All about the C# Programming Language

Year of Creation?: 2000. C# is the main programming language of the Microsoft .NET framework and has had millions of dollars spent developing and promoting it. In under 6 years it has become a rising star and may yet rise to rival Java.

Why was C# Invented?: Because Sun wouldn't allow Microsoft to make changes to Java. Microsoft had had a product Visual J++ but the changes they had made upset Sun and so it came to a halt.

What is C# used for?: All sorts of applications ranging from computer games, utilities, Operating Systems and compilers. There are also web based applications running on the asp.net platform.

What versions of C# are there?: The current version is 2.0 and that came out with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. Version 3.0 is being developed.

Does C# present any problems for novice Programmers?: C# is a comprehensive language with many advanced features, especially in version 2.0 such as generics. To get the best out of C#, knowledge of Object Oriented Programming is essential. Syntactically it has a lot in common with Java.

How would you sum up C#?: C# is a modern programming language and is really only rivalled by Java. It does though require the .NET framework on Windows. There remains a substantial body of code written in C++ and it seems that C# will coexist with C++ rather than replace it. C# is an ECMA (European Computer Manufacturers Association) and ISO standard and this has allowed other implementations such as the Linux project Mono to happen.