Table of Contents

1.
Scope.................................................................. 1
2. Conformance ........................................................ 3
3. References ......................................................... 5
4. Definitions ........................................................ 7
5. Notational conventions.............................................. 9
6. Acronyms and abbreviations.......................................... 11
7. General description................................................. 13
8. Language Overview .................................................. 15
8.1 Getting started ................................................... 15
8.2 Types ............................................................. 16
8.2.1 Predefined types................................................. 17
8.2.2 Conversions ..................................................... 19
8.2.3 Array types...................................................... 20
8.2.4 Type system unification.......................................... 21
8.3 Variables and parameters........................................... 22
8.4 Automatic memory management........................................ 25
8.5 Expressions........................................................ 27
8.6 Statements......................................................... 28
8.7 Classes ........................................................... 31
8.7.1 Constants........................................................ 32
8.7.2 Fields........................................................... 33
8.7.3 Methods ......................................................... 34
8.7.4 Properties ...................................................... 35
8.7.5 Events........................................................... 36
8.7.6 Operators........................................................ 37
8.7.7 Indexers......................................................... 38
8.7.8 Instance constructors............................................ 39
8.7.9 Destructors ..................................................... 39
8.7.10 Static constructors............................................. 40
8.7.11 Inheritance .................................................... 40
8.8 Structs............................................................ 41
8.9 Interfaces ........................................................ 42
8.10 Delegates ........................................................ 43
8.11 Enums ............................................................ 44
8.12 Namespaces and assemblies ........................................ 45
8.13 Versioning ....................................................... 46
8.14 Attributes ....................................................... 48
9. Lexical structure................................................... 51
9.1 Programs........................................................... 51
9.2 Grammars .......................................................... 51
9.2.1 Lexical grammar ................................................. 51
9.2.2 Syntactic grammar ............................................... 51
9.3 Lexical analysis .................................................. 52
9.3.1 Line terminators................................................. 52
9.3.2 Comments ........................................................ 53
9.3.3 White space...................................................... 54
9.4 Tokens ............................................................ 54
9.4.1 Unicode escape sequences ........................................ 54
9.4.2 Identifiers ..................................................... 55
9.4.3 Keywords ........................................................ 56
9.4.4 Literals ........................................................ 57
9.4.5 Operators and punctuators ....................................... 62
9.5 Pre-processing directives.......................................... 62
9.5.1 Conditional compilation symbols ................................. 63
9.5.2 Pre-processing expressions ...................................... 63
9.5.3 Declaration directives .......................................... 64
9.5.4 Conditional compilation directives .............................. 65
9.5.5 Diagnostic directives............................................ 67
9.5.6 Region control................................................... 67
9.5.7 Line directives.................................................. 68
10. Basic concepts .................................................... 69
10.1 Application startup .............................................. 69
10.2 Application termination........................................... 69
10.3 Declarations...................................................... 70
10.4 Members .......................................................... 72
10.4.1 Namespace members .............................................. 72
10.4.2 Struct members
.............................................................................
................................................ 72
10.4.3 Enumeration members
.............................................................................
..................................... 73
10.4.4 Class members
.............................................................................
................................................. 73
10.4.5 Interface
members......................................................................
.................................................. 73
10.4.6 Array members
.............................................................................

