Chapter3: fundamental programming

Fundamental
Programming with
C#

C# Syntax
• Like C/C++ and Java

Identifiers (Cont.)
• Consist of Unicode characters
• Can begin with a letter or an underscore
• Cannot a keywords
• eg. int, string, double, …

Capitalization Styles
• Pascal case, eg. MyValue
• Camel case, eg. myValueNumber
• Uppercase, eg. UI

Statements
There are different kinds of statement in C#:
• A code block
• Declaration statements
• Expression statements
• Selection statements
• Iteration statements
• Control statements

Types
Every piece of data in C# must have a type. This is a key
part of C# being a strongly typed programming
language. The C# compiler and runtime both use the
type of each data item to reduce some kinds of
programming problems.

There are two kinds of types in C#: value types and
reference types. The distinction between the two causes
programmers new to object-oriented programming a lot
of confusion.

Value Types
Value-type variables directly contain their data—that is to
say that the content of a value-type variable is its value. The
following statement assigns a value of 25 to a variable
called myInt. The type of the variable myInt is int, which is a
value type.

Reference Types
Reference types come in two parts—an object and the reference to that
object. Here is a statement that creates a reference-type object:
StringBuilder myObject = new StringBuilder("Adam");
The StringBuilder type holds a string of characters. Figure 4-10 shows
the reference type in memory. You don’t deal with the object directly—
instead, you work with it via the reference.

Definite Assignment and Null
References
C# requires that you assign a value to a variable before you read the value
of the variable. The compiler checks your code to ensure that every path
through your code assigns a value to every variable that you read. This is
called definite assignment.
The assignment of a value doesn’t need to occur when you declare the
variable; you just have to make sure that you have made an assignment
before you read the variable value. Here are some statements that
demonstrate this:
int myInt; // declare a variable, but don't assign to it
myInt = 20; // assign a value to the variable
int sum = 100 + myInt; // we can read the value because we
have made an assignment

Common Programming Tasks
The chapters that follow focus on the major features of
C#: classes, methods, fields, parameters, delegates, and
so on. These are such important topics that it can be
easy to overlook the tasks that are most commonly
required of programmers. In the following sections, I
describe how to assign values to variables, make
comparisons between values, selectively execute blocks
of code, and iterate over data items.

Assigning Values
The C# assignment operator is the equals sign (=).
Figure 4-13 shows how the assignment operator is
used to assign a value to a variable.

Making Comparisions
The C# comparison operator (==) is used to determine
whether two variables are the same.

Performing Selections
Selection statements let you select blocks of code
statements to be executed if a condition is met. C#
supports two selection statements—the if statement and
the switch statement.

Using an if Statement
With an if statement, you define a block of code statements
that are performed only if a condition is met.

Adding else if Clauses
You can choose between code blocks by adding else if clauses to
an if statement, like this:

if (x == 50) {
Console.WriteLine("First Code Block Selected");
} else if (x == 60) {
Console.WriteLine("Second Code Block Selected");
} else if (x == 100) {
Console.WriteLine("Third Code Block Selected");
}

Adding an else clause
An if statement can contain a single else clause that will be
performed if the condition in the statement and all of the
conditions in any else if clauses evaluate to false. The else clause
must come at the end of the if statement, like this:

if (x == 100) {
Console.WriteLine("First Code Block Selected");
} else {
Console.WriteLine("Second Code Block Selected");
}

Using a switch Statement
A switch statement selects one of a set of code statements to execute by
comparing a value to a set of constants.

string myName = "Adam Freeman";
switch (myName) {
case "Joe Smith":
Console.WriteLine("Name is Joe Smith");
break;
case "Adam Freeman":
Console.WriteLine("Name is Adam Freeman");
break;
default:
Console.WriteLine("Default reached");
break;
}

Using a switch Statement
(Cont.)

