How do I find Microsoft APIs?

Question

I'm a java programmer, and if I see something that:

• I don't know about
• or just want to find a method description without opening an ide
• or am on support

I type java [classname] into google, and there it is. If I try this crazy stunt for C# I'll come up with a whole heap of tutorials (how do I use it etc).

If I manage to get to MSDN, I have to wade through a page describing every .net technology to see how their syntax references the same object, and then I have to find the appropriate page from there ([class name] Constructor) for example.

This is even more pronounced, because I don't have Visual Studio, so I've got nothing to make it easier.

There must be something I'm missing or don't know...

• how does this situation work for Microsoft developers?
• how can I make my life easier/searches better?
  • are there techniques that work no matter what computer I'm on (e.g. require no computer setup/downloads)

Notes

It could be thought that java is just "java", but it's just that the java apis are only referenced/defined in the core language. For all the other languages on the JVM, it's assumed that you will just learn the correct syntax to use the java apis.

I presume that .Net only lists a whole heap of languages as the api classes are actually different and have different interfaces capabilities (or some approximation of this presumption).

Edit

While searching msdn works... in the java space I can type 'java [anyclass]' and it will generally be found... whether it's a java core api or a third party library

Answer 1

Just type in the class name to Google or Live Search (no C# qualifier). That gets me to the type definition page at least 9 out of 10 times

Answer 2

Most .NET developers have a copy of the MSDN library offline, which comes with visual studio and is indexed and searchable (and integrates with Visual Studio, so you can press F1 on a method or type name and get the documentation immediately.)

It usually has the documentation and code samples in both C# and VB.Net.

It comes with Visual Studio. Sorry! This is how most people go, though.

Answer 3

Use google to narrow down the search to MSDN

site:http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ "search terms"

Also, you can just enter the fully qualified name if you happen to know it. For example, I want to learn about the ConfigurationManager class in the System.Configuration namespace. Dont forget to tack the ".aspx" onto the end

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.configuration.configurationmanager.aspx

Answer 4

If all you want is the microsoft class library/API description for .NET, just go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229335.aspx

It's organized by namespace and should have the bulk of what you care about.

As to

I presume that .Net only lists a whole heap of languages as the api classes are actually different and have different interfaces capabilities (or some approximation of this presumption).

Nope. All the .NET languages use the same libraries and APIs(minus language-specific extensions, and there are fewer of those than you might think) .

Answer 5

http://www.google.com/search?q=SHGetKnownFilePath+site:msdn.microsoft.com

It really isn't that hard. I mean, I know what you're getting at, but it really isn't so deplorable that it's going to stop me from finding the information I need.

EDIT:

To clarify, the URL embedded in that full Google search URL is preceded by "site:" which tells Google to only return hits that match that domain/path. The Google query I entered looked like this: "SHGetKnownFilePath site:msdn.microsoft.com"

Hope that helps!

Answer 6

http://msdn.microsoft.com

chock full of info, my only gripe being that its search feature sucks. Google does a better job searching MSDN than MSDN does

Answer 7

Once you get to one of the MSDN pages there is a Language Filter at the top of the page. Click on it and deselect all check boxes except for C#, then only the C# (well almost only) information will be visible.

Answer 8

Adding to what JaredPar said,

Googling

"[ClassName] members"

is nearly always effective for me.

Google search always wins over MS search.

Answer 9

MSDN search is utterly useless, and no Windows programmer ever uses it. There may be things it's able to find reliably, but Windows API documentation isn't among them.

Use Google. For .NET classes, just typing the class name usually gets you the right result at the top. For the WIN32 api, things can be a bit more sketchy.

When the basic search doesn't give you the result you need, limit your search by adding "site: msdn.microsoft.com"

And no, the .NET classes are the same for any .NET language. The only difference is in the syntax for using them. The documentation for every class generally shows usage examples in both C++, C# and Visual Basic.

Here's an example: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.datetime.aspx (found just by typing "DateTime" in Google)

You can also download the MSDN library (free download, if you can find it (again, use Google)) for offline viewing (and slightly better search capabilities, if only because it doesn't show everything else from the MSDN website, but only API documentation).

But Google is generally the most convenient.

Answer 10

Ok - since nobody is listening to my comments on their answers, I'm going to do the roundup... (e.g. there were many good answers, but none to be complete...)

Here's what works:

1. "site:msdn.microsoft.com [class name]" - gets you to the class description
2. "[class name] members" - gets you to the class members/definition
3. "c# [class name] class - returns a variety of pages - depends on class.

What I'd do:

• I'd use 2 as a default, since it may turn up MS and external classes (I'm hoping that third party .net APIs document the same way as MSDN somewhat so the same searching will work - like Java's Javadocs)
• 1 is for MS classes - but I'd still use members first, and then go up if I needed some more background for the class
• 3 (and variations - .e.g c# or .net) - seems to be a less specific search that still turns up api information.

All the above worked with "string" (to prove it will find MS stuff first, not java), and NHibernate's "DriverConnectionProvider" - random selection from a project that I know of