Author Topic: Introductory C# web-based tutorials (Read 80,339 times)

kyrathaba · « **Reply #25 on:** March 10, 2007, 03:48 PM »

Yeah, I prefer VS, definitely. But apparently you cannot install Visual C# 2005 Express to a USB mass storage device. Am I mistaken? I'll download the source code for SharpDevelop and experiment. Thanks for the suggestion.

dwane413 · « **Reply #26 on:** March 10, 2007, 10:59 PM »

Bryan,
Thanks for your tutorials. They are very well done.

After going over half way through the second tutorial, I decided to see how the "Hello world" program worked on my Windows 98 machine. So I set up the folder that the EXE file is in for sharing over the network and when I tried to run it in Win98, I got the error "A required .DLL file, MSCOREE.DLL, was not found."

While searching for information about that error, I found http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316091 which says:

Quote

CAUSE
This behavior occurs if the Microsoft .NET Framework is not installed on the target computer. Applications and controls written for the .NET Framework require that it be installed on the computer on which the application or control runs.
Back to the top

RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, install the .NET Framework on the target computer.

It then gives instructions on installing the .NET Framework.

Am I understanding correctly that programs I write with C# will not run on computers without the .NET Framework already installed, or will I find out in later tutorials how to compile programs that will run on most computers.

Thanks

kyrathaba · « **Reply #27 on:** March 11, 2007, 12:52 AM »

Dwane,

I'm glad you like the tutorials. More are on the way

I had a motherboard go AWOL on me and while I'm waiting on a replacement computer I'm using my father's old eMachine (yes, your sympathy is appreciated). But I still anticipate having the quiz program finished by the end of this weekend, and I'll make it available for download. To go along with it, I'll be throwing up a webpage reviewing materials covered in the first five tutorials, and some sample program assignment to reinforce those concepts. So stay tuned...

You understand correctly that the .NET Framework must be installed on target machines in order for them to run programs written in any .NET programming language (C#.NET, C++.NET, VB.NET, etc.).

I should also state, however, that programming tools for authoring .NET programs will typically have an option -- when you are building an installation -- for your setup program to check the target computer for the .NET Framework and download and install it if it is not found.

Some people naysay the .NET Framework because it is required, but it's really no different than VB6 requiring the VB6 runtime DLL, and look how successful VB6 was. A tremendous advantage of the .NET Framework is that it's authored by some of the most knowledgeable, experienced programmers anywhere, and they're able to draw upon a wealth of expertise to give us a very robust, complete group of assemblies containing just about any functionality you could ever imagine needing for your coding.

The .NET Framework is becoming ubiquitous. Most end-users will already have it installed, and if not it's easily acquired. True, native and unmanaged code, such as that produced by non-.NET C++, is independent of the .NET Framework, but .NET makes the programmer's job much easier in many situations.

If you are learning C# as a first language, you shouldn't feel any serious misgivings. Although professional developers have some concerns related to .NET's long-term longevity and free accessibility, I don't think they would argue that C# is a great choice.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #28 on:** March 11, 2007, 02:37 PM »

Update:

I'm pushing back the estimated completion date for the quiz program that reviews content of tutorials 1 through 5. I decided to write a Quiz-Maker utility that will be reusable for future quizzes, and that will allow me to save entire quizzes to disk using serialization.

Once I get the quizmaker completed, I'll need to setup the quiz program for deserialization. It will take a few more days, given my current schedule. Sorry for the delay, but once I complete these initial two programs, future quiz programs will be a snap.

Tutorial #6, due out in late March, will cover conditional execution and looping, integrating those concepts into ongoing focus on classes, inheritance, and polymorphism. Feedback welcomed.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #29 on:** March 12, 2007, 02:57 PM »

Update:

I think I'll have both the quiz program itself and the "Tutorials 1 to 5 Review Quiz" ready by tomorrow evening. Rather than write a separate Quiz Maker and Quiz Taker, I decided to incorporate both into the same application, and simply use a login routine to determine which UI gets accessed. If you login to the editor, it takes you to the quiz-maker interface; otherwise it takes you to the quiz-taker interface.