Jumping to Another Switch Section
You can combine the statements in switch sections by using a goto
case statement, which jumps to the specified section, as follows:

switch (myName) {
case "Joe Smith":
Console.WriteLine("Name is Joe Smith");
break;
case "Adam Freeman":
Console.WriteLine("Name is Adam Freeman, Jane Jones or Peter
Kent");
goto case "Joe Smith";
default:
Console.WriteLine("Default reached");
break;
}

Iterating Data Items
One of the most common programming tasks is to
perform the same series of actions for each
element in a sequence of data items—for example,
items in an array or a collection (see in next
Chapter). C# supports four ways of performing
iterations.

Using a for Loop
A for loop repeatedly performs a block of statements while a condition
remains true. Before the first iteration, an initializer executes one or
more expressions. At the end of each iteration, an iterator executes one
or more statements. Another iteration will be performed if the
condition evaluates to true.

Breaking Out of a for Loop
You can terminate a for loop before the condition evaluates
to false by using the break keyword, like this:

for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) {
Console.WriteLine("Iteration for value: {0}", i);
if (i == 5) {
break;
}
}

Continuing to the Next Iteration
Normally a for loop will perform all the statements in the code
block before moving on to the next iteration. By using the
continue keyword, you can move to the next iteration without
performing any statements that follow. Here is an example:

for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
Console.WriteLine("Iteration for value: {0}", i);
if (i == 2 || i == 3) {
continue;
}
Console.WriteLine("Reached end of iteration for value: {0}",
i);
}

Numeric Types
C# has a number of predefined numeric types that
can be referred to using keywords. I tend use the
keywords, rather than the type names, but different
programmers have varying styles, and it is useful to
know how the keywords and the types relate to
each other. There is no advantage in using one
style over the other; the C# compiler converts the
keywords into the correct type automatically, which
means that you can mix keywords and types freely,
even in the same code.

Using Numeric Literals
C# allows you to define numeric values literally so
that you can just use the value of the number in a
statement, like this:

Using Numeric Operators
Numeric types have limited value on their
own; they need to be combined with
operators that allow you to perform
calculations and otherwise manipulate the
values they represent. In the following
sections, I describe the five kinds of numeric
operator that C# supports.

Using Numeric Operators
(Cont.)

Arithmetic Operators
C# includes basic arithmetic operators that
allow you to perform basic calculations.

Unary Operators
The C# unary operators are so-called because they work on
a single numeric value.

Unary Operators (Cont.)
// define a number
float f = 26.765f;
// use the unary plus operator
float up = +f;
// use the unary minus operator
float um = -f;
// print out the results
Console.WriteLine("Unary plus result: {0}",
up);
Console.WriteLine("Unary minus result: {0}",
um);

Relational Operators
The C# relational operators allow you to compare
one numeric type to another.

Assignment Operators
With one exception, the assignment operators allow you to
conveniently apply one of the other operators and assign
the result in a single step.

Assignment Operators
(Cont.)
The assignment operators allow shorthand when you want
to perform an operation on a variable and assign the result
to the same variable. So, these statements:

int x = 10;
x = x + 2;

can be written as follows:

int x = 10;
x += 2;

Classes and Objects
You create new functionality in C#
programs by defining classes.
Classes are the blueprints used to
create the objects that you use to
represent items in your program.

Creating a Basic Class
Remember that classes are the blueprints from which objects are
created. Imagine we had a blueprint for a car; for the sake of an
example, let’s say the blueprint is for a 2010 Volvo C30. The
blueprint specifies every detail of the car, but it isn’t a car itself. It
just describes how the car should be constructed. We have to go
through the process of constructing a car from the blueprint to
end up with something that we can get into and drive away, and
that something will be a Volvo C30, because that’s what we used
as the blueprint.

public class VolvoC30 {
// class body
}

Creating a Basic Class
(Cont.)
This class is so simple that it doesn’t do anything yet, but
we’ll add some features as we work through.

Adding features to a Class
It is as though we wrote “Volvo C30” on a blueprint
and then just walked away. If we gave the blueprint to
someone else, they’d have only the name to go on. We
have not provided any information about what
features we require. We add features to a class by
adding class members. There are a range of different
categories of class members, some of which are
described in the following sections. All of the different
member types are described in depth in the chapters
that follow.

