Choosing the right technology stack for your company’s projects in 2023 can be challenging. This is why you should always narrow down your options by setting a clear objective first and foremost. Regardless of what applications you want to build, there are a number of languages that are versatile and rewarding that you can choose from. In case you need our advice on this matter, and that of so many other professionals in this field, the ultimate choice is definitely going to be C#. If you start using C# today, you won't regret it. But if you don't, you will. Just to give you a general idea, C# is a well-designed language that can be used for developing desktop, web and mobile applications, and is currently highly demanded by prominent software businesses around the world. It's always near the top of the most loved languages, and there's a good reason for that. In this article, we will help you understand what makes C# a popular and productive language, and why we love it at Logisoft!
Why is C# the perfect choice?
It is easy to learn
Although learning a new programming language is not that simple, some are less challenging than others. In fact, C#, created by Microsoft that runs on the .NET Framework, is one of the simplest programming languages to learn. Its structure and functionality makes it the ideal language for beginner programmers. If you need further proof why C# is an easy programming language to learn, let us break it down for you:
C# is Object-oriented
Programming using C# is object-oriented which makes it simpler for beginners to grasp. Object-Oriented-Programming organizes data into objects, making it simpler to divide the program into smaller components that are faster to build, and easier to combine and manage. The easiest way to get started is to use Visual Studio which guides you through both compile time and run time with its advanced Intelli Sense, as well as its outstanding analyzing and debugging tools.
C# handles garbage collection
Learning is simpler, for you don’t have to be concerned about memory management. C# automatically maintains memory through a garbage collector that manages the memory for you. Therefore, you don't have to allocate, then free up memory for your data.
C# Encapsulation
Since C# encapsulates complex features and tasks, you don’t have to worry about these potential issues. So, you can just start coding even if you don't completely comprehend how these features operate.
Join our team!
Building on the above, whether you’re a tech-savvy, still in university reading this blog article to gain an insight on C# for an upcoming course, or a fresh graduate looking to become proficient in C#, you’ve come to the right place. At Logisoft, we look for passionate ambitious people with an algorithmic mindset who have the will to learn and possess impeccable problem-solving skills. You can start out as an intern or an entry-level C# developer at Logisoft, and learn C# through our extensive onboarding program with the guidance of our professional team. In addition to working closely with coworkers under their supervision and assistance until you fully master the language.
Apply for the C# Developer position at Logisoft now!
It is versatile
C# is considered to be among the most flexible programming languages since it can be used to create not only Windows client programs but also Web and mobile apps and much more! So basically, what makes learning C# a good investment is that it allows you to build almost any type of application such as:
- Windows client applications using Windows Forms, WPF and UWP
- Web applications with ASP.NET and Blazor
- Native iOS and Android mobile apps using Xamarin
- Reusable libraries and console application
- AI Applications (ML.NET)
- Cloud apps (Azure)
- Games (Unity)
- IoT applications
- Blockchain apps
Case in point, at Logisoft we’ve used C# to build different solutions, from Desktop applications (WPF), to mobile and even web.
It is a well-documented language backed by Microsoft
Learning C# has become easier than ever before. How did this new situation come to be? The short answer is: the presence of a strong online educational community that provides a fruitful and worthwhile educational platform that is thorough and up-to-date.
One example would be Microsoft's C# Documentation that heavily supports C# with new features & syntactic enhancements being issued on a much quicker basis than other languages. Another online platform to learn C# can be found on Microsoft Developer Youtube Channel . You can also benefit from Microsoft Learn Training and its guided learning paths.
Fun fact: Microsoft's integrated development environment (IDE), Visual Studio, was created in C#. While Visual Studio supports programming in any language, C# development is its primary use.
It has extensive libraries
A tool that allows developers to write, exchange and use valuable code is a crucial component of any modern development platform. C# developers have been relying on open .NET libraries to build outstanding projects in a short span of time. And you can do it too! Awesome .NET Code libraries and packages like NuGet and others have become a need for every developer out there regardless of his/her level of experience. In fact, NuGet is Microsoft’s supported mechanism for sharing code. This is because they can benefit from reusable and optimized code building-blocks to facilitate creating different features, and develop basic project infrastructure. This also comes with a handful of other rewards. For instance, you will end up not only building a feature-rich application and speeding up the development process, but also writing readable, understandable and concise code.
It is popular, mature, and still evolving
“Programming languages are like wine – some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age.” - Robert Krajewski, Co-founder and CEO of Ideamotive
Ever since 2001, C# has seen significant evolvement through continuous updates, and has become quite mature and popular. Even two decades after it was first developed, C# is still one of the most popular programming languages, thanks to Microsoft, who will “keep growing C# to meet the evolving needs of developers” and “innovate aggressively”, as stated in Microsoft’s Strategy for C#.
