C# 4.0 Pocket Reference, 3rd Edition

Syntax

C# syntax is based on C and C++ syntax. In this section, we will describe C#’s elements of syntax, using the following program:

using System;

class Test
{
  static void Main()
  {
    int x = 12 * 30;
    Console.WriteLine (x);
  }
}

Identifiers and Keywords

Identifiers are names that programmers choose for their classes, methods, variables, and so on. These are the identifiers in our example program, in the order they appear:

System   Test   Main   x   Console   WriteLine

An identifier must be a whole word, essentially made up of Unicode characters starting with a letter or underscore. C# identifiers are case-sensitive. By convention, parameters, local variables, and private fields should be in camel case (e.g., myVariable ), and all other identifiers should be in Pascal case (e.g., MyMethod ).

Keywords are names reserved by the compiler that you can’t use as identifiers. These are the keywords in our example program:

using   class   static   void   int

Here is the full list of C# keywords:

abstract as base bool break byte case catch char checked class const continue decimal default delegate do double else

enum event explicit extern false finally fixed float for foreach goto if implicit in int interface internal is lock

long namespace new null object operator out override params private protected public readonly ref return sbyte sealed short sizeof

stackalloc static string struct switch this throw true try typeof uint ulong unchecked unsafe ushort using virtual void while

Avoiding conflicts

If you really want to use ...