................................................ 73
10.4.7 Delegate
members......................................................................
.................................................. 73
10.5 Member access
.............................................................................
............................................................ 73
10.5.1 Declared accessibility
.............................................................................
...................................... 74
10.5.2 Accessibility domains
.............................................................................
...................................... 74
10.5.3 Protected access for instance
members......................................................................
................... 77
10.5.4 Accessibility constraints
.............................................................................
.................................. 77
10.6 Signatures and overloading
.............................................................................
.......................................... 78
10.7
Scopes.......................................................................
.............................................................................
... 79
10.7.1 Name
hiding.......................................................................
.......................................................... 81
10.8 Namespace and type
names........................................................................
............................................... 83
10.8.1 Fully qualified
names........................................................................
............................................ 84
10.9 Automatic memory
management...................................................................
............................................ 85
10.10 Execution order
.............................................................................
......................................................... 87
11. Types
.............................................................................
.............................................................................
... 89
11.1 Value types
.............................................................................
.................................................................. 89
11.1.1 Default
constructors.................................................................
.................................................... 90
11.1.2 Struct types
.............................................................................
..................................................... 90
11.1.3 Simple
types........................................................................
......................................................... 91
11.1.4 Integral
types........................................................................
........................................................ 91
11.1.5 Floating point
types........................................................................
............................................... 92
11.1.6 The decimal
type.........................................................................
.............................................. 94
11.1.7 The bool
type.........................................................................
.................................................... 94
11.1.8 Enumeration types
.............................................................................
........................................... 94
11.2 Reference types
.............................................................................
........................................................... 94
11.2.1 Class types
.............................................................................
...................................................... 95
11.2.2 The object
type.........................................................................
................................................ 95
11.2.3 The string
type.........................................................................
................................................ 95
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vii
11.2.4 Interface
types........................................................................
...................................................... 96
11.2.5 Array
types........................................................................
........................................................... 96
11.2.6 Delegate
types........................................................................
...................................................... 96
11.3 Boxing and unboxing
.............................................................................
.................................................. 96
11.3.1 Boxing
conversions..................................................................

.................................................... 96
11.3.2 Unboxing conversions
.............................................................................
..................................... 97
12. Variables
.............................................................................
..........................................................................
99
12.1 Variable categories
.............................................................................
...................................................... 99
12.1.1 Static
variables....................................................................
......................................................... 99
12.1.2 Instance
variables....................................................................
..................................................... 99
12.1.3 Array
elements.....................................................................
...................................................... 100
12.1.4 Value parameters
.............................................................................
........................................... 100
12.1.5 Reference
parameters...................................................................
............................................... 100
12.1.6 Output
parameters...................................................................
................................................... 100
12.1.7 Local
variables....................................................................
....................................................... 101
12.2 Default
values.......................................................................
.................................................................. 101
12.3 Definite assignment
.............................................................................
................................................... 102
12.3.1 Initially assigned
variables....................................................................
...................................... 102
12.3.2 Initially unassigned
variables....................................................................
.................................. 103
12.3.3 Precise rules for determining definite assignment
...................................................................... 103
12.4 Variable
references...................................................................
.............................................................. 112
12.5 Atomicity of variable references
.............................................................................
................................ 112
13.
Conversions..................................................................
.............................................................................
.. 113
13.1 Implicit conversions
.............................................................................
.................................................. 113
13.1.1 Identity conversion
.............................................................................
........................................ 113
13.1.2 Implicit numeric
conversions..................................................................
.................................... 113
13.1.3 Implicit enumeration
conversions..................................................................
............................. 114
13.1.4 Implicit reference
conversions..................................................................
.................................. 114
13.1.5 Boxing
conversions..................................................................
.................................................. 114
13.1.6 Implicit constant expression conversions
.............................................................................
...... 114
13.1.7 User-defined implicit conversions
.............................................................................
................. 115
13.2 Explicit conversions
.............................................................................
.................................................. 115
13.2.1 Explicit numeric
conversions..................................................................
.................................... 115
13.2.2 Explicit enumeration
conversions..................................................................
............................. 117
13.2.3 Explicit reference
conversions..................................................................
.................................. 117
13.2.4 Unboxing conversions
.............................................................................
................................... 117
13.2.5 User-defined explicit
conversions..................................................................
............................. 118
13.3 Standard
conversions..................................................................

