C# glossary: Novice level
45 C# terms at the Novice level, each with a short definition and a link to its full page.
Updated
- .NET
- A development platform containing runtimes, libraries, and tools for building many kinds of applications.
- .NET SDK
- The tools needed to create, build, test, and publish .NET projects.
- Arithmetic Operators
- Symbols such as +, -, *, /, and % that perform calculations.
- Assignment
- Storing a value in a variable with the = operator.
- Build
- The process that compiles a project and prepares its output files.
- C#
- A modern programming language for building applications on .NET.
- char
- A primitive type that stores one UTF-16 code unit.
- Class
- A blueprint that describes the data and behavior of objects.
- Comment
- Text for people reading the code that the compiler ignores.
- Common Language Runtime (CLR)
- The .NET runtime that loads managed code, compiles it for the current computer, and manages its execution.
- Comparison Operators
- Operators that compare two values and produce true or false.
- Compilation
- The step that checks C# source code and converts it into an assembly.
- Compile Error
- A problem that prevents C# source code from being compiled.
- Compiler
- A tool that checks C# source code and converts it into Common Intermediate Language.
- Console.WriteLine()
- A method that prints a value followed by a new line.
- Curly Braces
- The { and } characters that surround a class, method, or other block.
- Data Type
- A rule describing what kind of value something can hold and what operations it supports.
- decimal
- A value type for high-precision decimal arithmetic, commonly used with money.
- Declaration
- A statement that introduces a variable, method, class, or other named item.
- dotnet CLI
- The command-line tool used to create, build, run, test, and publish .NET projects.
- double
- A primitive type for numbers that can include a fractional part.
- if Statement
- A statement that runs code only when its condition is true.
- If Statement
- A statement that evaluates a condition before executing some code.
- If-Else Multiple Conditions
- A statement that evaluates multiple conditions until it finds a passing one.
- If-Else Statement
- A statement that executes one of two code blocks depending on a condition.
- Increment Operator
- The ++ operator, which adds one to a numeric variable.
- Initialization
- Giving a variable its first value when it is created.
- int
- A primitive type for whole numbers within a fixed range.
- Literal
- A value written directly in source code, such as 42, true, or \"hello\".
- Logical Operators
- Operators that combine or reverse boolean conditions.
- Main Method
- The traditional starting method of a C# application.
- Method
- A named block of code that performs an action and can return a value.
- Moq
- A C# library used in unit testing to create fake objects.
- Project File (.csproj)
- An XML file describing a C# project's settings, target framework, files, and dependencies.
- Reference Type
- A type whose variable stores a reference to an object, such as a class, array, or string.
- Runtime Error
- A problem that occurs while a compiled program is running.
- Semicolon
- The punctuation mark that ends most C# statements.
- Source File (.cs)
- A text file containing C# code for the compiler to read.
- string
- An object that stores an unchangeable sequence of characters.
- switch Expression
- An expression that selects and returns a value by matching an input against patterns.
- Top-Level Statements
- A feature that allows a small C# program to omit an explicit Program class and Main method.
- Type Casting
- Explicitly converting a value to another compatible type.
- Type Conversion
- Changing a value from one data type to another compatible type.
- Value Type
- A type whose value is stored directly, including structs, enums, and built-in numeric types.
- Variable
- A named place that stores a value a program can use or change.