types 331 Structs 332 Boxing 339 Enums 346 Summary 356   Chapter 9: Well-Formed Types 357 Overriding object Members 357 Operator Overloading 369 Referencing Other Assemblies 377 Defining Namespaces 382 XML Comments 385 Garbage Collection 390 Resource Cleanup 393 Lazy Initialization 400 Summary 403   Chapter 10: Exception Handling 405 Multiple Exception Types 405 Catching Exceptions 407 General Catch Block 409 Guidelines for Exception Handling 411 Defining Custom Exceptions 414 Summary 419   Chapter 11: Generics 421 C# without Generics 422 Introducing Generic Types 427 Constraints 439 Generic Methods 453 Covariance and Contravariance 457 Generic Internals 463 Summary 467   Chapter 12: Delegates and Lambda Expressions 469 Introducing Delegates 470 Anonymous Methods 480 System-Defined Delegates: Func<> 483 Lambda Expressions 486 Summary 506   Chapter 13: Events 507 Coding the Observer Pattern with Multicast Delegates 508 Events 523 Summary 533   Chapter 14: Collection Interfaces with Standard Query Operators 535 Anonymous Types and Implicitly Typed Local Variables 536 Collection Initializers 543 What Makes a Class a Collection: IEnumerable 546 Standard Query Operators 552 Summary 586   Chapter 15: LINQ with Query Expressions 589 Introducing Query Expressions 590 Query Expressions as Method Invocations 608 Summary 609   Chapter 16: Building Custom Collections 611 More Collection Interfaces 612 Primary Collection Classes 617 Providing an Index Operator 630 Returning Null or an Empty Collection 634 Iterators 634 Summary 650   Chapter 17: Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming 651 Reflection 652 Attributes 663 Programming with Dynamic Objects 688 Summary 699   Chapter 18: Multithreading 701 Running and Controlling a Separate Thread 706 Executing Iterations in Parallel 724 Running LINQ Queries in Parallel 734 Multithreading before .NET Framework 4 738 Unhandled Exceptions on the AppDomain 744 Summary 746   Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns 749 Synchronization 750 Timers 778 Asynchronous Programming Model 783 Asynchronous Delegate Invocation 797 Event-Based Asynchronous Pattern (EAP) 801 Background Worker Pattern 804 Windows UI Programming 809 Summary 814   Chapter 20: Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code 815 Platform Invoke 816 Pointers and Addresses 830 Summary 839   Chapter 21: The Common Language Infrastructure 843 Defining the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) 844 CLI Implementations 845 C# Compilation to Machine Code 847 Runtime 849 Application Domains 854 Assemblies, Manifests, and Modules 855 Common Intermediate Language (CIL) 858 Common Type System (CTS) 858 Common Language Specification (CLS) 859 Base Class Library (BCL) 860 Metadata 860 Summary 862   Appendix A: Downloading and Installing the C# Compiler and the CLI Platform 865 Appendix B: Full Source Code Listings 869 Appendix C: Concurrent Classes from System.Collections.Concurrent 895 Appendix D: C# 2.0 Topics 899 Appendix E: C# 3.0 Topics 903 Appendix F: C# 4.0 Topics 905   Index 907