Some languages provide a power operator, so one can write something like: float result = value^2; rather than having to resort to calling. We don't have one in C#. It would be possible to add a power operator to the language, but performing this...

Update: Named and optional (default) parameters are available starting from C# 4.0. For more information, see Named and Optional Arguments (C# Programming Guide) . Q: How do I write a method that accepts a variable number of parameters? ...

Q: How do C# generics compare to C++ templates? A: This is really a fairly complex topic. Anders has touched on it in an interview . I should state at the outset that the goals of generics are not the same as the goals of templates. There are...

Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on my previous post Parallel Programming in .NET Framework 4: Getting Started . As promised, I am continuing the series. This time, let’s go a little bit deeper and talk about task schedulers , synchronization...

In this post, which is the third one in my parallel programming introduction series, I want to show how you can cancel parallel operations when working with the Task Parallel Library (TPL) . I’m going to modify the program that I started in the previous...

In C++, I can define a macro such as: #define PRODUCT(x, y, z) x * y * z and then use it in code: int a = PRODUCT(3, 2, 1); C# doesn't allow you to do this. Why? There are a few reasons why. The first is one of readability. One of our...

Visual Studio offers tons of useful debugging features and allows you to step through your code line-by-line. However, there are times when you don’t want to step through your application, but want to make it output simple text strings with variable values...

Q: In C++, it's possible to write a static method variable, and have a variable that can only be accessed from inside the method. C# doesn't provide this feature. Why? A: There are two reasons C# doesn't have this feature. First, it is possible...

Alexandru Ghiondea from the C# team created an excellent deck of slides that he used at Microsoft Days 2010 in Bulgaria. The C# team reused the deck several times for User Groups' presentations and talks. If you are planning a talk at your User Group...

This is all to do with polymorphism. When a virtual method is called on a reference, the actual type of the object that the reference refers to is used to decide which method implementation to use. When a method of a base class is overridden in a...

Today we announced the Visual Studio Async CTP , which shows one of the major features we plan to include in a future release of C# and Visual Basic. This feature makes development of asynchronous applications--which include everything from desktop applications...

Many people, including the C# language designers, believe that 'with' often harms readability, and is more of a curse than a blessing. It is clearer to declare a local variable with a meaningful name, and use that variable to perform multiple operations...

Crystal Reports has been a part of Visual Basic since 1993, and a part of Visual Studio since its first release in 2002. Crystal Reports has been a very successful component of these products. With the release of Visual Studio 2010, SAP and Microsoft...

In the previous post I showed how you can use the new dynamic feature and the ExpandoObject class to add and remove properties at run time, and how this can make your code more readable and flexible than code written with LINQ to XML syntax. But there...

Do you have a FAQ about: The C# Language or compiler The C# IDE The Visual Studio debugger Reply to this post, and your question will be added to our list to be answered. Of course, depending on the nature of your comment, and the volume...

The following code won't work, because conn goes out of scope before you enter the catch block. try { Connection conn = new Connection(); conn.Open(); } catch { if (conn != null ) conn.Close(); } The fix is simple - just declare conn before entering the...

I've talked a lot about improved COM interop in C# 4.0 and how much easier it is now to work with Office applications. This time I want to share some tips and tricks on how you can convert Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macros to C# 4.0 by using...

There was a suggestion/question on the Product Feedback site for VS2005 that suggested that the params keyword may not be that well understood. The params keyword can be applied on a method parameter that is an array. When the method is invoked, the...

C# defines a number of aliases for CLR types. They may be used interchangably, and even mixed together, e.g. string x = new System.String(' ', 5); . These are the aliases defined: Alias CLR type string System.String ...

LINQ provides a convenient syntax and many useful methods for operating with collections of objects. However, to be correctly processed by LINQ comparison methods such as Distinct or Intersect , a type must satisfy certain requirements. Let’s take...

First of all, let’s take a look at the example from one of my previous posts . It creates an expression tree for calculating the factorial of a number. ParameterExpression value = Expression .Parameter( typeof ( int ), "value" ); ParameterExpression...

Q: Why do I need a null test before I invoke a delegate? A: If you have an event in a class, you need to add a null test before you call the delegate. Typically, you would write: if (Click != null ) Click(arg1, arg2); There is actually a possible...

Sometimes, you might want to make your application a bit more audible. If you are using .NET 2.0, you can utilize the new System.Media namespace and its SystemSound and SystemSounds classes. The SystemSounds class contains five static properties that...

Where you once used Regsvr32 on unmanaged COM libraries, you will now use Regasm on managed .NET libraries. “ Regsvr32 is the command-line tool that registers .dll files as command components in the registry“ “Regasm.exe, the...

Q: Why aren't reference types polymorphic? A: Consider the following code: using System; class Dog { public string Name; } class Test { public static void Swap(ref object a, ref object b) { object temp; temp = a; a = b; b = temp; } public static...