............................................................ 118
13.3.1 Standard implicit
conversions..................................................................
................................... 118
13.3.2 Standard explicit conversions
.............................................................................
........................ 118
13.4 User-defined conversions
.............................................................................
........................................... 118
13.4.1 Permitted user-defined
conversions..................................................................
.......................... 118
13.4.2 Evaluation of user-defined
conversions..................................................................
.................... 119
13.4.3 User-defined implicit conversions
.............................................................................
................. 119
13.4.4 User-defined explicit
conversions..................................................................
............................. 120
14. Expressions
.............................................................................
.................................................................... 123
14.1 Expression
classifications..............................................................
......................................................... 123
14.1.1 Values of expressions
.............................................................................
.................................... 124
14.2 Operators
.............................................................................
................................................................... 124
14.2.1 Operator precedence and
associativity................................................................
........................ 124
14.2.2 Operator overloading
.............................................................................
..................................... 125
14.2.3 Unary operator overload resolution
.............................................................................
............... 126
14.2.4 Binary operator overload resolution
.............................................................................
.............. 127
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14.2.5 Candidate user-defined operators
.............................................................................
.................. 127
14.2.6 Numeric promotions
.............................................................................
...................................... 127
14.3 Member lookup
.............................................................................
......................................................... 129
14.3.1 Base types
.............................................................................
..................................................... 129
14.4 Function members
.............................................................................
..................................................... 130
14.4.1 Argument
lists........................................................................
.................................................... 132
14.4.2 Overload
resolution...................................................................
.................................................. 134
14.4.3 Function member invocation
.............................................................................
......................... 136
14.5 Primary
expressions..................................................................
.............................................................. 137
14.5.1 Literals
.............................................................................
.......................................................... 138
14.5.2 Simple
names........................................................................
..................................................... 138
14.5.3 Parenthesized
expressions..................................................................
......................................... 139
14.5.4 Member
access.......................................................................
.................................................... 140
14.5.5 Invocation
expressions..................................................................
.............................................. 141
14.5.6 Element
access.......................................................................
.................................................... 143
14.5.7 This access
.............................................................................
.................................................... 144
14.5.8 Base access
.............................................................................
................................................... 145
14.5.9 Postfix increment and decrement operators

.............................................................................
... 145
14.5.10 The new
operator.....................................................................
................................................. 146
14.5.11 The typeof
operator.....................................................................
.......................................... 150
14.5.12 The checked and unchecked operators
.............................................................................
151
14.6 Unary expressions
.............................................................................
..................................................... 153
14.6.1 Unary plus
operator.....................................................................
................................................ 153
14.6.2 Unary minus operator
.............................................................................
.................................... 154
14.6.3 Logical negation operator
.............................................................................
.............................. 154
14.6.4 Bitwise complement operator
.............................................................................
........................ 154
14.6.5 Prefix increment and decrement
operators....................................................................
.............. 155
14.6.6 Cast
expressions..................................................................
....................................................... 155
14.7 Arithmetic
operators....................................................................
........................................................... 156
14.7.1 Multiplication operator
.............................................................................
.................................. 156
14.7.2 Division operator
.............................................................................
........................................... 157
14.7.3 Remainder
operator.....................................................................
................................................ 158
14.7.4 Addition
operator.....................................................................
.................................................. 159
14.7.5 Subtraction
operator.....................................................................
............................................... 161
14.8 Shift operators
.............................................................................
........................................................... 162
14.9 Relational and type-testing operators
.............................................................................
......................... 163
14.9.1 Integer comparison
operators....................................................................
.................................. 164
14.9.2 Floating-point comparison operators
.............................................................................
............. 165
14.9.3 Decimal comparison operators
.............................................................................
...................... 165
14.9.4 Boolean equality operators
.............................................................................
............................ 165
14.9.5 Enumeration comparison operators
.............................................................................
............... 166
14.9.6 Reference type equality
operators....................................................................
........................... 166
14.9.7 String equality operators
.............................................................................
................................ 167
14.9.8 Delegate equality
operators....................................................................
..................................... 167
14.9.9 The is operator
.............................................................................
............................................. 168
14.9.10 The as operator
.............................................................................
........................................... 168
14.10 Logical operators
.............................................................................
..................................................... 169
14.10.1 Integer logical operators
.............................................................................
.............................. 169
14.10.2 Enumeration logical operators
.............................................................................
..................... 169
14.10.3 Boolean logical operators
.............................................................................
............................ 170
14.11 Conditional logical
operators....................................................................

