Part 1. The basics

Welcome to the start of your .NET journey! This part establishes the basics of .NET programming.

In chapter 1, you’ll learn what .NET is, what kinds of applications you can build with it, and the key features of the .NET runtime.

In chapter 2, you’ll start building console applications and writing code. Chapter 2 also covers some important fundamentals, such as namespaces, classes, records, properties, command-line arguments, packages, and top-level statements. You’ll build a command-line application that turns input strings into ASCII art.

In chapter 3, you’ll expand on the skills you acquired in chapter 2 and learn to build web services and applications. This chapter creates a solid foundation for the rest of the book because most chapters involve web services.

This part is essential for newcomers to .NET, and it also has useful information for those who used .NET in the past but haven’t kept up with the latest versions. Let’s get started!