Microsoft® C# Language Specifications

Author Microsoft Corporation Pages 432 Disk N/A Level All Levels Published 04/25/2001 ISBN 9780735614482 ISBN-10 0-7356-1448-2 Price(USD) $29.99 To see this book's discounted price, select a reseller below.	More Information About the Book Table of Contents Sample Chapter Related Series Related Books About the Author Support: Book & CD Rate this book

Table of Contents

Preface	xvii
Who Is This Book For?	xvii
What’s in This Book?	xvii
A Warning	xviii
About MSDN	xviii
MSDN Online	xviii
MSDN Publications	ix
MSDN Subscriptions	ix
1. Introduction	1
1.1 Getting started	1
1.2 Types	2
1.2.1 Predefined types	5
1.2.2 Conversions	7
1.2.3 Array types	8
1.2.4 Type system unification	11
1.3 Variables and parameters	12
1.4 Automatic memory management	17
1.5 Expressions	20
1.6 Statements	21
1.7 Classes	24
1.7.1 Constants	27
1.7.2 Fields	27
1.7.3 Methods	29
1.7.4 Properties	30
1.7.5 Events	31
1.7.6 Operators	33
1.7.7 Indexers	35
1.7.8 Instance constructors	36
1.7.9 Destructors	37
1.7.10 Static constructors	38
1.7.11 Inheritance	38
1.8 Structs	40
1.9 Interfaces	41
1.10 Delegates	43
1.11 Enums	44
1.12 Namespaces and assemblies	45
1.13 Versioning	48
1.14 Attributes	51
2. Lexical structure	53
2.1 Phases of translation	53
2.2 Grammar notation	53
2.3 Lexical analysis	54
2.3.1 Input	55
2.3.2 Input characters	55
2.3.3 Line terminators	55
2.3.4 Comments	55
2.3.5 White space	57
2.4 Tokens	57
2.4.1 Unicode character escape sequences	57
2.4.2 Identifiers	58
2.4.3 Keywords	60
2.4.4 Literals	61
2.4.4.1 Boolean literals	61
2.4.4.2 Integer literals	61
2.4.4.3 Real literals	62
2.4.4.4 Character literals	63
2.4.4.5 String literals	64
2.4.4.6 The null literal	66
2.4.5 Operators and punctuators	66
2.5 Pre-processing directives	66
2.5.1 Pre-processing identifiers	67
2.5.2 Pre-processing expressions	67
2.5.3 Pre-processing declarations	68
2.5.4 #if, #elif, #else, #endif	69
2.5.5 #error and #warning	72
2.5.6 #region and #endregion	73
2.5.7 #line	73
3. Basic concepts	75
3.1 Program Startup	75
3.2 Program Termination	76
3.3 Declarations	76
3.4 Members	79
3.4.1 Namespace members	80
3.4.2 Struct members	80
3.4.3 Enumeration members	80
3.4.4 Class members	81
3.4.5 Interface members	81
3.4.6 Array members	81
3.4.7 Delegate members	81
3.5 Member access	81
3.5.1 Declared accessibility	82
3.5.2 Accessibility domains	83
3.5.3 Protected access	86
3.5.4 Accessibility constraints	87
3.6 Signatures and overloading	88
3.7 Scopes	89
3.7.1 Name hiding	92
3.7.1.1 Hiding through nesting	92
3.7.1.2 Hiding through inheritance	93
3.8 Namespace and type names	95
3.8.1 Fully qualified names	96
4. Types	99
4.1 Value types	99
4.1.1 Default constructors	100
4.1.2 Struct types	101
4.1.3 Simple types	102
4.1.4 Integral types	103
4.1.5 Floating point types	104
4.1.6 The decimal type	106
4.1.7 The bool type	106
4.1.8 Enumeration types	107
4.2 Reference types	107
4.2.1 Class types	108
4.2.2 The object type	108
4.2.3 The string type	108
4.2.4 Interface types	108
4.2.5 Array types	108
4.2.6 Delegate types	109
4.3 Boxing and unboxing	109
4.3.1 Boxing conversions	109
4.3.2 Unboxing conversions	111
5. Variables	113
5.1 Variable categories	113
5.1.1 Static variables	114
5.1.2 Instance variables	114
5.1.2.1 Instance variables in classes	114
5.1.2.2 Instance variables in structs	114
5.1.3 Array elements	114
5.1.4 Value parameters	115
5.1.5 Reference parameters	115
5.1.6 Output parameters	115
5.1.7 Local variables	116
5.2 Default values	116
5.3 Definite assignment	117
5.3.1 Initially assigned variables	120
