C# .net Mnemonics and use in general.

Question

I'm just starting out with C# and to me it seems like Microsoft Called their new system .Net because you have to use the Internet to look everything up to find useful functions and which class they stashed it in.

To me it seems nonsensical to require procedure/functions written and designed to stand alone ( non instantiated static objects) to have their class not also function as their namespace.

That is Why can't I use Write or WriteLine instead of Console.WriteLine ?

Then when I start to get used to the idea that the objects I am using ( like string) know how to perform operations I am used to using external functions to achieve ( like to upper, tolower, substring, etc) they change the rules with numbers, numbers don't know how to convert themselves from one numeric type to another for some reason, instead you have to invoke Convert class static functions to change a double to an int and Math class static functions to achieve rounding and truncating.. which quickly turns your simple( in other languages) statement to a gazillion character line in C#.

It also seems obsessed with strong typing which interferes somewhat with the thought process when I code. I understand that type safety reduces errors , but I think it also increases complexity, sometimes unnecessarily. It would be nice if you could choose context driven types when you wish without the explicit Casting or Converting or ToStringing that seems to be basic necessity in C# to get anything done.

So... Is it even possible to write meaningful code in notepad and use cl with out Internet access? What ref book would you use without recourse to autocomplete and Network access?

Any suggestions on smoothing the process towards grokking this language and using it more naturally?

Answer 1

For notepad, I have no useful advice, however I would advise you to use one of the free IDE's, Microsofts Express Editions, or Sharp Develop. The IDE will speed the groking of the language, at which point, you can switch back to notepad.

Answer 2

I think you're suffering a bit from the fact that you've used to working in one way during some years, and now must take time to get yourself comfortable using / developing in a new platform.

I do not agree with you , that MS hasn't been consistent on the fact that a string knows how it should convert itself to another type, and other datatypes (like ints) do not. This is not true, since strings do not know for themselves how they should be converted to another type as well. (You can use the Convert class to Convert types to other types). It is however true that every type in .NET has a ToString() method, but, you should not rely on that method to convert whatever you have to a string.

I think you have never worked in an OO language before, and therefore, you're having some difficulties with the paradigm shift. Think of it this way: it's all about responsabilities and behaviour. A class is (if it is well designed) responsible for doing one thing, and does this one thing good.

Answer 3

There is no excuse to use notepad to code a modern language. SharpDevelop or Visual C# Express provide the functionality to work with C# in a productive way.

And no, due to the complexity, not using the internet as a source of information is also not a good option.

You could buy a book that introduces you to the concepts of the language in a structured way, but to get up-to-date information, the internet is neccessary.

Yes, there are drawbacks in C#, like in any other language. I can only give you the advice to get used to the language. Many of the drawbacks become understandable after that, even if some of them don't become less annoying. I recommend that you ask clear, direct questions with example code if you want to know how some language constructs work or how you can solve specific problems more efficiently. That makes it easier to answer those questions.

Answer 4

Programming in c# using notepad is like buying a ferrari to drive in dirt roads.

At least use Visual Studio Express Edition. For what you wrote I understand that you come from a non OO background, try to learn the OO concept and try to use it. You will eventually understand most design decisions made for .Net.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_programming

Answer 5

Reading your post I was thinking that you worked mostly with C or dynamic languages previously. Maybe C# is just a wrong choice for you, there are IronPython, F# and a bunch of other languages that have necessary functionality (like functions outside of classes etc.)

I disagree with you about consistency. In fact there are small inconsistency between some components of .NET, but most part of FW is very consistent and predictable.

Strong typing is a huge factor in low defect count. Dynamic typing plays nice in small/intermediate projects (like scripts, etc). In more or less complex program dynamism can introduce a lot of complexity.

Regarding internet/autocomplete - I can hardly imagine any technology with size of .NET that doesn't require a lot of knowledge sources.