Question 1

What is C#?

Accepted Answer

C# (pronounced see-sharp) is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language. It was designed as a multi-paradigm programming language by Microsoft in around 2000 as part of its .NET initiative. The .NET framework and .NET applications are multi-platform applications that you can use with programming languages such as C++, C#, Visual Basic, and COBOL. C# is open-source and was designed to be simple yet modern, flexible yet powerful and versatile yet easy to learn and program with. Many programming languages in the past were designed for specific purposes. C# was developed with business and enterprise needs in mind. By providing functionality to support modern-day software development such as web applications, mobile, and response app needs, C# supports many features of modern-day programming languages. That includes generics, var types, dynamic programming, asynchronous programming, pattern matching, advanced debugging, and exception handling, to name a few.

Question 2

What are the advantages of C# over C++?

Accepted Answer

Thanks to the .NET framework, C# has many advantages over C++. C# is a refined and modernized version of C++. C++ was developed to bring object-orientation to C, an older but widely used language, and C++ became the de-facto language for building applications for Windows as well as infrastructure and low-level applications. Visual Basic was for business applications. What C# does is combine the rapid development capabilities of VB with the power of C++. C# also has many new data types, type-safety, to ensure you do not unknowingly reuse initialized variables. It uses a simplified syntax, a huge improvement over the complex coding often required in C++. C# also removes memory management issues thanks to .NET’s garbage collection scheme. You do not have to reference items for garbage collection; the system can reclaim that memory as required. Finally, you can use C# to interoperate with other languages on the .NET platform, a huge benefit in terms of system interoperability.

Question 3

Why use encapsulation in C#?

Accepted Answer

Encapsulation can be used in C# to hide data and program behavior from users. With encapsulation, you can group properties, methods, and other members so that they are treated as a single object. It is a means to prevent the user of a given class from manipulating program objects in ways that were not intended by the designer or developer. Encapsulation hides how a program operates without affecting how it works while still allowing users to service requests for functionality and add or modify internal data or methods to meet changing needs. For example, suppose you have an object called “Patient” that contains patient-related data. In that case, you can use encapsulation to provision patient-specific data to those who need it without exposing all patient data. In addition to information hiding, you can use encapsulation in C# to improve your code's reusability, and it also makes it easier to perform unit testing.

Question 4

What is C# used for?

Accepted Answer

C# is a general-purpose programming language that you can use to build a wide range of programs and applications, such as web applications, Windows applications and game development. In web application development, you can build dynamic websites and apps using .NET or another open-source platform of your choice. Also, since Microsoft created C# for Microsoft, C# is a popular language for building Windows applications. There are rich resources and a vibrant C# community that can support and documentation for applications and programs specific to Microsoft platform architectures, making it easier than ever to develop applications in this space. Finally, C# is a popular language to use in game-building, especially with Unity, a game engine that runs on C++ and C#.

Question 5

What is a constructor? What is a destructor?

Accepted Answer

To understand constructors and destructors, we need to understand methods. A method is a block of code that contains a series of statements. Programs run by executing methods. A constructor is a special method of a class that is automatically called whenever an instance of a given class is created. A constructor contains the instructions that execute when an object is created. Developers use it to assign specific initial values to the data members of the same class. In C#, you will get a compile-time error if you try to read from an uninitialized variable. You must first initialize your variables by giving them an initial value, which is what the constructor does. On the other hand, destructors are methods used to destroy instances of a class when they are no longer needed. Destructors are called implicitly by the garbage collector in .NET, and as a developer, you have no control regarding when to call the destructor.

Question 6

How do I learn C#?

Accepted Answer

As is true for many skills, you can learn C# by taking Udemy courses, reading documentation, and practicing coding hands-on. There are many resources available for all of the above, including real-time compiler applications that will show you the output of your code as you type it. However, it is best to plan ahead, and you should have an outline of what you need to learn before beginning your journey. The first thing to learn about is what C# is, how and where it is used, and why it was developed. From there, you can learn about data types, variables, keywords, and functions. Once you’ve grasped the basics, you can move on to learning about conditional tests and operators, functions, arguments, object orientation, arrays, strings, classes, methods, structs, debugging, and exception handling.

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