I will make the application available freely. It has the ability to make 10, 20, and 30-item quizzes that are multiple choice A,B,C,D in format. And, of course, it allows you to take a quiz and grades you on your performance. The quiz files produced by the program have a password property that gives you the option of password-protecting the ability to edit the quiz. Quiz files are simply serialized objects of type Quiz, where Quiz is a class contained in the program.

In conjunction with "Tutorials 1 to 5 Review Quiz", I'll also be providing an online flash presentation that covers concepts reviewed in the quiz, and that gives online example program code listings for study. This flash presentation will include voice.

Thanks to those who have expressed appreciation for the tutorial series. It really boosts my motivation to continue this work. Feedback always welcomed. Thanks.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #30 on:** March 12, 2007, 06:00 PM »

Came across this just now:

http://research.microsoft.com/~birrell/papers/ThreadsCSharp.pdf

It's a Microsoft research paper (41 pages) on multithreading in C#. Nice find. Pretty much covers it in depth.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #31 on:** March 13, 2007, 02:41 PM »

I've been alerted that some users have had difficulty with the first tutorial in the series. They've reported that they cannot get past the intro screen. It says to click on the diskette to proceed, but doesn't work. I've found that it works fine here:

http://www1.webng.com/bowrsanryld/non_bowrsanryld/wink_videos/kyrathaba_cs1.htm

but not here...

http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/cs_tutorials/comp_uninitiated/kyrathaba_cs1.htm

This isn't an issue with tutorials #2 onward, because beginning with the second tutorial in the series I adopted a VCR-button-motif for the UI.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #32 on:** March 14, 2007, 04:07 AM »

I'm pleased to announced that the in-depth review of tutorials #1 through #5 in the "C# for the Completely Uninitiated" series is ready for viewing at http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/

This Wink-produced flash presentation also includes programming assignments and links to possible solutions given as online source code listings.

Pending further input from users of the tutorials, I am planning on authoring the succeeding tutorials in the series in good-old HTML, since it gives me easy manipulation of font and images. I'll still use Wink 2.0 for producing flash footage of actual screen-actions, when it seems prudent to do so.

Readers of the tutorials can feel free to email me or message me here on the forum with any questions. If you want to see a brief tutorial to resolve some confusion you may have about an introductory C# concept or use of the express IDE, let me know.

The QuizMaker/QuizTaker application got put on the backburner today because I had to spend time recovering data from my defunct PC's hard drive. Shouldn't be but a few more days until it's online too, though.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #33 on:** March 19, 2007, 03:14 AM »

Tried to post this earlier, but for some reason it kept erroring. Maybe it's floating around somewhere in cyberspace (or even elsewhere on this site

)

I have an early alpha-release of my quiz editor/taker application ready. Looking mainly for feedback about anything you may find "broken" about it. Any suggestions/comments about UI also welcomed, but currently I'm just looking to make sure it works at a basic level.

The zip file contains the application, and two quiz files. The one named "mysamplequiz.qzz" is password-protected, so the application will only open it in Tester mode (unless you happen to know the password I used, in which case you could open it in the Editor and modify it). The other file, "computerquiz.qzz", you should be able to open, in either Editor or Tester mode.

Feedback welcome. Remember, though, that this is an alpha-release. Any "this thing is broken" bugs, please inform me. Note: the application was developed under .NET 2.0, so you must have that framework installed to run it.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #34 on:** March 20, 2007, 12:13 PM »

My tutorials page has received a facelift: http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/

kyrathaba · « **Reply #35 on:** March 23, 2007, 03:27 AM »

Announcement:

http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/

Tutorial #6 is completed, and covers for loops, while loops, complex if, switch statements, and the difference between syntax and runtime errors. Includes live screencasts, one with voice (although not hi-fidelity). One screencast demonstrates stepping through a for loop in debug mode, in order to better understand what's happening under the hood. The other screencasts shows a program demonstrating a for loop put to creative use.