Adding Fields
A field is a piece of information that each object created from the class
will have; this can be one of the built-in value types that C# supports
(such as a number or a Boolean value), or it can be another object (a
reference type). If a field refers to another object, then that object can
be one of those included with the .NET Framework (such as a string), or
it can be a type we have created, like the VolvoC30 class.

public string CarOwner;
public string PaintColor;
public int MilesPerGallon= 30;
}

Adding Methods
Methods let your object perform actions. That’s a pretty
wide definition, and the nature of your methods will
depend on the nature of your class. If we remain with the
car metaphor, then we could have methods to start the
engine, open the window, plot a navigation route, and so
on. If our class represented a person, we might have
methods that change marital status, employment status,
and relationships, with objects representing other people.

Adding Methods (Cont.)
public int MilesPerGallon = 30;
public int CalculateFuelForTrip(int tripDistance) {
return tripDistance / MilesPerGallon;
}
public void PrintCarDetails() {
System.Console.WriteLine("--- Car Details ---");
System.Console.WriteLine("Car Owner: {0}", CarOwner);
System.Console.WriteLine("Car Color: {0}", PaintColor);
System.Console.WriteLine("Gas Mileage: {0} mpg",
MilesPerGallon);
}
}

Adding a Constructor
A constructor is a special method that you use when creating a new object, allowing you
to provide data via parameters that will set the initial state of the object.

Creating Objects from
Classes
Objects are often referred to as instances, for example,

“This object is an instance of the VolvoC30 class.” This is

often shortened so that it is commonly said that “This is an

instance of VolvoC30.” To create an object from a class, we

use the new operator, sometimes referred to as the

construction or instantiation operator. We tell the new

operator which class to work with, and it creates a new

object of the type representing by the class.

Creating Objects from Classes
(Cont.)

Using Objects
Once we have created an object, we can work with it using
the members we defined in the class. Working with an
object typically means doing one of two things: changing
the value of a field to change the state of an object or using
one of the objects methods to perform an action. Methods
can modify the value of fields as well, so sometimes you’ll
be performing a calculation and modifying the state of an
object in one go.

Reading and Modifying Fields
To read the value of a field, we use the dot operator (.) to combine the
name we have given to the object instance and the name of the field
we want to access.

// create a new object of the VolvoC30 type
VolvoC30 myCar = new VolvoC30("Adam Freeman", "Black");
// create a second VolvoC30 object
VolvoC30 joesCar = new VolvoC30("Joe Smith", "Silver");
// read the value of the myCar.CarOwner field
string owner = myCar.CarOwner;
Console.WriteLine("Field value: {0}", owner);

Using Static Fields
The fields in all the examples in the previous sections have been instance fields,
meaning that each object has its own field. This is why we have to use the object
reference with the dot operator to access the field. We have to tell the .NET runtime
which object’s field we want to work with.




public static int EngineCapacity = 2000;

public VolvoC30(string newOwner, string paintColor) {

CarOwner = newOwner;

PaintColor = paintColor;

}

Using Static Fields (Cont.)
public int CalculateFuelForTrip(int tripDistance) {

return tripDistance / MilesPerGallon;

}





System.Console.WriteLine("Gas Mileage: {0} mpg", MilesPerGallon);

System.Console.WriteLine("Engine Capacity: {0} cc", EngineCapacity);

}

}

Calling Methods
A new object doesn’t just get a set of fields and properties; it also gets its own set of
methods. In our VolvoC30 class, we defined two methods, called PrintCarDetails and
CalculateFuelForTrip.





public VolvoC30(string newOwner, string paintColor) {

CarOwner = newOwner;

PaintColor = paintColor;

}

Calling Methods (Cont.)




System.Console.WriteLine("Gas Mileage: {0} mpg",

MilesPerGallon);

}

}

Using Access Modifiers
You can restrict the use of a class by applying an access modifier to the class
definition.

Chapter3: fundamental programming

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