Welcome to this series of lessons about the C# programming language. In this episode, Bob Tabor from LearnVisualStudio.NET introduces the topic, sets expectations for the series, and provides tips on how to get the most out of it. Bob also tells you where you can download the software you'll need to get started and offers some encouragement as you begin your journey.

This lesson teaches you how to create a simple application—first using Windows Notepad and the C# Command Line Compiler, and then by using Visual Studio or Visual C# Express Edition. The point of this episode is to demonstrate how utilizing an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is far easier than attempting to work using a loose collection of windows and tools. The video concludes with an explanation of common solutions to the many different problems you might encounter as you first begin writing and compiling code.

This lesson picks up from the previous one by discussing at length each completed action and written line of code. It discusses the relationship between the C# code, the C# compiler, the .NET Framework, and more. The lesson discusses the concept of code blocks at a high level explaining how methods, classes, and namespaces are related. Finally, the lesson shows you where your project files are stored and the location of code compiled by the Visual Studio IDE as well as the different types of compilation (i.e., debug compilation versus release compilation).

This lesson demonstrates some common Visual Studio IDE features, various windows, debugging features, code window features, customizations, and more found in Visual C# Express Edition. A more complete discussion of features is found in the Visual C# Express Edition Fundamentals series and the Visual Studio Fundamentals series, both of which are available on Channel9.

In this lesson we start adding C# syntax to your vocabulary by talking about one of the fundamental building blocks: data types and variables. As well as basic topics such as naming conventions, data type conversions are discussed.

Branching allows us to add logic to our applications. In this lesson introduces the if Decision statement (in its various forms) as well as the conditional operator. We also discuss how to refactor our code to make it more compact and less likely to produce errors by eliminating duplicate code.

In this lesson, we discuss how to create a properly formed C# statement. As with any language, there's a "right way" and a "wrong way" to write "complete thoughts" in C#. We discuss how statements are made up of expressions, and how expressions are made up of operators (think: verbs) and operands (think: nouns). Finally, we talk about compilation errors that occur when the syntax rules of C# are ignored.

We'll cover several different types of iteration statements throughout this series, starting with the for iteration statement. This lesson demonstrates how to utilize "code snippets" to help remind you of the syntax for this complex statement, and shows debugging in action via the values of loops displayed in the Visual Studio IDE.

In this lesson we talk about arrays, which are multi-part variables—a "bucket" containing other "buckets," if you will. We demonstrate how to declare and utilize arrays, including setting and retrieving their values, initializing their values, attempting to access values outside of the boundaries of the array, and iterating through arrays using the foreach statement. Finally, we demonstrate a couple of powerful built-in methods that give arrays added features.

In this video we begin wading into the topic of methods by creating a helper method to break out code we may need to use in multiple places within our code. We create and call our methods to retrieve a value, create and use input parameters, learn about string formatting, and create overloaded versions of our method

In this lesson we learn a new type of iteration statement (while) as well as how to utilize the StreamReader class to stream data from a file to the Console window. Additionally, we learn how to add new files to our project, how to set properties of our file using the Properties window, how to add a using statement as a means of resolving a class name referenced in our code to the namespace in which it is defined, and more.

Like strings, dates and times are represented using special types, and so deserve some attention. In this lesson we learn how to work with Date and Time data, how to create new instances of DateTime, how to add time, format the data for display, and more. Furthermore, we discuss the TimeSpan class as a means of representing a duration of time.

Like strings, dates and times are represented using special types, and so deserve some attention. In this lesson we learn how to work with Date and Time data, how to create new instances of DateTime, how to add time; format the data for display, and more. Furthermore, we discuss the TimeSpan class as a means of representing duration of time.

