Programming Microsoft Visual C# 2005 - The Base Class Library

by Balena, Francesco

• ISBN13: 9780735623088
• ISBN10: 0735623082
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-04-12
• Publisher: Microsoft Press

Summary

Get the guidance you need to master the intricacies of the .NET Framework base class library using Visual C#and learn best practices for developing robust code efficiently. With hands-on programming instruction, expert insights, and practical examples, professional developers learn how to customize classes and solve sophisticated development problems for any kind of application.Discover how to: Use generic types defined in the .NET Frameworkor author your ownto solve recurring programming problems Master regular expressions to perform complex text searches and sophisticated input validation Use iterators, anonymous methods, and asynchronous delegates Take code reuse to the next level with reflection Use custom attribute to implement plug-in architectures and n-tier applications Serialize complex objects to file or database fields Address versioning issues with large programs and multiple executables Apply multithreading techniques to help avoid resource-sharing issues Work with unmanaged code and COM components by using PInvoke and COM InteropPLUSGet code samples on the Web

Author Biography

Francesco Balena is a well-known and highly regarded developer and author. He has written numerous Microsoft Press books, including the widely acclaimed Programming Microsoft Visual Basic titles, and edits a popular Web site on .NET programming. Francesco is a cofounder of Code Architects srl, an Italian software company that specializes in using Microsoft technologies to create enterprise-level solutions and programming tools. In addition, he is a regional director for MSDN Italy, and a frequent speaker at developer conferences.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xv
Introduction	xvii
.NET Framework Basic Types	1	(50)
The System.Object Type	1	(6)
Public and Protected Methods	2	(2)
Value Types and Reference Types	4	(2)
Boxing and Unboxing	6	(1)
String Types	7	(24)
Properties and Methods	7	(7)
The Missing Methods	14	(2)
String Optimizations	16	(2)
The Culturelnfo Type	18	(2)
The Encoding Class	20	(1)
Formatting Numeric Values	21	(3)
Formatting Date Values	24	(3)
The Char Type	27	(1)
The StringBuilder Type	27	(2)
The SecureString Type	29	(2)
Numeric Types	31	(7)
Properties and Methods	32	(1)
Formatting Numbers	33	(1)
Parsing Strings into Numbers	34	(1)
The Convert Type	35	(2)
Random Number Generator	37	(1)
The DateTime Type	38	(9)
Adding and Subtracting Dates	39	(2)
Formatting Dates	41	(1)
Parsing Dates	42	(2)
Working with Time Zones	44	(2)
The TimeZone Type	46	(1)
The Guid Type	46	(1)
Enums	47	(4)
Displaying and Parsing Enum Values	48	(1)
Other Enum Methods	49	(1)
Bit-Coded Values	50	(1)
Object Lifetime	51	(30)
Memory Management in the .NET Framework	51	(15)
The Garbage Collection Process	51	(1)
The Finalize Method	52	(3)
The Dispose Method	55	(3)
Combining the Dispose and Finalize Methods	58	(2)
A Better Dispose-Finalize Pattern	60	(2)
Finalizers in Derived Classes	62	(1)
A Simplified Approach to Finalization	63	(3)
Advanced Techniques	66	(15)
Generations	66	(2)
Garbage Collection and Performance	68	(5)
Weak Object References	73	(2)
Object Resurrection	75	(3)
Garbage Collection on Multiple-CPU Computers	78	(3)
Interfaces	81	(24)
Interfaces and Code Reuse	81	(4)
Using .NET Interfaces	85	(20)
The IComparable Interface	85	(2)
The IComparer Interface	87	(3)
The lCloneable Interface	90	(2)
The IDisposable Interface	92	(2)
Writing Collection Classes	94	(6)
Reusable Enumerable Adapters	100	(5)
Generics	105	(42)
The Need for Generics	106	(4)
