Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
PV178: Programming for .NET Framework
Introduction to .NET and C#
Vojtˇech Forejt, forejt@fi.muni.cz
Martin Osovsk´y, osovsky@ics.muni.cz
Faculty of Informatics and Institute of Computer Science
Masaryk University
February 19, 2009
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Overveiw
Microsoft.Net Technology Suite
standards (CLI) and their implementations (CLR)
programming languages (C# among others)
development tools (Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft .Net
Framework SDK)
runtime (Microsoft .Net Framework)
application toolkits (ASP.Net, ADO.Net,. . . )
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
CLI Overview
Common Language Infrastructure
international standard (ECMA #335, ISO/IEC 23271:2003),
see [7]
a standard base for creating execution and development
environments
interoperability ­ languages and libraries conforming to the
standard should work together seamlessly
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
CLI Overview
CLI Components
CLI itself defines
the Common Type System (CTS)
the Common Language Specification (CLS)
metadata (description of the code units, such as visibility,
security requirements, etc.)
portable and platform-agnostic file format for managed code
common Intermediate Language (CIL) instruction set
basic requirements on the Virtual Execution System
a programming framework (a class library)
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Common Type System
CTS: the Common Type System
The Complete set of types available to a CLI-compliant language
based both on representation of values and their behaviour
designed for language interoperability
designed via set of rules ­ types are extensible (by derivation),
type system is not
designed for broad coverage: object-oriented, procedural and
functional languages (C#, JScript, C++, F#, COBOL, J#,
etc. ­ for more comprehensive list see [10]).
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Common Type System
The Common Language Specification
Defines a subset of CTS types that can be used for external calls.
actually a set of restrictions on the CTS
used by standardised framework to ensure compatibility
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Common Type System
CLI, CTS and CLS relationship
CLI
Defines the Virtual Execution System and the executable code that runs
in it. To produce executable code, the CLI defines types (CTS), metadata,
the CIL instruction set, a file format and a factored base class library.
CTS
Defines the complete set of types available
to a CLI-compliant language.
CLS
Defines the subset of CTS types
that can be used for external calls.
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Metadata
Metadata
stored directly in the executable file in the form of attributes
and tables
attributes attached to code units (assemblies, methods,
types, etc.)
tables list selected code units (methods, types, etc.)
used to
manage code execution
versioning, deployment and maintenance
enable cross language interoperability
contains
description of an executable file (Manifest)
description of all types stored in an executable file
signatures of all methods stored in an executable file
custom user defined attributes ­ the metadata system is
extensible
...
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Executable file format
Executable File Format
executable file: Assembly (unit of deployment)
conforms to the Portable Executable file format (PE)
CLI PE file format is an extension to the Microsoft PE1 file
format
Contains
Assembly metadata,
Type metadata,
IL code,
resources
Microsoft PE is described in [9]
1
Microsoft Portable Executable
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Virtual Execution System
VES ­ Virtual Execution System
provides an environment for executing managed code
provides direct support for built-in data types
defines a virtual machine that provides support for executing
the CIL instruction set
VES implementation is usually denoted as CLR (Common
Language Runtime) ­ Microsoft.Net Framework, Mono [4],
Rotor ­ Shared Source CLI
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Virtual Execution System
CLR Execution Model
Source
code
VB C++ C#
Compiler Compiler Compiler
Unmanaged
component
Native code
Assembly IL Code IL Code IL Code
Application
domain
Common Language Runtime
JIT Compiler
Native code
Operating system services
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Virtual Execution System
Compilation and Execution
1 source code is compiled by the compiler into the intermediate
code (CIL)
2 generated CIL code is stored (by the compiler) in an assembly
along with metadata
3 the assembly is deployed on the target machine (assembly
usually platform independent)
4 the assembly is executed by CLR
5 the code stored in the assembly is compiled on demand
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Virtual Execution System
Microsoft.Net Framework
ECMA #335 Compact Profile
ASP.Net, ADO.Net, Windows Forms, C# 3.0, Silverlight. . .
runs on Microsoft Windows x86, x64, IA64
Performance of Microsoft.Net Framework and Java VMs (Sun,
IBM, BEA) is generally comparable (let the flame begin :-))
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Virtual Execution System
.NET Framework Structure
.NET Applications Development tools
C# VB.NET F# C++ . . .
