Simplified .net API for beginners?

Question

I'm in the middle of teaching myself C#, and I come from a C++ background. I think one of the hardest aspects of learning managed code is becoming familiar with the API. Is there a simplified version somewhere /w the basics that will allow someone to generate a WinForm or WPF app?

Thanks.

Answer 1

You dont need to know much to create a winform app: New Windows Application > Run. Or am I missing something? Once you know what your winform app needs to do, you can then target/narrow your learning to the relevant part of the framework.

Answer 2

You're in a new world now ;-) what little boilerplate code is needed to get a window up and running is taken care of by the visual studio project templates. As mark mentioned, simply add a new form to your project and all the setup (which I assure you is minimal) is already done for you and you just need to start coding/dropping controls onto the design surface.

Answer 3

Instead of a simplied version of the API, you might be looking for a tutorial, which should walk you step-by-step from getting started through basic features onto more advanced ones.

Answer 4

One of the primary benefits of C#, in my opinion, is the simplicity of the .NET framework's API. The .NET framework API is very clean, consistent, and relatively simple.

I would say that Windows Forms has a much lower learning curve than WPF - but that's more a matter of the scope of the API.

However, a potentially simpler API for learning would be to use GtkSharp on Mono. They added some automatic event management via programming conventions that simplify hooking up object events to delegates, which makes life a bit simpler. There are quite a few tutorials online.

Answer 5

The examples here have been around for a long time (they're update iirc from original .net 1.1 examples), and much of them are still relevant. They're fairly focused and have been updated with examples for LINQ etc.

Answer 6

There's a DevLabs project called SmallBasic for learning .net

From the DevLabs site:

Small Basic is a project that's aimed at bringing "fun" back to programming. By providing a small and easy to learn programming language in a friendly and inviting development environment, Small Basic makes programming a breeze. Ideal for kids and adults alike, Small Basic helps beginners take the first step into the wonderful world of programming.