............................................. 170
14.11.1 Boolean conditional logical
operators....................................................................
................... 170
14.11.2 User-defined conditional logical operators
.............................................................................
.. 171
14.12 Conditional
operator.....................................................................
........................................................ 171
14.13 Assignment operators
.............................................................................
............................................... 172
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ix
14.13.1 Simple assignment
.............................................................................
....................................... 172
14.13.2 Compound
assignment...................................................................
........................................... 174
14.13.3 Event assignment
.............................................................................
......................................... 175
14.14 Expression
.............................................................................
............................................................... 175
14.15 Constant expressions
.............................................................................
................................................ 175
14.16 Boolean expressions
.............................................................................
................................................. 176
15.
Statements...................................................................
.............................................................................
... 177
15.1 End points and reachability
.............................................................................
........................................ 177
15.2
Blocks.......................................................................
.............................................................................
. 179
15.2.1 Statement lists
.............................................................................
................................................ 179
15.3 The empty
statement....................................................................
........................................................... 179
15.4 Labeled statements
.............................................................................
.................................................... 180
15.5 Declaration
statements...................................................................
......................................................... 180
15.5.1 Local variable declarations
.............................................................................
............................ 180
15.5.2 Local constant
declarations.................................................................
........................................ 181
15.6 Expression statements
.............................................................................
................................................ 182
15.7 Selection statements
.............................................................................
.................................................. 182
15.7.1 The if statement
.............................................................................
........................................... 182
15.7.2 The switch
statement....................................................................
........................................... 183
15.8 Iteration
statements...................................................................
.............................................................. 186
15.8.1 The while
statement....................................................................
............................................. 186
15.8.2 The do statement
.............................................................................
........................................... 187
15.8.3 The for
statement....................................................................
.................................................. 187
15.8.4 The foreach statement
.............................................................................
............................... 188
15.9 Jump
statements...................................................................
................................................................... 190
15.9.1 The break
statement....................................................................
............................................. 191
15.9.2 The continue
statement....................................................................
...................................... 192
15.9.3 The goto statement
.............................................................................

...................................... 192
15.9.4 The return
statement....................................................................
........................................... 193
15.9.5 The throw
statement....................................................................
............................................. 194
15.10 The try statement
.............................................................................
.................................................. 195
15.11 The checked and unchecked
statements...................................................................
..................... 197
15.12 The lock statement
.............................................................................
................................................. 198
15.13 The using
statement....................................................................
....................................................... 198
16.
Namespaces...................................................................
.............................................................................
. 201
16.1 Compilation units
.............................................................................
...................................................... 201
16.2 Namespace declarations
.............................................................................
............................................. 201
16.3 Using directives
.............................................................................
......................................................... 202
16.3.1 Using alias directives
.............................................................................
..................................... 203
16.3.2 Using namespace
directives...................................................................
..................................... 205
16.4 Namespace members
.............................................................................
.................................................. 207
16.5 Type
declarations.................................................................
................................................................... 207
17. Classes
.............................................................................
............................................................................
209
17.1 Class declarations
.............................................................................
...................................................... 209
17.1.1 Class modifiers
.............................................................................
.............................................. 209
17.1.2 Class base specification
.............................................................................
................................. 210
17.1.3 Class
body.........................................................................
......................................................... 211
17.2 Class
members......................................................................
.................................................................. 212
17.2.1 Inheritance
.............................................................................
.................................................... 213
17.2.2 The new modifier
.............................................................................
.......................................... 213
17.2.3 Access
modifiers....................................................................
.................................................... 213
17.2.4 Constituent
types........................................................................
................................................. 214
17.2.5 Static and instance
members......................................................................
................................. 214
C# LANGUAGE SPECIFICATION
x
17.2.6 Nested
types........................................................................
....................................................... 215
17.2.7 Reserved member names
.............................................................................
............................... 217
17.3 Constants
.............................................................................
................................................................... 219
17.4 Fields
.............................................................................
.........................................................................
220
17.4.1 Static and instance
fields.......................................................................
...................................... 221
17.4.2 Readonly fields
.............................................................................
.............................................. 222
17.4.3 Volatile

