[immeraufdemhund]

Sorry if this has been asked, I was thinking about these questions while I was getting ready to leave, and so I haven't had a chance to really look up anything (like I will do when I get home).

I've been in Java programming for a long time, and like how it looks and feels, and I've found very good resources (mainly talking about Oracle's API) on every aspect of Java. That being said now that I've decided to try and learn C# I find my self looking for the very same things out of it, but am finding it hard to find and navigate through the MSDN. (Which is why I gave up on C++) I have found though if i type in a class and append C# google takes me directly to the MSDN article which is nice. So this is my first question. If i have a question on how to use or implement a object in my code were is a good place to have all the API at my fingertips sorta like the oracle's API? (does such a thing exist?)

Second question is because netbeans is so horrible at generating code using the GUI builder I've become accustomed to making all my windows by hand. I like the versatility of most of the Layouts. Does c# have layouts? Should I use the visual c# gui builder?

Also I have come to the point now were I extend almost all my visual aspects of my program. I'll extend JFrame from my main class. I'll add custome JPanels all over the place. I'll extend JButtons frequently. Does c# do that? Should I do that in c#?

I know it's not fair to compare one language to another because they were build with different audiences in mind, and built for specific platforms (if universal is specific ) But I've just been working with it for so long it is hard not to compare the too and revert to my old habits from java while learning and using C#.

Last question. I've been learning how to use the WMI for c# and I have to say that is a SUPER cool feature of c#. I'm actually trying to make a program for work that gathers a ton of information about the computer we are working on so I know if it was configured correctly, and WMI almost has all the features I'm looking for... But is it really the tool I should be using? Is it slow, does it take up a lot resources?

[tlhIn`toq]

immeraufdemhund, on 08 January 2012 - 09:06 AM, said:

I have found though if i type in a class and append C# google takes me directly to the MSDN article which is nice.

The very same advice we dispense regularly and I even wrote a 'how to' article on.

tlhin`toq said:

Finding answers to specific problems:
Sometimes just knowing where to look can make all the difference. Google is your friend.
Search with either "C#" or "MSDN" as the first word: "MSDN Picturebox", "C# Custom Events", "MSDN timer" etc.
How to do a good search that will get you targeted answers.

immeraufdemhund, on 08 January 2012 - 09:06 AM, said:

If i have a question on how to use or implement a object in my code were is a good place to have all the API at my fingertips

That would be the MSDN. Though I think it is often a dry read. But that is where it *all* will be. Next after 'all' is 'most common need' and that's just a matter of digging through Google results for how to's and tutorials and blog listtings depending on the complexity of what you are searching out.

immeraufdemhund, on 08 January 2012 - 09:06 AM, said:

Should I use the visual c# gui builder?

That would be Visual Studio. There are free versions.
Free editions of Visual Studio 2010

immeraufdemhund, on 08 January 2012 - 09:06 AM, said:

Does c# do that? Should I do that in c#?

Yes it does. Yes you can. 'Should' you depends on your needs.

I know it's not fair to compare one language to another because they were build with different audiences in mind, and built for specific platforms (if universal is specific ) But I've just been working with it for so long it is hard not to compare the too and revert to my old habits from java while learning and using C#.

immeraufdemhund, on 08 January 2012 - 09:06 AM, said:

Last question. I've been learning how to use the WMI for c# and I have to say that is a SUPER cool feature of c#. I'm actually trying to make a program for work that gathers a ton of information about the computer we are working on so I know if it was configured correctly, and WMI almost has all the features I'm looking for... But is it really the tool I should be using? Is it slow, does it take up a lot resources?

As a rule, we try to write software without knowing the nuts and bolts of the hardware. Certainly without depending on it. But if you are writing a hard drive defragging tool, then you have a need to get down to that level. If you are writing a vacation time scheduling app, then you don't have that need.

There's a lot of stuff in this resources post I give to rookies. Some might be helpful to you, some not.

