Projects and code snippets from C# 12 and .NET 8 - Modern Cross-Platform Development Fundamentals by Mark J. Price
Chapter one introduces the book and its author as well as basic developer enviroment set-up and C#/.NET basics. Most of this chapter was recapping what I already knew about C# and .NET, but I did learn about some useful VSCode extensions and how to understand .NET support.
The second chapter covers the basics of C# including syntax, understanding async/await, and creating console apps. My previous experience coding in Javascript/Typescript provided a lot of prior experience working with these concepts, but it was beneficial to delve into C# syntax before moving on to more complex aspects of .NET development.
Chapter three focuses on selection, iteration, type casting and conversion and handling exceptions. Again, I had an existing understanding of many of the topics covered in this chapter however, the C# specific content was beneficial before moving onto the next chapters.
Chapter four covers writing, debugging and testing functions. I found this highly informative and learned a lot about debugging and testing in C# and .NET.
One topic in this chapter was the use of XML comments to create tooltip information and documentation for functions. The format of the comment is as follows:
<summary>
Description of function and how to use it
</summary>
<param name="paramaterName">
Description of paramater
</param>
<returns>
Description of the return value
</returns>
These comments can be used with tools like Sandcastle to create documentation and also shows tooltip information in the code editor. I want to further investigate Sandcaste for use in future projects.
A large part of this chapter is unit testing with xUnit. This chapter was increadibly interesting as I have only lightly touched testing before. Mark describes good tests as consisting of three parts; Arrange, Act, and Assert. An example of the a simple test for adding two numbers:
public class CalculatorTests
{
[Fact]
public void Test2Plus2()
{
// Arrange - setup inputs and unit being tested.
double a = 2;
double b = 2;
double expected = 4;
Calculator calc = new();
// Act - Execute the function to test.
double actual = calc.Add(a, b);
// Assert - Compare expected and actual results.
Assert.Equal(expected, actual);
}
}
The combination of data and actions related to an object. Often used to control access.
The referencing of objects of another class in a classes instance variables. Allows for the reuse of code and cleaner code design.
Aggregation represents a whole-part relationship between classes, where one class can make up part of a more complex class.
Inheritance involves reusing code by allowing a subclass to derive from a superclass, inheriting all functionallity of the superclass.
Abstraction is the action of hiding unnessary detail or complexity to show only the necessary characters.
Polymorphism allows a derived class to overrise an inherited action to provide custom behavior, allowing for increased flexability and code reusablilty.
- byte - up to 8 options,
- ushort - up to 16 options,
- uint - up to 32 options,
- ulong - up to 64 options
| Member Access Modifier | Description |
|---|---|
| Private | Accessible inside the type only. (Default) |
| Internal | Accessible inside the type and any type in the same assembly. |
| Protected | Accessible inside the type and any type which inherits from it. |
| Public | Accessible everywhere. |
| Internal Proteced | Accessible inside the type, any type in the same assembly, and any type that inherits from it. |
| Private Protected | Accessible inside the type and any type that inherits from the type and is in the same assembly. |