In fact, the last version of C#, (C# 11), was released in November 2022. See what’s new in C# 11!
C# is widely adopted among companies and enterprises. It has been employed by over 6 million developers worldwide, and they love it! It's not only developed, updated and supported by Microsoft, but also has the support of a widespread community. It is the 4th most popular language according to PopularitY of Programming Language (PYPL). And it has the 4th largest StackOverflow Community & the 7th largest Meetup Community. Which is not surprising!
It is part of .NET platform
With the extensive features that .NET has to offer, C# has acquired so many advantages and gained more popularity and adoption among developers. Let us discuss some of .NET’s aspects:
Language Interoperability
.NET provides great features such as language interoperability where it allows C# developers to interact with programs written in other .NET languages such as as C++, F#, Visual Basic and Windows PowerShell. It enables you to include many languages into a single assembly.
Two Runtime Environments
In .NET applications, a runtime is utilized to convert C# code into machine executable instructions. .NET offers two runtime environments:
- Common Language Runtime (CLR): is used to run and compile desktop and web applications. It provides many benefits among all major supported platforms such as performance enhancement, structured exception handling, main OOP concepts (inheritance, abstraction, and overloading) and much more.
- Mono Runtime: implements the ECMACommon Language Infrastructure (CLI). It is used for programs with strict performance needs such as games and mobile applications.
LOB Applications
.NET is a perfect fit for LOB applications. A wide variety of business apps may be developed using the .NET framework, the fact that makes us at Logisoft fall in love with it even more. .NET is ideal for creating Line-Of-Business apps for many reasons. First, with its robust tool set, .NET enables the development of business applications with a variety of complexity, types and features. In addition, .NET is both free and open-source which implies that .NET programming languages, including C#, as well as libraries, compilers, runtimes and much more are available for software enterprises free of charge. Most importantly, .NET is a cross platform. So, as we have previously discussed in this blog article, C# or any other .NET programming language, may be used to create desktop, mobile, web and other .NET applications.
It is statically-typed
Variable types in C# are explicitly declared, and then determined at compile time rather than at run time. This ensures stability, for errors can be automatically detected by the compiler before the code makes it anywhere close to production.
Apart from catching errors in a sloppy code, you are providing more information about how the code is supposed to work for future developers who might read it. By adding information to a specific variable that is intended to hold a certain kind of value, programmers can reason about what the purpose of that variable is.
It supports functional and low-level programming
Although C# is fundamentally an object-oriented language, it also offers excellent support for various functional programming techniques. So what are some of the core principles of functional programming that C# has to offer?
LINQ, for instance, is a powerful C# technology that brings functional programming to C#, and allows developers to express their intentions without worrying about how the code will be executed. Thus, data querying and modification are simpler through features like lambda expressions, anonymous types and more. LINQ also supports querying a variety of data sources and provides an SQL-like experience while simultaneously increasing your code’s readability. Other important functional programming principles include Immutable Types, Function Delegates, Extension Methods, Tuples, etc.
C# allows you to write low level code that is machine friendly, faster and provides little to no abstraction from the hardware. Our beloved language, which is primarily higher up on the abstraction ladder, has added a number of low-level programming features, like ref returns, ref struct, function pointers, etc. Such features allow developers to write highly performant code while continuing to leverage the C# language rules for type and memory safety.
It is an open source
C#’s official design repository has been publicly available on its GitHub page since 2014. Therefore the community can contribute to the development of C# language. Which means that they can propose new features, debate, discuss and raise others’ current proposals in the Discussions page. They can even open an issue for the new feature or bug fix, and label it as a proposal. If the Language Design Team finds that a new feature proposal merits being adopted, they will invite the proposer to submit the proposal as a pull request so that they can collaborate on it.
Its has a perfectly balanced ecosystem
Imagine what you would be able to do if you can combine the best technologies out there. It might sound too good to be true but C# makes it real. Well, let’s see; Microsoft SQL Server is among the most powerful data platforms in the world. Visual Studio is the best IDE to build rich cross-platform applications for all common operating systems. And last but not least, .NET Framework is one of the most popular software development frameworks that has ever existed. With C#, you can connect your application to data in a SQL Server database using Entity Framework combined with the perfect development environment for SQL Server, Visual Studio.
In light of these C# facts
C# has become one of the most prominent programming languages for building enterprise applications. Based on the previously mentioned advantages, C# is and will continue to be an awesome choice to add to your technology stack. We hope you'll fall in love with C# from the very first keystroke, just like we did.
