1.2 The .NET Platform

When Microsoft announced C# in July 2000, its unveiling was part of a much larger event: the announcement of the .NET platform. The .NET platform is a development framework that provides a new way to create Windows applications. However, .NET goes beyond traditional Windows programming to facilitate creating web applications quickly and easily.

Microsoft says it is devoting 80% of its research and development budget to .NET and its associated technologies. The results of this commitment are impressive. For one thing, the scope of .NET is huge. The platform consists of three separate product groups:

• A set of languages, including C# and Visual Basic .NET; a set of development tools, including Visual Studio .NET; and powerful tools for building applications, including the Common Language Runtime (CLR), a platform for compiling, debugging, and executing .NET applications.

• A set of .NET Enterprise Servers, formerly known as SQL Server 2000, Exchange 2000, BizTalk 2000, and so on, that provide specialized functionality for relational data storage, email, B2B commerce, etc.

• New .NET-enabled non-PC devices, from cell phones to game boxes.

The C# language can be used to develop three types of applications you can run on your Windows computer:

• Console applications, which display no graphics

• Windows applications, which use the standard Windows interface

• Web applications, which can be accessed with a browser

This book will focus primarily on the basics of the C# language, mostly using simple console applications to illustrate language fundamentals.