[TUTORIAL] C# Introduction

[KrypTiK]

NEED ACTIVATION CODES? GO HERE: http://www.itsmods.com/forum/Thread-Acti...T-Etc.html

UPDATE: Also will be adding more C# tutorials when I get to a computer.

C# Introduction

Introduction:
In this chapter I will explain a bit about C# and what it is, but also why it's a great language to learn.

C# is a wonderful language to use. It's very easy to use and you can continue to other languages after like Java & C++. They won't be that hard to grab if you've learned C#. I don't see a point in jumping from C# to Java though as they're both "High Level" languages, but from C# to C/C++ would be a great idea, because they're both build on the C-syntax. A lot of people who are new to C# mistakes C# for being in the C-family, but it's not. It has nothing common with the C-family (C, C++, Objective-C etc.) and the only thing in common is basically some of the syntax. C# is not unmanaged either which means it does not compile to assembly, but to the CIL. You can still use C# on other platforms with the use of things such as Mono etc. I won't be covering other operating systems than Windows though as I do not have experience with anything else.

So why is C# a good language to learn?
Well it's very easy to pickup and there isn't that much of advanced words to use. It's basically English everything which is what's a + about the .NET Framework and its libraries. Even if you come from other languages based on .NET such as VB.NET then you can still pickup C# easy as you'd basically only need to learn the syntax. I've heard from people who started out with VB.NET and then went to C# that they're very happy to do that because they can do the same and a bit more as well continue much easier to other languages. Though I've heard a few saying that they had it hardest with coming from VB.NET to C#, because they had to end everything with a semicolon and the way that variables are declared is a bit different. If you get a good grab around that then you should have no problems coming from VB.NET to C#.

So what if you have no programming experience at all, is C# easy to pick up?
Yes. It was the first programming language that I learned and you might struggle a bit in the start to understand the concept behind programming and remembering keywords etc. but just give it time and for god's sake don't cheat yourself to say you know more than you actually do, because you'll only cheat yourself by doing that! Some might learn it faster than others, but take the time you need and do not compare your learning time with others. We also learn different, some might learn better from practice while other learn better from e-books, tutorials or maybe even videos. I do not recommend videos for programming though and the reason is simple. When you watch a video you can't really follow what is done that much and you might have to rewatch it over and over to actually understand or see what's going on. That's why an e-book or tutorials might be better as you'll get to write code yourself rather than looking someone who codes. You'll remember what you did much better that way!

Downloads/Links:
N/A

.NET Framework

Introduction:
In this chapter I will be explaining a bit about the .NET Framework and what it is.

The .NET Framework is a huge framework of libraries and other stuff developed by Microsoft. I will not go in depth about the actual .NET Framework, because it's a huge area and if you'd like to know more about it then you should check out Google, but basically as I already mentioned it's a huge library developed by Microsoft.

Basically most things developed for Windows are in some sort using .NET Framework this goes from Windows Applications to X-Box Games. .NET is not necessary to make something work on Windows or any of Mirosofts devices, but it's a huge help when developing something, because it speeds up your development, that's why C# has become one of the leading Rapid Development Languages out there today.

If you compare C# with C++ then C++ might beat C# by performance, but the time it takes to create something elegant in C++ will take far more time, but its dependencies is also lower, but even with the dependencies C# is still a great language and if you wish to continue to learn C++ and more powerful languages later then C# is perfect, because it teaches you programming in a good and "fast" way, but also an elegant way of produce your code which you can use later on.

Enough of that now, but basically when developing something for the .NET framework the users must have the .NET Framework installed. As of now it's installed already on Microsofts devices, usually .NET 3.5, but also .NET 2.0.
As of now with VS 2012 they have released 4.5, but a lot of people still prefere to use 4.0 which I do as well. You can always change your properties of your application to use a lower .NET Framework, but remember that the lower .NET you choose, the less features will be available and you might have to code some things yourself, instead of relying on classes and methods they have already created. Try to target your project at .NET 3.5 because it's the most common, but if you must then you can use .NET 4.0. I wouldn't recommend to use 2.0 at anytime unless you want as less dependencies as possible and you don't mind doing quite some code yourself.

Downloads/Links:
.NET Framework (Wikipedia)

IDE & Compiler

Introduction:
Before you start you'll need an IDE and a compiler. Luckily Microsoft have already created that for us when they decided they'd create their language they already had in mind that the users of their language would need to have some kind of environment to create their codes on and that's what's called Visual Studio.

There is a difference on an IDE and a compiler thought and it's important you understand the difference.

An IDE (Intergrated Development Environment) is an application which you can use to produce your codes in. Technically you could do them in ex. notepad (Some actually preferre to use Notepad++) however that will only slow down your work, because an IDE usually include things such as project creation, project explore, easy binding to a compiler, syntax high light, auto-indent etc. Visual Studio already include all that and more. If you're developing C# then Visual Studio would be the best IDE, but if you have problems with it using too much CPU or being slow then an alternative IDE could be the SharpDevelop or Mono (Which is available for Linux, Mac and other OS's as well.) Though Mono requires the Mono C# compiler and I'll not be teaching anything related to Mono, so I'd suggest not to look into Mono unless you want to be on your own.

Visual Studio Image:


Source: http://www.otakusoft.com/wp-content/uplo...0/code.png

A compiler is the program that we use to convert (compile) your code into machine code. In our case we do not compile to native code (machine code or assmebly if you preferre to say that.), but to the CIL or MSIL. The CIL will then compile the IL code into machine code at run time. I could be wrong at this as I've never looked it up that much and it's just from the tip of my tongue I say this as I felt too lazy to search.

To get started you'll need the IDE and compiler for C#, if you do not have Visual Studio and do not wish to buy it then you can get the C# Express version which is free. After 30 days or something you'll have to activate it and you can do that by signing up and then you'll be send a free key which will activate your product permanent.

Downloads/Links:
CIL
C# Express Download (C# Express 2012)
Sharp Develop Download
MonoDevelop Download

Credits:
BaussHacker - Original Post

[99IRock]

This is gonna be usefull thx

[KrypTiK]

This is gonna be usefull thx

No Problem man! More will be coming so keep watch

[Pozzuh]

did you write this tutorial yourself?

[KrypTiK]

did you write this tutorial yourself?

No i've only edited and fixed things and reuploaded pictures and links. If you would have read the post you would have seen the credits