The Relationship of C# to .NET
C# is a relatively new programming language and is
significant in two respects:
-
It is specifically designed and targeted for
use with Microsoft’s .NET Framework (a feature-rich platform for
the development, deployment, and execution of distributed
applications).
-
It is a language based on the modern
object-oriented design methodology, and when designing it Microsoft
learned from the experience of all the other similar languages that
have been around since object-oriented principles came to
prominence some 20 years ago.
One important thing to make clear is that C# is a
language in its own right. Although it is designed to generate code
that targets the .NET environment, it is not itself part of .NET.
Some features are supported by .NET but not by C#, and you might be
surprised to learn that some features of the C# language are not
supported by .NET (for example, some instances of operator
overloading)!
However, because the C# language is intended
for use with .NET, it is important for you to have an understanding
of this Framework if you want to develop applications in C#
effectively. So, this chapter takes some time to peek underneath
the surface of .NET. Let’s get started.