This document is a tutorial in a series of tutorials for programmers learning about the .NET Framework development environment.  What you will learn is what C# is, how it fits into the .NET Framework.  You will also learn how to write a simple C# program as well as gain a taste for the possibilities of this new platform..

C# is one of the primary languages used to develop applications for the Microsoft .NET platform. C# is the language of choice for C, C++, and Java programmers moving to .NET. It will also be attractive to those coming from other backgrounds because it combines the concise syntax common to all C-family languages with the power, safety, and rapid application development traditionally enjoyed by the VB world.

C# provides all the features expected of a modern object-oriented programming language: class, interface, inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation, etc. In addition, the language offers some new and powerful innovations such as properties, indexers, delegates, events, and attributes.

The course spends about half its time on the C# language. It moves quickly through the basics so it can cover the most important features in depth. C# 2.0 features such as generics, partial classes, static classes, global namespace qualification, etc. are integrated throughout the course.

To put the language in context, the course includes several .NET platform topics. We discuss the .NET type system (the universal base class Object, reference types, value types). We survey the software development cycle (code, compile, deploy, execute). We look at platform support for execution (Common Language Runtime, garbage collection, finalization). We finish with some of the most useful topics from the the .NET Framework class library (string handling, Windows Forms GUI, and SQL Server database access).