5.3.2 Initially unassigned variables	120
5.4 Variable references	120
6. Conversions	121
6.1 Implicit conversions	121
6.1.1 Identity conversion	121
6.1.2 Implicit numeric conversions	121
6.1.3 Implicit enumeration conversions	122
6.1.4 Implicit reference conversions	122
6.1.5 Boxing conversions	123
6.1.6 Implicit constant expression conversions	123
6.1.7 User-defined implicit conversions	123
6.2 Explicit conversions	123
6.2.1 Explicit numeric conversions	124
6.2.2 Explicit enumeration conversions	125
6.2.3 Explicit reference conversions	125
6.2.4 Unboxing conversions	126
6.2.5 User-defined explicit conversions	126
6.3 Standard conversions	127
6.3.1 Standard implicit conversions	127
6.3.2 Standard explicit conversions	127
6.4 User-defined conversions	127
6.4.1 Permitted user-defined conversions	127
6.4.2 Evaluation of user-defined conversions	128
6.4.3 User-defined implicit conversions	129
6.4.4 User-defined explicit conversions	130
7. Expressions	131
7.1 Expression classifications	131
7.1.1 Values of expressions	132
7.2 Operators	133
7.2.1 Operator precedence and associativity	133
7.2.2 Operator overloading	134
7.2.3 Unary operator overload resolution	136
7.2.4 Binary operator overload resolution	136
7.2.5 Candidate user-defined operators	137
7.2.6 Numeric promotions	137
7.2.6.1 Unary numeric promotions	137
7.2.6.2 Binary numeric promotions	138
7.3 Member lookup	139
7.3.1 Base types	139
7.4 Function members	140
7.4.1 Argument lists	142
7.4.2 Overload resolution	145
7.4.2.1 Applicable function member	146
7.4.2.2 Better function member	147
7.4.2.3 Better conversion	147
7.4.3 Function member invocation	148
7.4.3.1 Invocations on boxed instances	149
7.4.4 Virtual function member lookup	150
7.4.5 Interface function member lookup	150
7.5 Primary expressions	150
7.5.1 Literals	150
7.5.2 Simple names	150
7.5.2.1 Invariant meaning in blocks	151
7.5.3 Parenthesized expressions	153
7.5.4 Member access	153
7.5.4.1 Identical simple names and type names	155
7.5.5 Invocation expressions	155
7.5.5.1 Method invocations	156
7.5.5.2 Delegate invocations	157
7.5.6 Element access	158
7.5.6.1 Array access	158
7.5.6.2 Indexer access	159
7.5.6.3 String indexing	160
7.5.7 This access	160
7.5.8 Base access	161
7.5.9 Postfix increment and decrement operators	161
7.5.10 new operator	162
7.5.10.1 Object creation expressions	163
7.5.10.2 Array creation expressions	164
7.5.10.3 Delegate creation expressions	166
7.5.11 typeof operator	168
7.5.12 checked and unchecked operators	169
7.6 Unary expressions	172
7.6.1 Unary plus operator	172
7.6.2 Unary minus operator	173
7.6.3 Logical negation operator	173
7.6.4 Bitwise complement operator	174
7.6.5 Indirection operator	174
7.6.6 Address operator	174
7.6.7 Prefix increment and decrement operators	174
7.6.8 Cast expressions	175
7.7 Arithmetic operators	176
7.7.1 Multiplication operator	177
7.7.2 Division operator	178
7.7.3 Remainder operator	179
7.7.4 Addition operator	180
7.7.5 Subtraction operator	182
7.8 Shift operators	183
7.9 Relational operators	185
7.9.1 Integer comparison operators	186
7.9.2 Floating-point comparison operators	186
7.9.3 Decimal comparison operators	187
7.9.4 Boolean equality operators	187
7.9.5 Enumeration comparison operators	188
7.9.6 Reference type equality operators	188
7.9.7 String equality operators	190
7.9.8 Delegate equality operators	190
7.9.9 The is operator	191
7.9.10 The as operator	192
7.10 Logical operators	193
7.10.1 Integer logical operators	193
7.10.2 Enumeration logical operators	194
7.10.3 Boolean logical operators	194