---

Resources, references and suggestions for new programmers. - Updated Dec 2011

---

Spoiler

Quote

I already have a background in programming from this other software/technology/lanugage so I don't think I need to do tutorials

Here's how I look at doing tutorials even if one has a coding background that makes one think they don't need to do tutorials:

• If one's background really is enough to not need the tutorials, then they won't take long - So what's the harm?
  
• If the tutorials do take a while, then it might be time to re-think how much of one's old experience really applies to the new technology.
  
• There's no down-side. Every tutorial/series teaches something in a new way. Maybe you pick up a neat trick or a different approach to something that you already knew.

The stages of asking for homework help on a forum

Finding answers to specific problems:
Sometimes just knowing where to look can make all the difference. Google is your friend.
Search with either "C#" or "MSDN" as the first word: "MSDN Picturebox", "C# Custom Events", "MSDN timer" etc.
How to do a good search that will get you targeted answers.

Once you have that MSDN page that describes the function, you may not be familiar with out to actually get useful information from that page. There is a LOT of data there. So what is the important parts? Read this guide to reading the MSDN.

Don't think you are the first person to ask a question. Try a search on this site to see if someone has already brought up this problem. Also, as soon as you post your question go to the bottom of the updated page: You will see where the system has already analyzed your question and tried to find similar threads for the same question, so check those links out.

But honestly, just typing away and seeing what pops up in Intellisense is going to make your self-education take 20 years. You can learn by trying to reverse engineer the language through banging on the keyboard experimentation - or you can learn by doing the tutorials and following a good "How to learn C#" book. There are so many great "How do I build my first application" tutorials on the web... There are dozens of "Learn C# in 21 days", "My first C# program" type books at your local book seller or even public library.

Beginner:
C# Fundamentals: Development for absolute beginners
Build a Program Now! in Visual C# by Microsoft Press, ISBN 0-7356-2542-5 is a terrific book that has you build a Windows Forms application, a WPF app, a database application, your own web browser.

Martyr2's mega project ideas list is a great place to start on developmental projectst that you can learn from; rather than trying to make something complex like a game as a self-teaching tool {that never works for anyone}

Visual Studio Keyboard Shortcuts

D.I.C. C# Resource page Start here
Intro to C# online tutorial then here...
C# control structures then here.
MSDN Beginner Developer video series
MSDN video on OOP principals, making classes, constructors, accessors and method overloading
MSDN Top guideline violations, know what to avoid before you do it.
Design patterns as diagrams

I hate sending people to another site when we have such good tutorials here, but this series shouldn't be overlooked.
Programming OOP in C# - Part 1
Programming OOP in C# - Part 2
Programming OOP in C# - Part 3
Programming OOP in C# - Part 4
Programming OOP in C# - Part 5

Writing a text file is always one of the first things people want to do, in order to store data like high-scores, preferences and so on.
Writing a text file tutorial.
Reading a text file tutorial.

Have you seen the 500+ MSDN Code Samples? They spent a lot of time creating samples and demos. It seems a shame to not use them.

Intermediate:
The tutorials below walk through making an application including inheritance, custom events and custom controls, object serialization and more.
Bulding an application - Part 1
Building an application - Part 2
Quick and easy custom events
Separating data from GUI - PLUS - serializing the data to XML
WPF version (WPF-MVVM data binding)
Passing values between forms/classes
Decouple your multi-threaded work from the GUI so forms don't hang

Working with environmental variables
'Why do we use delegates?' thread
And everyone always wants to connect to a database, right out of the gate so Database tutorials right here on DIC

C# Cookbooks
Are a great place to get good code, broken down by need, written by coding professionals. You can use the code as-is, but take the time to actually study it. These professionals write in a certain style for a reason developed by years of experience and heartache.

Everyone:
Debugging tutorial
Debugging tips
Debugging in detail
Great debugging tips
It still doesn't work, article

I urge you to work through the C# learning series here on DIC, and to work a self-teaching book from cover to cover before you even think about designing your own applications.
Microsoft Visual Studio Tips, 251 ways to improve your productivity, Microsoft press, ISBN 0-7356-2640-5 Has many, many great, real-world tips that I use all the time.

