Introduction

This is our second book on C# so we have assumed that you have read our first book, 'C# - The Basics'. It contains a lot more on the C# language that we could not cover in the first one.

We have read a lot on what Microsoft and others have written, and wherever we liked the idea, we simply copied it. And because we have picked from so many places, there was just no way we could mention each and every of them. If you like an idea in this volume, please do the same. The objective is to spread the C# message!

People often tend to compare C# with Java. It is with reason, and there's nothing wrong in doing so. All that we would like to say is that C# has everything of Java and more. But very soon, you could well have Java or some other language that betters C#'s act.

Today, C# is king of the hill, but we don't know how long it will last. If and when the king is dethroned, we will be there paying our respects to the new king. With a new book, of course.

We are basically teachers, and believe that a book is a simple extension of teaching. So in our books, we go step-by-step and systematically because that is the way one teaches in real-life.

Requirements

The software requirements to successfully run all the programs in this book are

• Operating System - Windows 2000

• Internet Explorer 5.5

• .Net Framework SDK Beta 2 (111 MB)

Internet Explorer 5.5 can be downloaded off the Microsoft site

• http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/download/ie55sp1.htm

The .Net Framework SDK Beta 2 can be downloaded off the Microsoft site

• http://download.microsoft.com/download/VisualStudioNET/Trial/2.0/W982KMeXP/EN-US/setup.exe

Alternatively, you can visit the download section at Microsoft ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/default.asp ) and download the .Net framework SDK Beta 2 under the Software Development Kit option.

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank a number of people who gave us their support, new ideas and inspiration while writing this book.

First and foremost, thanks to Manish Jain, BPB Publications for publishing the book.

We are grateful to Shivani Maheshwari for editing the book in a very short span of time.

To Altaf Hemani and Kishore Rohra, for designing the cover.

Thanks to Manish Purohit for putting in late hours, formatting and aligning the text in the book. Manish has also painstakingly tried out all the programs in the book and updated them to work under the Beta 2 version of the product.

To Pradeep Mukhi and Shivanand Shetty, who have always been there, as a source of inspiration and encouragement.

My Mother, Shana Aunty and a long list of friends need a mention here for their patience and cooperation on this book while it was being written.

Vijay Mukhi

Sonal Mukhi