7.11 Conditional logical operators	194
7.11.1 Boolean conditional logical operators	195
7.11.2 User-defined conditional logical operators	195
7.12 Conditional operator	196
7.13 Assignment operators	197
7.13.1 Simple assignment	198
7.13.2 Compound assignment	200
7.13.3 Event assignment	201
7.14 Expression	201
7.15 Constant expressions	202
7.16 Boolean expressions	203
8. Statements	205
8.1 End points and reachability	205
8.2 Blocks	207
8.2.1 Statement lists	208
8.3 The empty statement	208
8.4 Labeled statements	209
8.5 Declaration statements	210
8.5.1 Local variable declarations	210
8.5.2 Local constant declarations	211
8.6 Expression statements	212
8.7 Selection statements	212
8.7.1 The if statement	212
8.7.2 The switch statement	214
8.8 Iteration statements	218
8.8.1 The while statement	218
8.8.2 The do statement	219
8.8.3 The for statement	220
8.8.4 The foreach statement	221
8.9 Jump statements	223
8.9.1 The break statement	224
8.9.2 The continue statement	225
8.9.3 The goto statement	225
8.9.4 The return statement	227
8.9.5 The throw statement	227
8.10 The try statement	229
8.11 The checked and unchecked statements	232
8.12 The lock statement	232
8.13 The using statement	233
9. Namespaces	237
9.1 Compilation units	237
9.2 Namespace declarations	238
9.3 Using directives	239
9.3.1 Using alias directives	240
9.3.2 Using namespace directives	243
9.4 Namespace members	245
9.5 Type declarations	245
10. Classes	247
10.1 Class declarations	247
10.1.1 Class modifiers	247
10.1.1.1 Abstract classes	248
10.1.1.2 Sealed classes	248
10.1.2 Class base specification	249
10.1.2.1 Base classes	249
10.1.2.2 Interface implementations	250
10.1.3 Class body	251
10.2 Class members	251
10.2.1 Inheritance	252
10.2.2 The new modifier	253
10.2.3 Access modifiers	253
10.2.4 Constituent types	254
10.2.5 Static and instance members	254
10.2.6 Nested types	255
10.3 Constants	255
10.4 Fields	257
10.4.1 Static and instance fields	259
10.4.2 Readonly fields	259
10.4.2.1 Using static readonly fields for constants	260
10.4.2.2 Versioning of constants and static readonly fields	260
10.4.3 Field initialization	261
10.4.4 Variable initializers	261
10.4.4.1 Static field initialization	263
10.4.4.2 Instance field initialization	263
10.5 Methods	263
10.5.1 Method parameters	265
10.5.1.1 Value parameters	266
10.5.1.2 Reference parameters	266
10.5.1.3 Output parameters	267
10.5.1.4 Parameter arrays	269
10.5.2 Static and instance methods	272
10.5.3 Virtual methods	272
10.5.4 Override methods	275
10.5.5 Sealed methods	277
10.5.6 Abstract methods	278
10.5.7 External methods	280
10.5.8 Method body	281
10.5.9 Method overloading	281
10.6 Properties	282
10.6.1 Static properties	283
10.6.2 Accessors	283
10.6.3 Virtual, sealed, override, and abstract accessors	290
10.7 Events	292
10.7.1 Event accessors	294
10.7.2 Static events	296
10.7.3 Virtual, sealed, override, and abstract accessors	296
10.8 Indexers	297
10.8.1 Indexer overloading	300
10.9 Operators	301
10.9.1 Unary operators	302
10.9.2 Binary operators	302
10.9.3 Conversion operators	303
10.10 Instance constructors	304
10.10.1 Constructor initializers	306
10.10.2 Instance variable initializers	307
10.10.3 Constructor execution	307
10.10.4 Default constructors	309
10.10.5 Private constructors	310
10.10.6 Optional constructor parameters	310
10.11 Static constructors	311
10.12 Destructors	314
11. Structs	315
11.1 Struct declarations	315
11.1.1 Struct modifiers	316
11.1.2 Struct interfaces	316
11.1.3 Struct body	316
11.2 Struct members	317