fields.......................................................................
...................................................... 223
17.4.4 Field initialization
.............................................................................
.......................................... 224
17.4.5 Variable
initializers.................................................................
................................................... 224
17.5 Methods
.............................................................................
..................................................................... 227
17.5.1 Method parameters
.............................................................................
........................................ 228
17.5.2 Static and instance methods
.............................................................................
........................... 233
17.5.3 Virtual
methods......................................................................
.................................................... 233
17.5.4 Override
methods......................................................................
.................................................. 235
17.5.5 Sealed methods
.............................................................................
.............................................. 236
17.5.6 Abstract methods
.............................................................................
........................................... 237
17.5.7 External methods
.............................................................................
........................................... 238
17.5.8 Method body
.............................................................................
.................................................. 239
17.5.9 Method
overloading..................................................................
.................................................. 239
17.6
Properties...................................................................
.............................................................................
239
17.6.1 Static and instance
properties...................................................................
................................... 240
17.6.2 Accessors
.............................................................................
...................................................... 240
17.6.3 Virtual, sealed, override, and abstract
accessors....................................................................
..... 245
17.7 Events
.............................................................................
........................................................................ 246
17.7.1 Field-like
events.......................................................................
.................................................. 248
17.7.2 Event accessors
.............................................................................
.............................................. 249
17.7.3 Static and instance events
.............................................................................
.............................. 250
17.7.4 Virtual, sealed, override, and abstract
accessors....................................................................
..... 250
17.8 Indexers
.............................................................................
..................................................................... 251
17.8.1 Indexer overloading
.............................................................................
....................................... 254
17.9 Operators
.............................................................................
................................................................... 254
17.9.1 Unary
operators....................................................................
...................................................... 255
17.9.2 Binary
operators....................................................................
..................................................... 256
17.9.3 Conversion operators
.............................................................................
..................................... 256
17.10 Instance constructors
.............................................................................
................................................ 258
17.10.1 Constructor
initializers.................................................................
............................................. 259
17.10.2 Instance variable initializers
.............................................................................
........................ 259
17.10.3 Constructor execution
.............................................................................
.................................. 259
17.10.4 Default constructors
.............................................................................
..................................... 261
17.10.5 Private

constructors.................................................................
.................................................. 262
17.10.6 Optional instance constructor parameters
.............................................................................
.... 262
17.11 Static constructors
.............................................................................
................................................... 262
17.12
Destructors..................................................................
..........................................................................
264
18. Structs
.............................................................................
............................................................................
267
18.1 Struct declarations
.............................................................................
..................................................... 267
18.1.1 Struct
modifiers....................................................................
...................................................... 267
18.1.2 Struct interfaces
.............................................................................
............................................. 267
18.1.3 Struct
body.........................................................................
........................................................ 268
18.2 Struct
members......................................................................
................................................................. 268
18.3 Class and struct differences
.............................................................................
........................................ 268
18.3.1 Value semantics
.............................................................................
............................................. 268
18.3.2 Inheritance
.............................................................................
.................................................... 269
18.3.3 Assignment
.............................................................................
................................................... 269
18.3.4 Default values
.............................................................................
................................................ 269
Table of Contents
xi
18.3.5 Boxing and
unboxing.....................................................................
............................................. 270
18.3.6 Meaning of this
.............................................................................
.......................................... 270
18.3.7 Field initializers
.............................................................................
............................................. 270
18.3.8 Constructors
.............................................................................
.................................................. 270
18.3.9 Destructors
.............................................................................
.................................................... 271
18.3.10 Static
constructors.................................................................
................................................... 271
18.4 Struct examples
.............................................................................
......................................................... 271
18.4.1 Database integer
type.........................................................................
......................................... 272
18.4.2 Database boolean type
.............................................................................
................................... 273
19.
Arrays.......................................................................
.............................................................................
...... 275
19.1 Array types
.............................................................................
................................................................ 275
19.1.1 The System.Array
type.........................................................................
................................ 276
19.2 Array
creation.....................................................................
.................................................................... 276
19.3 Array element access
.............................................................................
.................................................. 276
19.4 Array members
.............................................................................
.......................................................... 276
19.5 Array covariance
.............................................................................
....................................................... 276
19.6 Array
initializers.................................................................
.................................................................... 277