These are just good every-day references to put in your bookmarks.
MSDN C# Developers Center with tutorials
Welcome to Visual Studio
Free editions of Visual Studio 2010

Windows Presentation Foundation:
Create Animations Programmatically

Let me also throw in a couple tips:

• You have to program as if everything breaks, nothing works, the cyberworld is not perfect, the attached hardware is flakey, the network is slow and unreliable, the harddrive is about to fail, every method will return an error and every user will do their best to break your software. Confirm everything. Range check every value. Make no assumptions or presumptions.
  
  
• Take the extra 3 seconds to rename your controls each time you drag them onto a form. The default names of button1, button2... button54 aren't very helpful. If you rename them right away to something like btnOk, btnCancel, btnSend etc. it helps tremendously when you make the methods for them because they are named after the button by the designer.btnSend_Click(object sender, eventargs e) is a lot easier to maintain than button1_click(object sender, eventargs e)
  
  
• You aren't paying for variable names by the byte. So instead of variables names of a, b, c go ahead and use meaningful names like Index, TimeOut, Row, Column and so on. You should avoid 'T' for the timer. Amongst other things 'T' is commonly used throughout C# for Type and this will lead to problems. There are naming guidelines you should follow so your code confirms to industry standards. It makes life much easier on everyone around you, including those of us here to help. If you start using the standards from the beginning you don't have to retrain yourself later.
  
  
• Try to avoid having work actually take place in GUI control event handlers. It is usually better to have the GUI handler call other methods so those methods can be reused and make the code more readible.
  
  Spoiler

  
  

  btnSave(object sender, eventargs e)
  {
      SavePreferences();
  }
  
  SaveMenuItem(object sender, eventargs e)
  {
      SavePreferences();
  }
  
  SaveContextMenu(object sender, eventargs e)
  {
      SavePreferences();
  }
  
  FormMain_Closing(object sender, eventargs e)
  {
      if (IsDirty) SavePreferences();
  }
  

  
  
  
• I strongly suggest installing VMware or some other virtualization technology on your development PC so you can create a couple virtual computers for testing. This would allow you to debug and test inside: WinXP32, XP64, Vista, Win7x32, Win7x64... etc. without having to actually have 5 physical PC's. Visual Studio will let you send the debug directly into one of these virtual machines so you can watch it operate, check its variables, see the crashes and so on just as if it were debugging on your real machine.
  
  
• This can't be stressed enough in today's world of cell phone messaging:
  Don't use txt/sms/leet/T9 speak like: u no, u r, dnt, wut i m do-n, coz, al gud, b4, ny1, and so on like this guy:
  
  dis not b d'hood dawg... You are sitting at a real keyboard with a real monitor, not a cell phone. You are not here texting your high school posse to come to your kegger after their shift at Taco Bell. You are here asking for help from senior coding professionals who graciously donate their valuable time to helping the next generation of coders with their chosen craft. Please try to show them, yourself and the industry some respect by writing at least at an eighth grade level. (IE: English not ebonics or SMS, real words, punctuation and so on). If you can't take your own problem/question seriously enough to write like an adult, then why would you expect anyone else to take it seriously?
  
  When you write a post you are presenting yourself. Your writing style is all you have to show others who you are and what you stand for. When I see posts filled with lack of capitalization, SMS text like 'Urself', lack of punctuation and so on; what I see is someone who just doesn't care to make even an eighth grade presentation of themselves. I also see that you feel we are not worth the effort. Posts that look like this show that you don't feel the person you are talking to is worth speaking to as an adult. If you show this level of contempt or apathy towards someone you are asking for help how can you expect to be taken seriously or expect to receive that expert's fullest attention and time to help you?

[Curtis Rutland]

Quote

Second question is because netbeans is so horrible at generating code using the GUI builder I've become accustomed to making all my windows by hand. I like the versatility of most of the Layouts. Does c# have layouts? Should I use the visual c# gui builder?