Moreover, my page has been greatly updated. Now, all tutorials are available both online, and as standalone downloadable archives.

Feedback appreciated.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #36 on:** March 27, 2007, 03:29 AM »

Point of information: the site layout has been changed to use multiple webpages instead of a single page. Anyone who reads the site, please report any broken links you come across. Thanks.

http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com

kyrathaba · « **Reply #37 on:** March 31, 2007, 07:20 PM »

My C# site, compliments of DC, now has more content. I just finished putting the final touches on Tutorial #7. It's available online in HTML format, and also as a downloadable zip archive. Lots of example programs. If anyone is making use of these, please give me any feedback you can.

http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com

mouser · « **Reply #38 on:** March 31, 2007, 07:31 PM »

there are some broken images on
http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/cs_tutorials/comp_uninitiated/kyrathaba_cs7.htm

kyrathaba · « **Reply #39 on:** March 31, 2007, 07:40 PM »

Found two broken image links and fixed those. Also found one broken link to an external page and fixed it.

mouser · « **Reply #40 on:** March 31, 2007, 07:48 PM »

just took the computer quiz

kyrathaba · « **Reply #41 on:** March 31, 2007, 08:35 PM »

What did you score?

mouser · « **Reply #42 on:** March 31, 2007, 11:11 PM »

7/10 i think

kyrathaba · « **Reply #43 on:** April 01, 2007, 12:44 AM »

Yeah, there were some tricky questions.

In other news, I discovered a couple of bugs in the quiz program, one's you'd notice if using it to create/edit quizzes but probably not if you were only using it to take a quiz. Anyway, I'm working on squashing those bugs, and will let you know when a new upload is completed.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #44 on:** April 01, 2007, 01:24 AM »

I've fixed a couple of bugs I discovered while using the Quiz Maker program to make the quiz for Tutorial #2. I reuploaded this "fixed" version (still seeking bug reports, though). Also, the quiz file for Tutorial #2 is available for download.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #45 on:** April 05, 2007, 11:13 PM »

http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com

I've completed and uploaded Tutorial #8: Simple, Rectangular, Mixed, and Jagged Arrays, Foreach Loops and Nested For Loops

I'ts available online and for download. I welcome any feedback. If anyone finds any bugs in the sample programs, please let me know.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #46 on:** April 13, 2007, 06:25 PM »

Update:

I haven't abandoned the C# tutorials project. I'm just taking a few days off, working on a freeware game called "Last Match Loses!" I'll make it available for download and feedback ASAP.

I'll soon be putting up Tutorial #9, the final tutorial in the "C# for the Completely Uninitiated" series, which covers input/output and persisting data. Then, I'll be embarking on a new tutorial series: "C# for the Somewhat Initiated"

That series will introduce Windows programming (using Forms, as opposed to purely console-based), and will, over the course of the series, develop a complete single-player CRPG.

I'll also soon be extending the functionality of my QuizMaker application, so that after receiving your quiz grade, you get the benefit of an explanation of the correct answer for any items you missed: http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/downloads.htm

mouser · « **Reply #47 on:** April 14, 2007, 12:08 AM »

Quote

so that after receiving your quiz grade, you get the benefit of an explanation of the correct answer for any items you missed:

yes, that would be good.

mouser · « **Reply #48 on:** April 14, 2007, 12:17 AM »

just went through tutorial #8 -- very nice indeed.
you have a very nice way of teaching that makes it fun to keep reading; anyone wanting to learn c# would benefit from these

kyrathaba · « **Reply #49 on:** April 14, 2007, 04:26 PM »

Thanks, I appreciate it. I enjoy writing them. #8 was hard for me to get into. Strings can be sort of a dry topic. I try to sprinkle the tutorials with occasional humor, but one man's humor is another man's "duh!"