20.
Interfaces...................................................................
.............................................................................
..... 279
20.1 Interface
declarations.................................................................
............................................................. 279
20.1.1 Interface modifiers
.............................................................................
......................................... 279
20.1.2 Base interfaces
.............................................................................
............................................... 279
20.1.3 Interface body
.............................................................................
................................................ 280
20.2 Interface members
.............................................................................
..................................................... 280
20.2.1 Interface
methods......................................................................
.................................................. 281
20.2.2 Interface properties
.............................................................................
........................................ 281
20.2.3 Interface events
.............................................................................
.............................................. 282
20.2.4 Interface
indexers.....................................................................
.................................................. 282
20.2.5 Interface member access
.............................................................................
................................ 282
20.3 Fully qualified interface member names
.............................................................................
.................... 283
20.4 Interface implementations
.............................................................................
.......................................... 284
20.4.1 Explicit interface member implementations
.............................................................................
.. 285
20.4.2 Interface mapping
.............................................................................
.......................................... 286
20.4.3 Interface implementation
inheritance..................................................................
........................ 289
20.4.4 Interface
re-implementation............................................................
............................................ 290
20.4.5 Abstract classes and
interfaces...................................................................
................................. 291
21.
Enums........................................................................
.............................................................................
..... 293
21.1 Enum declarations
.............................................................................
..................................................... 293
21.2 Enum modifiers
.............................................................................
......................................................... 293
21.3 Enum
members......................................................................
................................................................. 294
21.4 Enum values and operations
.............................................................................
....................................... 296
22.
Delegates....................................................................
.............................................................................
..... 297
22.1 Delegate
declarations.................................................................
............................................................. 297
22.2 Delegate instantiation
.............................................................................
................................................. 299
22.3 Delegate invocation
.............................................................................
................................................... 299
23. Exceptions
.............................................................................
...................................................................... 303
23.1 Causes of exceptions
.............................................................................
.................................................. 303
23.2 The System.Exception
class........................................................................
................................... 303
23.3 How exceptions are
handled......................................................................
.............................................. 303
23.4 Common Exception Classes
.............................................................................
....................................... 304
24. Attributes

.............................................................................
....................................................................... 305
C# LANGUAGE SPECIFICATION
xii
24.1 Attribute
classes......................................................................
................................................................ 305
24.1.1 Attribute
usage........................................................................
................................................... 305
24.1.2 Positional and named
parameters...................................................................
............................. 306
24.1.3 Attribute parameter
types........................................................................
.................................... 307
24.2 Attribute specification
.............................................................................
................................................ 307
24.3 Attribute instances
.............................................................................
..................................................... 311
24.3.1 Compilation of an attribute
.............................................................................
............................ 311
24.3.2 Run-time retrieval of an attribute
instance.....................................................................
............. 311
24.4 Reserved attributes
.............................................................................
.................................................... 312
24.4.1 The AttributeUsage attribute
.............................................................................
................ 312
24.4.2 The Conditional
attribute....................................................................
................................. 312
24.4.3 The Obsolete
attribute....................................................................
........................................ 314
25. Unsafe code
.............................................................................
.................................................................... 317
25.1 Unsafe contexts
.............................................................................
......................................................... 317
25.2 Pointer types
.............................................................................
.............................................................. 319
25.3 Fixed and moveable variables
.............................................................................
.................................... 322
25.4 Pointer conversions
.............................................................................
................................................... 322
25.5 Pointers in expressions
.............................................................................
............................................... 323
25.5.1 Pointer
indirection..................................................................
.................................................... 324
25.5.2 Pointer member
access.......................................................................
......................................... 324
25.5.3 Pointer element access
.............................................................................
................................... 325
25.5.4 The address-of operator
.............................................................................
................................. 325
25.5.5 Pointer increment and
decrement....................................................................
............................ 326
25.5.6 Pointer
arithmetic...................................................................
.................................................... 326
25.5.7 Pointer comparison
.............................................................................
........................................ 327
25.5.8 The sizeof
operator.....................................................................
............................................ 327
25.6 The fixed
statement....................................................................
......................................................... 328
25.7 Stack allocation
.............................................................................
......................................................... 331
25.8 Dynamic memory allocation
.............................................................................
...................................... 332
A.
Grammar......................................................................
.............................................................................
... 335
A.1 Lexical
grammar......................................................................
................................................................ 335
A.1.1 Line terminators
.............................................................................