Also I have come to the point now were I extend almost all my visual aspects of my program. I'll extend JFrame from my main class. I'll add custome JPanels all over the place. I'll extend JButtons frequently. Does c# do that? Should I do that in c#?

Well, the C# GUI builder is far more worthy of your trust than the netbeans one. Feel free to use it, because coding a UI by hand is a pain in the ass.

As for extending, you can, but it's not really the common way, like it is in Java. If you need a custom behavior or look for a component, you can make a UserControl.

As for "Layouts" I wouldn't know, because I haven't done any Swing. On the other hand, if you're really looking for flexibility, I suggest WPF. It's by far the most versatile GUI building mechanism I've ever seen, and it keeps the code away from the UI building. It's XML-based, so you get logical separation.

Also, I'm moving this topic to the advanced discussion, since it's not really a help topic, but more of a discussion.

[immeraufdemhund]

Quote

As for extending, you can, but it's not really the common way, like it is in Java. If you need a custom behavior or look for a component, you can make a UserControl.

interesting. I was noticing that visual studios extended Form and a few other things. I will have to look into user control because for the program I have been working on I started extending different controls such as Labels and TextBox's so that they would all be uniform in size, border, and design. I made a few functions to mimic the gridLayout in java. I don't like how I did it though, but I deffinatly don't like using hard coded numbers even more. I like that I can change the size of all my components and it automatically adjusts the location on the screen of each of my components like I am used to.

as a side note I half way considered making my own "JPanel" and having a custom Layout for each. But then I was like nah... So i ended up opening up the GUI builder and watching how it did padding and locations and lining up. So far as I can figure it just always hard codes the numbers in, and like I said I just don't like that. It makes me uneasy. What if a user resizes the form? or in my case what if I switch resolutions? I find that to be the difficult part in using hard coded numbers. In fact I ran into that at work. Our head programmer made our tracking software for each computer that we fix/build. He uses a Visual system, and has it put in all the numbers. But the problem is that the people in sales have a 20" widescreen monitor at a normal widescreen resolution. The tech room has a 15" running 1024x?768?. So when we open the program the edges of the program are lost. many of the text boxes aren't sized correctly, and many other nitpicking things. Oh well. I guess I shouldn't complain too much I just am of the opinion that if a professional programmer makes something then asside from a few bugs here and there the program should be close to perfect. None of this weird sizing things. Can you imagine how many people would buy MS windows if something as silly as sizing was not paid attention too? I would imagine the numbers would drop considerably. Enough of me ranting. Thank you very much for helping me get a better grasp of becoming a C# programmer.

[Curtis Rutland]

Quote

It makes me uneasy. What if a user resizes the form? or in my case what if I switch resolutions? I find that to be the difficult part in using hard coded numbers.

For this, the "Anchor" property defines how components attach to edges. I don't work with WinForms that much, so I don't remember all the mechanics off the top of my head, but it's both possible and fairly easy to make a resize-friendly form. There's also an AutoSize and AutoSizeMode property as well. Also, some controls have a Dock property. They just default to absolute positions and sizes because that's the easiest behavior to predict.

Also, you should look in the "Containers" tab of the GUI Builder Toolbox. There's some Panels that allow you to mimic some of the Layouts you're looking for. There's a FlowLayoutPanel, a SplitContainer, and a TableLayoutPanel. These should help somewhat.

Again, though, if you're looking for serious flexibility, I suggest you look into WPF. It's amazing what you can create with that.

Quote

I was noticing that visual studios extended Form and a few other things. I will have to look into user control because for the program I have been working on I started extending different controls such as Labels and TextBox's so that they would all be uniform in size, border, and design.

Well, I didn't even think about it like that. For forms, you actually are making your own class and extending Form, so that's a lot like extending JPanel. You could extend Button and TextBox if you really wanted to set some of those things, but if you're using the GUI builder, it doesn't help that much. As for in-code UI elements, I'd prefer some sort of method that would create a button, and set all the properties to my defaults, then returns the button (sort of like a constructor would, but without the overhead of a new class).