The Traditional Solution	106	(2)
The Generics-Based Solution	108	(2)
Authoring Generic Types	110	(21)
Generic Parameters	110	(13)
Generic Constraints	123	(8)
Advanced Topics	131	(16)
Nullable Types	131	(5)
Support for Math Operators	136	(3)
Generics and Events	139	(4)
Object Pools	143	(4)
Arrays and Collections	147	(54)
The Array Type	147	(16)
Sorting Elements	149	(2)
Clearing, Copying, and Moving Elements	151	(4)
Searching Values	155	(1)
Jagged Arrays	156	(2)
Generic Methods	158	(5)
The System.Collections Namespace	163	(21)
The ICollection, IList, and IDictionary Interfaces	163	(1)
The ArrayList Type	164	(4)
The Hashtable Type	168	(4)
The SortedList Type	172	(3)
Other Collections	175	(4)
Abstract Types for Strong-Typed Collections	179	(5)
Generic Collections	184	(17)
The List Generic Type	185	(4)
The Dictionary Generic Type	189	(2)
The LinkedList Generic Type	191	(3)
Other Generic Collections	194	(3)
The System.Generic.ObjectModel Namespace	197	(4)
Regular Expressions	201	(42)
Regular Expression Overview	202	(11)
The Fundamentals	202	(2)
The Regular Expression Language	204	(6)
Regular Expression Options	210	(3)
Regular Expression Types	213	(10)
The Regex Type	213	(7)
The MatchCollection and Match Types	220	(1)
The Group Type	221	(1)
The CaptureCollection and Capture Types	222	(1)
Regular Expressions at Work	223	(20)
Common Regex Patterns	223	(3)
Searching for Words and Quoted Strings	226	(3)
Validating Strings, Numbers, and Dates	229	(2)
Searching for Nested Tags	231	(2)
Parsing Data Files	233	(2)
Parsing and Evaluating Expressions	235	(4)
Playing with Regular Expressions (Literally)	239	(4)
Files, Directories, and Streams	243	(42)
The Path Type	244	(1)
The Directory and File Types	245	(6)
Enumerating Directories and Files	245	(2)
Manipulating Directories and Files	247	(2)
Reading and Writing Files	249	(2)
The DirectoryInfo and FileInfo Types	251	(2)
The DriveInfo Type	253	(1)
The FileSystemWatcher Type	254	(6)
Initializing a FileSystemWatcher Component	255	(1)
Getting Notifications	256	(3)
Troubleshooting	259	(1)
Working with Access Control Lists	260	(7)
Account Names and Security Identifiers	260	(1)
The DirectorySecurity and FileSecurity Types	261	(4)
Modifying ACLs	265	(2)
The Stream Type	267	(7)
Stream Operations	267	(2)
Stream Readers and Writers	269	(1)
Reading and Writing Text Files	269	(4)
Reading and Writing Binary Files	273	(1)
Other Stream Types	274	(11)
Memory Streams	274	(2)
String-Based Streams	276	(1)
Network Streams	276	(4)
Buffered Streams	280	(1)
Compressed Streams	281	(4)
Assemblies and Resources	285	(50)
Assemblies	285	(12)
Private and Shared Assemblies	286	(3)
Strong Names	289	(3)
Installing in the GAC	292	(2)
Assembly-Level Attributes	294	(2)
The InternalsVisible To Attribute	296	(1)
Strong-Typed Settings	297	(7)
The Properties.Settings Object	297	(7)
Resources and Satellite Assemblies	304	(12)
Strong-Typed Resources	304	(3)
Manifest Resources	307	(2)
Localized Form Resources	309	(3)
Localized Strong-Typed String Resources	312	(1)
Custom Resource Files	313	(1)
Satellite Assemblies	314	(2)
Attributes for Satellite Assemblies	316	(1)
The Binding Process	316	(12)
Version Policy in Application Configuration Files	317	(3)
Previously Loaded Assemblies and GAC Searches	320	(1)
Codebase Hints	321	(1)
Probing	322	(2)
The Assembly Binding Log Viewer Utility (FUSLOGVW)	324	(1)
Setting the Runtime Version	325	(1)
The .NET Framework Configuration Tool	326	(2)
The NGen Tool	328	(7)
Using the NGen Tool	329	(2)
Using the NGen Service	331	(1)
Debugging Native Images	332	(1)
Attributes for NGen	333	(2)
Reflection	335	(66)
Working with Assemblies and Modules	336	(8)
The Assembly Type	336	(6)
The AssemblyName Type	342	(1)
The Module Type	343	(1)
Working with Types	344	(27)