Now that you have a good sampling of basic C# syntax under your belt, it's time to tackle some more challenging topics. Classes are integral to the .NET Framework, particularly the .NET Framework Class Library. This lesson demonstrates how classes are defined and new instances are created, how to define Properties (using the prop "code snippet" to create auto implemented properties), and how to both set values and get values for a given instance of the class as well as creating Methods in our classes. We talk about how the classes you create are really custom dat types that can be used as such in helper method declarations and more.

This lesson digs into more details about Classes—what exactly happens when you create a new instance of a class? What exactly is a reference to an instance of a class? How does passing the reference to a method affect a class? We also review overloaded methods, talk about static versus instance methods, constructors, and more.

We've been looking at working with classes in the two previous lessons. The hope is that by better understanding how classes work, you'll gain an appreciation for how classes are utilized in the .NET Framework Class Library (FCL). In the FCL, child classes often inherit basic functionality from their parent classes. In fact, all classes ultimately inherit from a single base class, System.Object. This lesson continues to teach concepts about classes (specifically, in this case, inheritance) by showing you how to utilize inheritance in your own custom classes. You'll learn about overriding virtual functionality, abstract base classes, sealed classes, and more.

We've avoided any talk about Namespaces; however, they serve an important role in the .NET Framework Class Library as well as in our custom class libraries. In this lesson we explain how Namespaces allow us to disambiguate classes that may share the same name. Additionally, we explain how the .NET…

We've avoided any talk about Namespaces; however, they serve an important role in the .NET Framework Class Library as well as in our custom class libraries. In this lesson we explain how Namespaces allow us to disambiguate classes that may share the same name. Additionally, we explain how the .NET Framework Class Library is so large that including all its classes in every application you write is a waste of system resources. To mitigate that issue, the FCL is split into multiple assemblies (.dll files) that your project must include (or rather, reference) in order for them to be utilized in your applications. We discuss how certain project templates include references to the typical assemblies required by a given type of application (such as a web application), and we demonstrate this by referencing a custom assembly of my own design.

Classes can contain many different types of information, not just Properties and Methods. In this lesson we demonstrate the use of Enumerations because in the .NET Framework Class Library, properties can often be set only to a predetermined subset of possible values. To illustrate this point we create our own custom enumeration, then utilize it in a simple application that demonstrates a third Decision statement, the switch. We then demonstrate some Visual Studio IDE magic that automatically implements code blocks for all possible enumeration values.

Exceptions occur when an application experiences some unexpected problem at run time. This lesson discusses how to use the try catch finally block to anticipate potential problems and attempt to shield the end user from those problems as much as possible. We discuss best practices when checking for exceptions and discuss the mindset of the conscientious software developer who seeks to provide the best possible experience for his users.

Collections are a more powerful form of arrays. In this lesson we demonstrate an "old style" collection (pointing out its limitations) as well as several of the newer, strongly typed generic collections (List and Dictionary) utilizing the generics syntax.

Building on the work from the previous lesson on generic collections, in this lesson we discuss how Structured Query Language provides a means of working with sets (collections, groupings, etc.) of data. Similarly, the LINQ syntax provides a simple way of working with groups of data in generic collections. We demonstrate projecting data onto existing types as well as new anonymous types.

In this lesson we demonstrate how events are utilized in the .NET Framework Class Library specific to WPF and ASP.NET Web Forms applications. In these examples, we see how C# is generated by the IDE to "wire up" a user action or application event to the code that handles that event. The point is that there's a pattern to how .NET works with events and how events drive most Graphical User Interface based applications.

In this video, Bob talks about approaches to solving common issues that arise for new software developers, where to turn for help, how to search for answers to technical questions, how to ask for help and become part of the .NET community, how to create a personal knowledge base of books and articles, and finally provides a long term path that you can follow to learn more about developing Windows and Web applications.

This modules goes over updates released as part of Windows 8 Visual Studio 2012. In this short update video, Bob Tabor explains which versions of Visual Studio 2012 Express you should download and explains the difference between Visual Studio for Windows 8 and Visual Studio for Desktop.