.NETFrameworkversions
2.03.03.5
LINQ ADO.NET Entity Framework
WPF WCF WF CardSpace
WinForms ASP.NET ADO.NET
Base Class Library
Common Language Runtime
Windows
Hardware
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Virtual Execution System
Mono
ECMA #335 Compact Profile
ASP.Net, ADO.Net, Windows Forms, GTK#, C#,
Moonlight. . .
http://www.mono-project.com/Supported_Platforms
Microsoft.Net Framework is faster (better GC and JIT)
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
What is C#
Example code
CSharpFeatures.cs
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
What is C#
C# in buzzwords
simple, easy to learn and use
modular and block structured
object oriented (class based language)
component oriented
strongly typed (static typing with implicit RTTI ­ RunTime
Type Information), see [2], [3]
descended from C, C++ ([8])
part of the Microsoft.Net suite of technologies
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Relationship with other languages
C/C++
curly braces
C# more typesafe than C++ (e.g. only safe coercions)
tricky features (templates) reinvented
C# has support for low-level pointer manipulation (unsafe
keyword) as has C++ (Java has not)
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Relationship with other languages
Java
similar idea and motivation
subtle syntactic differences
C# includes lower level constructs (strictly optional)
C# includes higher level constructs (convenience)
Java is truly multi-platform ­ Microsoft has (almost) no
interest in supporting non-Microsoft platforms
when C# came, Java was already here and well
established
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Relationship with other languages
C
research programming language ([1])
far beyond C# (and everything you've probably met)
XML made easy (LINQ and beyond)
a notion of choice types
parallel constructs
very advanced
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Relationship with other languages
Spec#
experimental extension to C#, see [12]
implements Design by Contract concept, pioneered by Eiffel
(see [11])
adds preconditions, postconditions, invariants to the language
may eventually become mainstream
for introductory material and samples refer to: [13]
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Relationship with other languages
Spec# Example
public f l o a t SquareRoot ( f l o a t f )
r e q u i r e s f > 0 // PRECONDITION
{
return Math . s q r t ( f ) ;
}
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
C# Editions
C# Evolution
C# language evolves
four editions so far:
C# 1.0 (year 2002)
C# 2.0 (year 2005)
C# 3.0 (year 2007)
C# 4.0 (in development)
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
C# Editions
C# 1.0
first edition of C# available to public (sometimes denoted as
C# 1.2)
unveiled with Microsoft Visual Studio.Net 2002
major features were there
filled the language gap in Microsoft portfolio
"killer" feature of Microsoft.Net suite
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
C# Editions
C# 2.0
interesting new features:
generic types (see example)
anonymous methods
partial classes
...
mostly syntactic sugar, but generics are important
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
C# Editions
C# 3.0
LINQ (Language INtegrated Query ­ query languages (SQL,
XPath, XQuery) embedded (see example) directly in C#
source code
type inference (see example)
lambda expressions (see example)
bytecode compatible with C# 2.0 (interoperability)
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
C# Standards
C# Language Specification
ECMA: European Computer Manufacturers' Association,
http://www.ecma-international.org
ECMA #334 (see [6]) ­ freely downloadable
current: 3rd edition (corresponds to C# 2.0)
2nd (C# 1.0) edition submitted and approved by ISO
(ISO/IEC 23270)
useful reference, but not lightweight reading
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Development Tools
Development Tools
Tools which are available to students at FI (Thanks go to the CVT
FI):
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 (B117)
Mono (computer hall ­ Linux and Windows), see: [4]
Rotor: Shared Source CLI (A104, computer hall), see: [5]
Additional tools:
MonoDevelop (open source IDE for Mono)
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Development Tools
MSDN Academic Alliance
Microsoft operating systems, development tools and server
products for research and education
for more information refer to:
http://www.fi.muni.cz/tech/win/msdnaa.xhtml
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Development Tools
HelloWorld.cs
using System ; // l i k e import of package in Java
namespace PV178 / l i k e package in Java /
{
public class HelloWorld
{
s t a t i c void Main ( string [ ] agrs )
{
Console . WriteLine ( " Hello world " ) ;
}
}
}
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
Development Tools
HelloWorld.cs cont.
compile with csc HelloWorld.cs
then run HelloWorld.exe
Introduction to .NET Framework Introduction to C# References
References
[1] Microsoft Research, C Website.
http://research.microsoft.com/Comega/.
[2] Wikipedia Article, Data types.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datatype.
[3] , RunTime Type Information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTTI.
[4] Mono Project Website. http://www.mono-project.org.
[5] Rotor: Shared Source CLI. http://msdn.microsoft.com/net/sscli.
[6] ECMA International, C# Language Specification. http://www.
ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-334.htm.
[7] ECMA Intenrational, Common Language Infrastructure. http://www.
ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-335.htm.
[8] Lambda the Ultimate, Genealogical Diagrams.
http://lambda-the-ultimate.org/node/7.
[9] Microsoft Portable Executable and Common Object File Format
Specification, 1999. http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/
platform/firmware/PECOFF.mspx.
[10] .NET Languages.
http://www.dotnetlanguages.net/DNL/Resources.aspx.
[11] Building bug-free O-O software: An introduction to Design by Contract.
http://archive.eiffel.com/doc/manuals/technology/contract/.
[12] Spec# Programming System.
http://research.microsoft.com/specsharp/.
[13] The Spec# Wiki at Channel9. http:
//channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/SpecSharp.HomePage.