1 Why C# and Why.NET in the Undergraduate IS Curriculum ISECON November 3 -7, 2004, Newport, RI Association of Information Technology Professionals Mehdi Raoufi Southwestern Oklahoma State University John Maniotes Purdue University Calumet

2 INTRODUCTION What is C#? What is.NET? C# is Microsoft's latest object-oriented programming language developed for.NET platform and.NET is Microsoft’s latest platform technology for creating web services C# is a C++ based language and was developed to provide portability for distributed applications over network and internet Application development in.NET platform can be done in multiple languages including C#, C++, and Visual Basic

3 What is C# and.NET? Programs developed in all of these languages are compiled to Microsoft’s Intermediate Language (IL) and executed within Common Language Runtime (CLR) similar to Java code that is translated to bytecode and executed by VML (Virtual Machine Language).NET is not a programming language; it's a virtual-machine technology

4 What is C# and.NET?.NET has a framework that provides capability to run a variety of web applications The.NET framework class library provides a set of classes that provide essential functionality for applications built within the.NET environment Web functionality, XML support, database support, and distributed computing support is provided by the.NET framework class library

5 What is C# and.NET?.NET codes are translated to Microsoft Intermediate Language (IL) and run within CLR A single.NET application may consist of several different languages ASP.NET is an upgraded version of Active Server Pages (ASP). Developers can create COM objects in Visual Basic, Visual C++ or C# and then use ASP.NET page to call on those objects for a web interface

6 Teaching First Programming Course Using C# Both C# and Java improve on C++ in a similar ways We will be explaining weaknesses of Java as an introductory programming language

7 Teaching First Programming Course Using C# Java has several weaknesses as introductory level programming language It forces novices to learn several sophisticated concepts even to write a very simple program Students who are new to programming should sort through some complicated issues before learning the main programming concepts

8 Teaching First Programming Course Using C# This becomes very frustrating with some students who discard programming without giving it a good chance to succeed One of the difficulties of Java for beginning students is standard input Input operations in Java are very complicated for beginning students to understand

9 Teaching First Programming Course Using C# To read a simple integer or a real value from console a student should use a large number of codes, which include while loop, Boolean variable, string operations, wrapper classes and exceptions To read a simple integer using GUI, students should learn GUI before writing a simple program, which requires input

10 Teaching First Programming Course Using C# Another difficulty with Java is exception handling; Java requires every method to catch the exception generated in the body of program or verify the possibility of these exceptions in a “throws” clause Java programmers should learn and use exception for a simple program

11 Teaching First Programming Course Using C# In an introductory course, usually students are left to choose from many different environments to compile and run a Java program In many cases, beginning students are required to use too much effort without proper guidance to download software, and configure their computer to run a simple Java program

12 Teaching First Programming Course Using C# This makes some students so frustrated that they put programming away without giving it a fair chance to succeed Students are overwhelmed with number of environments and how to choose the best one

13 Teaching First Programming Course Using C# These environments range using command line to compile and execute a Java program using notepad, to smart editors as textpad, or IDE (Integrated Development Environment)as JBuilder Students, who do not use IDE have difficulty developing a medium size program and difficulty dealing with large number of classes and their methods

14 Teaching First Programming Course Using C# Microsoft has made using its Visual Studio.NET available almost for all students in institutions of higher learning with a nominal fee of a few dollars Using Visual Studio.NET gives a single easy way to learn IDE for students who are using C# as an introductory language Students use skills learned in IDE of Visual Studio.NET to learn other programming languages in.NET environment (VB.NET)

15 Teaching First Programming Course Using C# The concept of using “getter” methods to encapsulate internal object properties is a design pattern that spans object-oriented languages. It isn't limited to C# or Java. C# has taken the concept of properties a step further by actually building “getter” methods into the language semantics.

16 Teaching First Programming Course Using C# An object property has a type, a set method, and a get method. The set and get methods of the property determine how the property's value is set and retrieved

17 Conclusion C# provides a more proper language for teaching introductory course for beginning students Microsoft Visual Studio.NET provides a more proper environment to teach introductory course for beginning students Java platform is neutral with respect to operating systems

18 Conclusion On the other hand, we cannot ignore the tremendous financial and technical resources of Microsoft Microsoft is the dominate force on the PC Windows Operating Systems. If C#.NET is released from its Windows dependency, we think that Microsoft's dominance and financial muscle may propel C# over Java in the IT community

19 Conclusion Questions Comments Observation