In 2000, .NET revolutionized the way we create both web and Windows applications. .NET 2.0 was a dramaticinc remental improvement over .NET 1.0. This book covers C# 3.0 and .NET 3.5, and this time we are looking at an even more significant set of changes. C# 3.0 introduces a new generation of changes to a framework that takes an enormous leap forward, revolutionizing the way we program Windows applications, web services, and, to a lesser degree, web applications.

In 2000, I wrote in the first edition of this book that Microsoft had “bet the company” on .NET. It was a good bet. In 2007, I bet my career on .NET by joining Microsoft as senior program manager in the Silverlight Development Division. Because one way (my preferred way) to program Silverlight is with C#, I have the opportunity to stay very current with this mature yet rapidly evolving language. It is an exciting time for C#; version 3.0 adds a number of tremendously useful features, and the newest edition of Visual Studio makes programming with these features easier than ever. It is my goal that you’ll find Programming C# 3.0 to be of great use whether this is your first exposure to .NET programming, or you’ve been at it for some time. I’ll start with the fundamentals, and introduce new additions to the language not as obscure add-ons, but as the integrated features that they are. If you are already a C# 2.0 programmer, feel free to skim through the parts you know. The new features are called out by appropriate headings; you won’t inadvertently skip over them. But be sure to reread Chapter 12, and all of Parts II and III.