11.3 Class and struct differences	317
11.3.1 Value semantics	317
11.3.2 Inheritance	318
11.3.3 Assignment	318
11.3.4 Default values	319
11.3.5 Boxing and unboxing	320
11.3.6 Meaning of this	320
11.3.7 Field initializers	320
11.3.8 Constructors	321
11.3.9 Destructors	321
11.4 Struct examples	321
11.4.1 Database integer type	321
11.4.2 Database boolean type	323
12. Arrays	325
12.1 Array types	325
12.1.1 The System.Array type	326
12.2 Array creation	326
12.3 Array element access	327
12.4 Array members	327
12.5 Array covariance	327
12.6 Array initializers	328
13. Interfaces	331
13.1 Interface declarations	331
13.1.1 Interface modifiers	331
13.1.2 Base interfaces	332
13.1.3 Interface body	333
13.2 Interface members	333
13.2.1 Interface methods	334
13.2.2 Interface properties	335
13.2.3 Interface events	335
13.2.4 Interface indexers	335
13.2.5 Interface member access	336
13.3 Fully qualified interface member names	338
13.4 Interface implementations	339
13.4.1 Explicit interface member implementations	340
13.4.2 Interface mapping	342
13.4.3 Interface implementation inheritance	346
13.4.4 Interface re-implementation	348
13.4.5 Abstract classes and interfaces	350
14. Enums	351
14.1 Enum declarations	351
14.2 Enum modifiers	352
14.3 Enum members	352
14.4 Enum values and operations	355
15. Delegates	357
15.1 Delegate declarations	357
15.1.1 Combinable delegate types	358
15.2 Delegate instantiation	358
15.3 Multi-cast delegates	359
15.4 Delegate invocation	359
16. Exceptions	361
16.1 Causes of exceptions	361
16.2 The System.Exception class	361
16.3 How exceptions are handled	362
16.4 Common Exception Classes	363
17. Attributes	365
17.1 Attribute classes	365
17.1.1 The AttributeUsage attribute	365
17.1.2 Positional and named parameters	366
17.1.3 Attribute parameter types	367
17.2 Attribute specification	368
17.3 Attribute instances	371
17.3.1 Compilation of an attribute	372
17.3.2 Run-time retrieval of an attribute instance	372
17.4 Reserved attributes	373
17.4.1 The AttributeUsage attribute	373
17.4.2 The Conditional attribute	374
17.4.3 The Obsolete attribute	377
A. Unsafe code	379
A.1 Unsafe contexts	379
A.2 Pointer types	381
A.3 Fixed and moveable variables	383
A.4 Pointer conversions	384
A.5 Pointers in expressions	384
A.5.1 Pointer indirection	385
A.5.2 Pointer member access	385
A.5.3 Pointer element access	386
A.5.4 The address-of operator	387
A.5.5 Pointer increment and decrement	388
A.5.6 Pointer arithmetic	389
A.5.7 Pointer comparison	389
A.5.8 The sizeof operator	390
A.6 The fixed statement	390
A.7 Stack allocation	393
A.8 Dynamic memory allocation	394
B. Interoperability	397
B.1 The ComAliasName attribute	397
B.2 The ComImport attribute	397
B.3 The ComRegisterFunction attribute	398
B.4 The ComSourceInterfaces attribute	398
B.5 The ComUnregisterFunction attribute	399
B.6 The ComVisible attribute	399
B.7 The DispId attribute	400
B.8 The DllImport attribute	400
B.9 The FieldOffset attribute	401
B.10 The Guid attribute	402
B.11 The HasDefaultInterface attribute	402
B.12 The ImportedFromTypeLib attribute	403
B.13 The In and Out attributes	403
B.14 The IndexerName attribute	404
B.15 The InterfaceType attribute	404
B.16 The MarshalAs attribute	405
B.17 The NoIDispatch attribute	405
B.18 The PreserveSig attribute	406
B.19 The StructLayout attribute	406
B.20 The TypeLibFunc attribute	407
B.21 The TypeLibType attribute	407
B.22 The TypeLibVar attribute	407
B.23 Supporting enums	408
C. References	411

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Last Updated: Saturday, July 7, 2001