Retrieving a Type Object	344	(7)
Exploring Type Members	351	(7)
Reflecting on Generics	358	(6)
Reflecting on Attributes	364	(5)
Creating a Custom Object Browser	369	(2)
Reflection at Run Time	371	(30)
Creating an Object Dynamically	371	(2)
Accessing Members	373	(1)
The InvokeMember Method	374	(1)
The StackTrace Object	375	(4)
Creating a Universal Comparer	379	(3)
Dynamic Registration of Event Handlers	382	(6)
Scheduling a Sequence of Actions	388	(5)
On-the-Fly Compilation	393	(3)
Performance Considerations	396	(1)
Security Issues	397	(4)
Custom Attributes	401	(52)
Introducing Custom Attributes	402	(5)
Building a Custom Attribute Class	402	(3)
Reflecting on a Custom Attribute	405	(2)
A Custom Attribute for CSV Serialization	407	(7)
Building a Benchmark Tool	414	(4)
Writing Plug-ins for Windows Forms Applications	418	(12)
The PluginLibrary Project	418	(5)
The MainApplication and MainApplicationStartup Projects	423	(3)
The SamplePlugin Project	426	(4)
A Framework for n-Tiered Applications	430	(23)
The DataObjectLibrary Project	431	(7)
The DataSets Project	438	(3)
The DemoClient Project	441	(2)
The DataObjects Project	443	(10)
Threads	453	(58)
Threading Fundamentals	453	(15)
When to Use Threads	454	(1)
Creating Threads	454	(2)
Passing Data to and from a Thread	456	(2)
Working with Threads	458	(2)
Thread Properties	460	(2)
Storing and Sharing Data	462	(2)
Threads and Unhandled Exceptions	464	(1)
Debugging Threads	465	(3)
Thread Synchronization	468	(21)
The lock Statement	468	(5)
Synchronized Objects	473	(2)
Volatile Read and Write Operations	475	(2)
The Monitor Type	477	(1)
The Mutex Type	478	(4)
The Semaphore Type	482	(1)
The ReaderWriterLock Type	483	(2)
The Interlocked Type	485	(1)
The ManualResetEvent, AutoResetEvent, and EventWaitHandle Types	486	(3)
Using the Thread Pool	489	(3)
The ThreadPool Type	489	(1)
The Timer Type	490	(2)
Asynchronous Operations	492	(9)
Asynchronous Delegates	492	(5)
Asynchronous File Operations	497	(2)
Adding Asynchronous Support to Your Types	499	(2)
Threading in Windows Forms Applications	501	(10)
The ISynchronizelnvoke Interface	501	(3)
The BackgroundWorker Component	504	(7)
Object Serialization	511	(36)
Basic Serialization	511	(12)
Binary Serialization	512	(2)
SOAP Serialization	514	(1)
Creating Serializable Types	515	(2)
Object Graphs	517	(1)
Serialization and Events	518	(2)
Deep Object Cloning	520	(1)
Version-Tolerant Serialization (VTS)	521	(2)
Custom Serialization	523	(24)
The IDeserializationCallback Interface	524	(1)
The ISerializable Interface	525	(7)
Serialization and Deserialization Events	532	(2)
The IObjectReference Interface	534	(3)
The ISerializationSurrogate Interface	537	(3)
Inheriting from a Nonserializable Type	540	(7)
Plnvoke and COM Interop	547	(40)
Using Plnvoke	548	(17)
The Dlllmport Attribute	548	(2)
Marshaling Data	550	(1)
The MarshalAs Attribute	551	(3)
The StructLayout Attribute	554	(1)
The FieldOffset Attribute	555	(4)
Delegates and Callback Procedures	559	(1)
The In and Out Attributes	560	(2)
The Marshal Class	562	(3)
Calling COM Components from .NET	565	(11)
The Runtime Callable Wrapper	565	(2)
Importing a COM Component with Visual Studio	567	(1)
Using the Imported Interop Assembly	568	(1)
Importing a COM Component with Tlblmp	569	(1)
Primary Interop Assemblies	570	(1)
Registration-Free COM Components	571	(1)
Late Binding and Reflection	572	(1)
COM Interop Marshaling	573	(2)
Threading Issues	575	(1)
Calling .NET Objects from COM	576	(11)
The COM Callable Wrapper	576	(1)
Creating a Sample .NET Component	577	(1)
The RegAsm and TlbExp Tools	578	(1)
Conversion Details	579	(2)
Using Attributes to Control the Conversion	581	(4)
Working with Exceptions	585	(1)
Writing COM-Friendly .NET Framework Components	585	(2)
Index	587