Beginning Microsoft Visual C# 2008

The book is aimed at novice programmers who wish to learn programming with C# and the .NET framework. The book starts with absolute programming basics. It then moves into Web and Windows programming, data access (databases and XML), and more advanced technologies such as graphics programming with GDI+ and basic networking. The book is divided into sections including:

• The C# Language: Basic language skills using console application. Content moves from the absolute basics to fairly involved OOP skills.
• Windows Vista Programming: Using basic Windows applications, reinforcing earlier OOP and debugging skills.
• Web Programming: Putting together basic Web applications, highlighting differences between Web and Windows programming.
• Data Access: Accessing all kinds of data sources from Web and Windows applications, including SQL usage, XML, file system data, and Web Services.
• Additional Techniques: "The fun stuff", including Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Workflow, Windows Communication Foundation, GDI+, networking, Windows Services, and so on.

The book makes complicated subjects seem easy to learn, and it inspires readers to investigate areas further on their own by providing references to additional material, and exercise questions that require significant effort and personal research to complete.

Introduction xxvii

Part I: The C# Language 1

Chapter 1: Introducing C# 3

Chapter 2: Writing a C# Program 13

Chapter 3: Variables and Expressions 31

Chapter 4: Flow Control 59

Chapter 5: More About Variables 93

Chapter 6: Functions 125

Chapter 7: Debugging and Error Handling 155

Chapter 8: Introduction to Object–Oriented Programming 185

Chapter 9: Defining Classes 209

Chapter 10: Defining Class Members 241

Chapter 11: Collections, Comparisons, and Conversions 277

Chapter 12: Generics 331

Chapter 13: Additional OOP Techniques 371

Chapter 14: C# 3.0 Language Enhancements 399

Part II: Windows Programming 431

Chapter 15: Basic Windows Programming 433

Chapter 16: Advanced Windows Forms Features 493

Chapter 17: Using Common Dialogs 537

Chapter 18: Deploying Windows Applications 583

Part III: Web Programming 625

Chapter 19: Basic Web Programming 627

Chapter 20: Advanced Web Programming 671

Chapter 21: Web Services 709

Chapter 22: Ajax Programming 739

Chapter 23: Deploying Web Applications 759

Part IV: Data Access 775

Chapter 24: File System Data 777

Chapter 25: XML 819

Chapter 26: Introduction to LINQ 849

Chapter 27: LINQ to SQL 895

Chapter 28: ADO.NET and LINQ over DataSet 933

Chapter 29: LINQ to XML 993

Part V: Additional Techniques 1017

Chapter 30: Attributes 1019

Chapter 31: XML Documentation 1049

Chapter 32: Networking 1075

Chapter 33: Introduction to GDI+ 1107

Chapter 34: Windows Presentation Foundation 1143

Chapter 35: Windows Communication Foundation 1215

Chapter 36: Windows Workflow Foundation 1247

Summary 1278

Index 1279

Karli Watson is a freelance IT specialist, author, and developer. He is also a technical consultant for 3form Ltd. (www.3form.net) and Boost.net (www.boost.net), and an associate technologist with Content Master (www.contentmaster.com). For the most part, he immerses himself in .NET (in particular, C#) and has written numerous books in the field. He specializes in communicating complex ideas in a way that is accessible to anyone with a passion to learn, and spends much of his time playing with new technology to find new things to teach people.
During those rare times when he isn t doing the above, Karli is probably wishing he were hurtling down a mountain on a snowboard or possibly trying to get his novel published. Either way, you ll know him by his brightly colored clothes.

Christian Nagel is a software architect, trainer, and consultant, and an associate of Thinktecture (www.thinktecture.com), offering training and coaching based on Microsoft .NET technologies. His achievements in the developer community have earned him a position as Microsoft Regional Director and MVP for ASP.NET. He enjoys an excellent reputation as an author of several .NET books, such as Professional C#, Pro .NET Network Programming, and Enterprise Services with the .NET Frameworks, and he speaks regularly at international industry conferences.
Christian has more than 15 years of experience as a developer and software architect. He started his computing career on PDP 11 and VAX/VMS, covering a variety of languages and platforms. Since 2000, he has been working with .NET and C#, developing and architecting distributed solutions. He can be reached at www.christiannagel.com.

Jacob Hammer Pedersen is a systems developer at Fujitsu Service, Denmark. He s been programming the PC since the early 1990s using various languages, including Pascal, Visual Basic, C/C++, and C#. Jacob has co–authored a number of .NET books and works with a wide variety of Microsoft technologies, ranging from SQL Server to Office extensibility. A Danish citizen, he works and lives in Aarhus, Denmark.

Jon D. Reid is the director of systems engineering at Indigo Biosystems, Inc. (www.indigobio.com), an independent software vendor for the life sciences, where he develops in C# for the Microsoft environment. He has co–authored many .NET books, including Beginning Visual C# 2005, Beginning C# Databases: From Novice to Professional, Pro Visual Studio .NET, ADO.NET Programmer s Reference, and Professional SQL Server 2000 XML.

Morgan Skinner started programming at school in 1980 and has been hooked on computing ever since. He now works for Microsoft as an application development consultant where he helps customers with their architecture, design, coding, and testing. He s been working with .NET since the PDC release in 2000, and has authored several MSDN articles and co–authored a couple of books on .NET. In his spare time he relaxes by fighting weeds on his allotment. You can reach Morgan at www.morganskinner.com.

Eric White is an independent software consultant with more than 20 years of experience in building management information systems and accounting systems. When he isn t hunched over a screen programming in C#, he is most likely to be found with an ice axe in hand, climbing some mountain.