.NET C# Tutorial - A Beginner's Guide - Page 2

Keywords

Keywords cannot be used as names for a variable, method or class. The C# keywords are:

abstract
as
base
bool
break
byte
case
catch
char
checked
class
const
continue
decimal
default
delegate
do
double
else
enum
event
explicit
extern
false
finally
fixed
float
for
foreach
goto
if
implicit
in
int
interface
internal
is
lock
long
nameof
namespace
new
null
object
operator
out
override
params
private
protected
public
readonly
ref
return
sbyte
sealed
short
sizeof
stackalloc
static
string
struct
switch
this
throw
true
try
typeof
uint
ulong
unchecked
unsafe
ushort
using
var
virtual
volatile
void
while
yield

Data Types

C# is a strongly typed language, meaning that all operations are type-checked by the compiler for type compatibility. To do this all values, expressions and variables have a type. This prevents errors and increases reliability.

Integer

type	bits	range
byte	8	0 to 255
sbyte	8	-128 to 127
short	16	-32,768 to 32,767
ushort	16	0 to 65,535
int	32	-2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
uint	32	0 to 4,294,967,295
long	64	(can fit any number)
ulong	64	(can fit any number)

Floating-Point

There are two floating-points: double and float. double is 64 bits while float is 32 bits. float has significant rounding errors and double is better but the next paragraph introduces decimal.

decimal

decimal is 128 bits and is designed to handle monetary calculations. As such, it does not exhibit the rounding errors of its smaller cousins.

Why so Many Number Data Types?

Couldn't they have simply created one number data type that could accommodate all numbers? No, this way, a program is more efficient.

bool

bool represents true or false values. If used to C/C++, 0 does not convert to false and 1 does not convert to true in C#.

char

char is for single Unicode character. It is 16 bits.

object

object can refer to an object of any other type.

string

string is a series of Unicode characters. Every object (which is everything in the C# language) has a ToString() method which means that everything has a way of representing itself as a string.

var

var is special in that it is changed to another type based on the value that is assigned to it. For example:

var num = 132; // is the same as: int num = 132;
var str = "hello"; // is the same as: string str = "hello";

Array

Arrays are collections of objects usually of the same type but not neccessarily. The following demonstrates creating and initializing a simple array of numbers, strings and then objects. Technically, an array is a data structure, not a data type.

int[] num = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 };

int[] num = new int[50]; // this creates an array of 50 elements

string[] str = { "this", "is", "a", "test" };

object[] obj = { "ABC", 10, true, false, 3.33, "XYZ" };

Literals

Literals are fixed values. 1000 is a number literal and "this is text" is a string literal. 0x0 is hexadecimal for 0 and 0xFF is hexadecimal for 255. 10L is a long literal. 10U is an uint literal. 10UL is an ulong literal. 10f is a float literal. 10m is a decimal literal. 'c' is a char literal.

Character Escape Sequences

Special characters need escape sequences to show.

escape sequence	character
\n	newline
\r	carriage return
\b	backspace
\f	formfeed
\t	horizontal tab
\v	vertical tab
\\	backslash
\0	null character
\'	single quote
\"	double quote

String Literals

Verbatim String Literal

A verbatim string literal begins with a @ and using it can make code hard to read except for using it with file paths when there are a lot of backslashes. See next code example.

Everything is an Object

In C#, everything, absolutely everything (including literals), is an object with at least some methods. Later in this guide, classes, which define objects, will be covered. But for the purposes of this tutorial, there will be a distinction made between classes/objects and data types. Data types, including strings, are passed by value where as objects are passed by reference which means a copy of them is not made. Arrays are passed by reference. More on this in the class methods section.

The following example code demonstrates using the ToString() method to convert both number variables and literals to a string.

Example Program Code

using System;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
	class Program
	{
		static void Main(string[] args)
		{
			char ch = '\''; // this assigns a single quote to a char datatype
			Console.WriteLine(ch);

			// this writes 5 lines
			Console.WriteLine("Line 1\nLine 2\nLine 3\nLine 4\nLine 5");

			// this writes 5 more lines (verbatim string literal)
			Console.WriteLine(@"Line 6
Line 7
Line 8
Line 9
Line 10");

			// double quotes
			Console.WriteLine("\"inside double quotes\"");
			// verbatim string literal
			Console.WriteLine(@"His name is ""John""");

			int i = 123;
			// write the hexadecimal value of i using ToString()
			Console.WriteLine(i.ToString("X2"));

			// write the hexadecimal value of 254 using ToString()
			Console.WriteLine((254).ToString("X2"));
		}
	}
}

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