.............................................. 335
A.1.2 White
space........................................................................
......................................................... 335
A.1.3 Comments
.............................................................................
...................................................... 335
A.1.4
Tokens.......................................................................
.................................................................. 336
A.1.5 Unicode character escape
sequences....................................................................
........................ 336
A.1.6 Identifiers
.............................................................................
....................................................... 336
A.1.7 Keywords
.............................................................................
....................................................... 337
A.1.8 Literals
.............................................................................
........................................................... 338
A.1.9 Operators and punctuators
.............................................................................
.............................. 339
A.1.10 Pre-processing directives
.............................................................................
.............................. 340
A.2 Syntactic
grammar......................................................................
............................................................. 341
A.2.1 Basic
concepts.....................................................................
........................................................ 341
A.2.2
Types........................................................................
................................................................... 342
A.2.3 Variables
.............................................................................
........................................................ 343
A.2.4 Expressions
.............................................................................
.................................................... 343
A.2.5 Statements
.............................................................................
...................................................... 346
A.2.6
Classes......................................................................
................................................................... 350
A.2.7 Structs
.............................................................................
............................................................ 355
A.2.8
Arrays.......................................................................
................................................................... 355
A.2.9
Interfaces...................................................................
.................................................................. 356
A.2.10 Enums
.............................................................................
.......................................................... 357
A.2.11
Delegates....................................................................
............................................................... 357
Table of Contents
xiii
A.2.12
Attributes...................................................................
................................................................ 358
A.3 Grammar extensions for unsafe code
.............................................................................
.......................... 359
B. Portability
issues.......................................................................
................................................................... 361
B.1 Undefined
behavior.....................................................................
............................................................. 361
B.2 Implementation-defined
behavior.....................................................................
........................................ 361
B.3 Unspecified behavior
.............................................................................
.................................................. 362
B.4 Other
Issues.......................................................................
....................................................................... 362
C. Naming guidelines
.............................................................................
.......................................................... 363
C.1 Capitalization
styles.......................................................................
.......................................................... 363
C.1.1 Pascal casing
.............................................................................
.................................................. 363
C.1.2 Camel casing
.............................................................................
.................................................. 363
C.1.3 All

uppercase....................................................................
........................................................... 363
C.1.4 Capitalization
summary......................................................................
.......................................... 363
C.2 Word
choice.......................................................................
...................................................................... 364
C.3 Namespaces
.............................................................................
................................................................ 364
C.4 Classes
.............................................................................
........................................................................ 364
C.5
Interfaces...................................................................
.............................................................................
.. 365
C.6 Enums
.............................................................................
.........................................................................
365
C.7 Static fields
.............................................................................
................................................................. 366
C.8
Parameters...................................................................
.............................................................................
366
C.9 Methods
.............................................................................
...................................................................... 366
C.10 Properties
.............................................................................
.................................................................. 366
C.11
Events.......................................................................
.............................................................................
. 367
C.12 Case sensitivity
.............................................................................
......................................................... 367
C.13 Avoiding type name confusion
.............................................................................
.................................. 368
D. Standard Library
.............................................................................
........................................................... 369
E. Documentation Comments
.............................................................................
............................................. 433
E.1
Introduction.................................................................
.............................................................................
433
E.2 Recommended tags
.............................................................................
..................................................... 434
E.2.1
<c>..........................................................................
..................................................................... 434
E.2.2
<code>.......................................................................
.................................................................. 435
E.2.3
<example>....................................................................
............................................................... 435
E.2.4
<exception>..................................................................
............................................................... 435
E.2.5
<list>.......................................................................
..................................................................... 436
E.2.6
<para>.......................................................................
................................................................... 437
E.2.7 <param>
.............................................................................
......................................................... 437
E.2.8 <paramref>
.............................................................................
..................................................... 437
E.2.9
<permission>.................................................................
.............................................................. 438
E.2.10
<remarks>....................................................................
.............................................................. 438
E.2.11 <returns>
.............................................................................
...................................................... 438
E.2.12 <see>
.............................................................................
............................................................ 439
E.2.13
<seealso>....................................................................
............................................................... 439
E.2.14
<summary>....................................................................
............................................................ 440

E.2.15
<value>......................................................................
................................................................ 440
E.3 Processing the documentation file
.............................................................................
............................... 440
E.3.1 ID string format
.............................................................................
............................................... 440
E.3.2 ID string
examples.....................................................................
.................................................. 441
E.4 An example
.............................................................................
................................................................. 444
E.4.1 C# source code
.............................................................................
................................................ 444
E.4.2 Resulting
XML..........................................................................
.................................................. 446
F. Index
.............................................................................
.............................................................................
... 449