Introduction to C#

What is C#?

C# (pronounced "C-sharp") is a modern, object-oriented programming language developed by Microsoft as part of the .NET framework. It was designed by Anders Hejlsberg and his team at Microsoft and released in 2002. C# is one of the most popular programming languages in the world, used for building a wide variety of applications.

Why Learn C#?

C# Features

• Object-Oriented: Supports classes, inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation
• Type-Safe: Strong typing prevents common programming errors
• Automatic Memory Management: Garbage collection handles memory allocation
• Modern Language Features: LINQ, async/await, pattern matching, and more
• Cross-Platform: Run on Windows, Linux, and macOS with .NET Core
• Rich Standard Library: Extensive framework for common programming tasks

Your First C# Program

Let's look at the traditional "Hello World" program in C#:

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!");
    }
}

Understanding the Code

• using System; - Imports the System namespace
• class Program - Defines a class named Program
• static void Main() - The entry point of the program
• Console.WriteLine() - Outputs text to the console

What's Next?

In the next lesson, we'll set up your development environment and get you ready to write your first C# program. Make sure you have Visual Studio installed, or we'll guide you through the installation.