The aim of this book is to teach you and other experienced programmers the most effective ways to program using the C# language in the environment it was designed for, the .NET Framework. To this end, the book offers plenty of strong opinions and pays special attention to one of .NET’s most prominent features: web services.

Right out of the chute, you’ll build a simple web service and create an application that consumes it, quickly gaining a basic familiarity with the resources Microsoft has placed at your disposal. Then, with this practical introduction under your belt, you’ll delve into the details of C# and its relationship with .NET—details that, by the end of the book, will enable you to tackle a wide variety of sophisticated programming challenges and accomplish many other things, as well.

You’ll learn how to create more effective user interfaces, first for a web service consumer and then for a traditional Windows application. You’ll also get a solid grounding in the world of C# objects and classes, discovering what they make possible within the context of .NET. Then you’ll explore the language itself, beginning with syntax, continuing with arrays, and concluding with the ins and outs of object-oriented programming and string manipulation.

Everything comes together in an exploration of the ways you use C# to interact with the world at large: working with files and serializing objects, creating messaging programs, and using XML and ADO.NET to interact with databases. By that point, you’ll be adept at using the C# interface and help system, and you’ll be well on your way in the new world of .NET programming.