C#

Introduction If you’ve been working with C# for any length of time, you’ve probably needed to store data as key-value pairs. The two main contenders for this job are Dictionary<TKey, TValue> and HashTable. They both do similar things, but there are some crucial differences that might make you choose one over the other. In this post, I’ll walk you through both options so you can make the right choice for your project. Trust me, this decision matters more than you might think! ...

Introduction If you’ve spent any time building C# applications, you’ve probably run into situations where you need to decide whether your objects should be changeable or locked down after creation. This choice between mutability and immutability isn’t just academic, it can significantly impact how your code behaves, how easy it is to debug, and even how it performs. In this post, I’ll walk you through both approaches and help you figure out which one makes sense for your specific coding challenges. ...

What’s the Deal with Lambda Expressions? If you’ve been coding in C# for a while, you’ve probably seen that funny arrow => sprinkled throughout code. That’s a lambda expression, basically a shortcut for writing tiny methods on the fly without all the ceremony of creating a named method. Think of lambdas as little function snippets that you can pass around like any other variable. They showed up in C# 3.0 and have been making our lives easier ever since. ...

Introduction: Two Approaches to Global Access When building C# applications, we often need functionality that’s accessible from anywhere in our codebase. Two common approaches to this problem are static classes and the singleton pattern. While they might seem similar at first glance, they serve different purposes and come with their own strengths and trade-offs. In this post, I’ll walk through both approaches, show you real-world examples, and help you decide which one fits your specific needs. ...

So What’s an Abstract Class Anyway? Think of an abstract class as a half-finished blueprint. You can’t build directly from it, but it gives any derived classes a head start with some pre-defined structure and behavior. It’s like a parent saying, “Here’s how our family does some things, but you’ll need to figure out these other parts yourself.” Abstract classes sit right in the sweet spot between interfaces (all talk, no action) and concrete classes (fully ready to use). They’re perfect when you want to share code but still enforce certain implementation requirements. ...

What is a Deadlock? If you’ve ever worked on multithreaded applications in C#, you’ve likely encountered or at least heard about deadlocks. A deadlock is one of the most frustrating concurrency issues that can bring your application to a complete standstill. Simply put, a deadlock occurs when two or more threads become permanently blocked, waiting for each other to release resources. Imagine two people approaching a narrow doorway from opposite sides, each politely waiting for the other to go first – neither moves, and both remain stuck. ...

Introduction to Delegates and Events If you’ve been coding in C# for a while, you’ve probably encountered delegates and events. These two features are incredibly powerful tools that help us write flexible, loosely coupled code. While they might seem similar at first glance (and yes, events are actually built on top of delegates), they each have their own purpose and best use cases. I remember when I first started learning C#, I found it challenging to understand exactly when to use delegates versus events. Over time, I’ve realized that choosing the right tool can make a huge difference in how maintainable and flexible your code becomes. ...

Introduction to Generics in C# Generics are a game-changer in C# that let you write code that works with pretty much any data type, but still keeps all the safety checks in place. They showed up back in C# 2.0 and completely changed how we write reusable code. Think of generics like a recipe that doesn’t specify exactly what you’re cooking with. You could throw in beef, chicken, or tofu, the cooking instructions still work, but you don’t have to write separate recipes for each ingredient. The best part? The compiler still checks that you’re not accidentally using chicken when you said you’d use beef! ...

If you’ve been coding in C# for a while, you’ve probably heard about boxing and unboxing. These concepts deal with how C# handles conversions between value types and reference types, and they can significantly impact your application’s performance. What’s the Difference Between Value and Reference Types? In C#, value types (like int, float, struct) live on the stack, while reference types (like string, object, classes) live on the heap. This distinction matters for performance and memory management. ...

Understanding Static Classes in C# A static class in C# is basically a container for methods and properties that don’t need any object to work. You can’t create instances of these classes, there’s no way to use the new keyword with them. Instead, you just call their methods directly through the class name. When Should You Use Static Classes? Static classes can really clean up your code when used correctly. Here are some situations where they make perfect sense: ...