1. The C# Language

   1. Chapter 1 C# and the .NET Framework

      1. The .NET Platform
      2. The .NET Framework
      3. Compilation and the MSIL
      4. The C# Language

   2. Chapter 2 Getting Started: "Hello World"

      1. Classes, Objects, and Types
      2. Developing "Hello World"
      3. Using the Visual Studio .NET Debugger

   3. Chapter 3 C# Language Fundamentals

      1. Types
      2. Variables and Constants
      3. Expressions
      4. Whitespace
      5. Statements
      6. Operators
      7. Preprocessor Directives

   4. Chapter 4 Classes and Objects

      1. Defining Classes
      2. Creating Objects
      3. Using Static Members
      4. Destroying Objects
      5. Passing Parameters
      6. Overloading Methods and Constructors
      7. Encapsulating Data with Properties
      8. readonly Fields

   5. Chapter 5 Inheritance and Polymorphism

      1. Specialization and Generalization
      2. Inheritance
      3. Polymorphism
      4. Abstract Classes
      5. The Root of All Classes: Object
      6. Boxing and Unboxing Types
      7. Nesting Classes

   6. Chapter 6 Operator Overloading

      1. Using the operator Keyword
      2. Supporting Other .NET Languages
      3. Creating Useful Operators
      4. Logical Pairs
      5. The Equality Operator
      6. Conversion Operators

   7. Chapter 7 Structs

      1. Defining Structs
      2. Creating Structs

   8. Chapter 8 Interfaces

      1. Defining and Implementing an Interface
      2. Accessing Interface Methods
      3. Overriding Interface Implementations
      4. Explicit Interface Implementation

   9. Chapter 9 Arrays, Indexers, and Collections

      1. Arrays
      2. The foreach Statement
      3. Indexers
      4. Collection Interfaces
      5. Constraints
      6. List<T>
      7. Queues
      8. Stacks
      9. Dictionaries

   10. Chapter 10 Strings and Regular Expressions

       1. Strings
       2. Regular Expressions

   11. Chapter 11 Handling Exceptions

       1. Throwing and Catching Exceptions
       2. Exception Objects
       3. Custom Exceptions
       4. Rethrowing Exceptions

   12. Chapter 12 Delegates and Events

       1. Delegates
       2. Multicasting
       3. Events
       4. Using Anonymous Methods
       5. Retrieving Values from Multicast Delegates

2. Programming with C#

   1. Chapter 13 Building Windows Applications

      1. Creating a Simple Windows Form
      2. Creating a Windows Forms Application
      3. XML Documentation Comments

   2. Chapter 14 Accessing Data with ADO.NET

      1. Relational Databases and SQL
      2. The ADO.NET Object Model
      3. Getting Started with ADO.NET
      4. Using OLE DB Managed Providers
      5. Working with Data-Bound Controls

   3. Chapter 15 Programming ASP.NET Applications and Web Services

      1. Understanding Web Forms
      2. Creating a Web Form
      3. Adding Controls
      4. Data Binding
      5. Web Services
      6. SOAP, WSDL, and Discovery
      7. Building a Web Service
      8. Creating the Proxy

   4. Chapter 16 Putting It All Together

      1. The Overall Design
      2. Creating the Web Services Client
      3. Displaying the Output
      4. Searching by Category

3. The CLR and the .NET Framework

   1. Chapter 17 Assemblies and Versioning

      1. PE Files
      2. Metadata
      3. Security Boundary
      4. Manifests
      5. Multimodule Assemblies
      6. Private Assemblies
      7. Shared Assemblies

   2. Chapter 18 Attributes and Reflection

      1. Attributes
      2. Reflection

   3. Chapter 19 Marshaling and Remoting

      1. Application Domains
      2. Context
      3. Remoting

   4. Chapter 20 Threads and Synchronization

      1. Threads
      2. Synchronization
      3. Race Conditions and Deadlocks

   5. Chapter 21 Streams

      1. Files and Directories
      2. Reading and Writing Data
      3. Asynchronous I/O
      4. Network I/O
      5. Web Streams
      6. Serialization
      7. Isolated Storage

   6. Chapter 22 Programming .NET and COM

      1. Importing ActiveX Controls
      2. Importing COM Components
      3. Exporting .NET Components
      4. P/Invoke
      5. Pointers

1. Appendix A C# Keywords

2. Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of Programming C#, Fourth Edition, is an African crowned crane. This tall, skinny bird wanders the marshes and grasslands of west and east Africa (the Western and Eastern African crowned cranes, Balearica pavonia pavonia and Balearica regulorum gibbericeps, respectively).

Adult birds stand about three feet tall and weigh six to nine pounds. Inside their long necks is a five-foot long windpipe--part of which is coiled inside their breastbone--giving voice to loud calls that can carry for miles. They live for about 22 years, spending most of their waking hours looking for the various plants, small animals, and insects they like to eat. (One crowned crane food-finding technique, perfected during the 38 to 54 million years these birds have existed, is to stamp their feet as they walk, flushing out tasty bugs.) They are the only type of crane to perch in trees, which they do at night when sleeping.

Social and talkative, African crowned cranes group together in pairs or families, and the smaller groups band together in flocks of more than 100 birds. Their elaborate mating dance has served as a model for some of the dances of local people. Mary Anne Weeks Mayo was the production editor, and Audrey Doyle was the copyeditor for Programming C#, Fourth Edition. Jamie Peppard, Matt Hutchinson, and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Lydia Onofrei and Keith Fahlgren provided production assistance. Ellen Troutman Zaig wrote the index.

Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is an original engraving from the 19th century. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with Adobe InDesign CS using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted by Julie Hawks to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano, Jessamyn Read, and Lesley Borash using Macromedia FreeHand MX and Adobe Photoshop CS. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Leanne Soylemez.