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Overview of object oriented techniques in C#

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In C#, the definition of a type—a class, struct, or record—is like a blueprint that specifies what the type can do. An object is basically a block of memory that has been allocated and configured according to the blueprint. This article provides an overview of these blueprints and their features. The next article in this series introduces objects.

Encapsulation

Encapsulation is sometimes referred to as the first pillar or principle of object-oriented programming. A class or struct can specify how accessible each of its members is to code outside of the class or struct. Methods and variables that aren't intended to be used from outside of the class or assembly can be hidden to limit the potential for coding errors or malicious exploits. For more information, see the Object-oriented programming tutorial.

Members

The members of a type include all methods, fields, constants, properties, and events. In C#, there are no global variables or methods as there are in some other languages. Even a program's entry point, the Main method, must be declared within a class or struct (implicitly when you use top-level statements).

The following list includes all the various kinds of members that may be declared in a class, struct, or record.

  • Fields
  • Constants
  • Properties
  • Methods
  • Constructors
  • Events
  • Finalizers
  • Indexers
  • Operators
  • Nested Types

For more information, see Members.

Accessibility

Some methods and properties are meant to be called or accessed from code outside a class or struct, known as client code. Other methods and properties might be only for use in the class or struct itself. It's important to limit the accessibility of your code so that only the intended client code can reach it. You specify how accessible your types and their members are to client code by using the following access modifiers:

The default accessibility is private.

Inheritance

Classes (but not structs) support the concept of inheritance. A class that derives from another class, called the base class, automatically contains all the public, protected, and internal members of the base class except its constructors and finalizers.

Classes may be declared as abstract, which means that one or more of their methods have no implementation. Although abstract classes cannot be instantiated directly, they can serve as base classes for other classes that provide the missing implementation. Classes can also be declared as sealed to prevent other classes from inheriting from them.

For more information, see Inheritance and Polymorphism.

Interfaces

Classes, structs, and records can implement multiple interfaces. To implement from an interface means that the type implements all the methods defined in the interface. For more information, see Interfaces.

Generic Types

Classes, structs, and records can be defined with one or more type parameters. Client code supplies the type when it creates an instance of the type. For example, the List<T> class in the System.Collections.Generic namespace is defined with one type parameter. Client code creates an instance of a List<string> or List<int> to specify the type that the list will hold. For more information, see Generics.

Static Types

Classes (but not structs or records) can be declared as static. A static class can contain only static members and can't be instantiated with the new keyword. One copy of the class is loaded into memory when the program loads, and its members are accessed through the class name. Classes, structs, and records can contain static members. For more information, see Static classes and static class members.

Nested Types

A class, struct, or record can be nested within another class, struct, or record. For more information, see Nested Types.

Partial Types

You can define part of a class, struct, or method in one code file and another part in a separate code file. For more information, see Partial Classes and Methods.

Object Initializers

You can instantiate and initialize class or struct objects, and collections of objects, by assigning values to its properties. For more information, see How to initialize objects by using an object initializer.

Anonymous Types

In situations where it isn't convenient or necessary to create a named class you use anonymous types. Anonymous types are defined by their named data members. For more information, see Anonymous types.

Extension Methods

You can "extend" a class without creating a derived class by creating a separate type. That type contains methods that can be called as if they belonged to the original type. For more information, see Extension methods.

Implicitly Typed Local Variables

Within a class or struct method, you can use implicit typing to instruct the compiler to determine a variable's type at compile time. For more information, see var (C# reference).

Records

You can add the record modifier to a class or a struct. Records are types with built-in behavior for value-based equality. A record (either record class or record struct) provides the following features:

  • Concise syntax for creating a reference type with immutable properties.
  • Value equality. Two variables of a record type are equal if they have the same type, and if, for every field, the values in both records are equal. Classes use reference equality: two variables of a class type are equal if they refer to the same object.
  • Concise syntax for nondestructive mutation. A with expression lets you create a new record instance that is a copy of an existing instance but with specified property values changed.
  • Built-in formatting for display. The ToString method prints the record type name and the names and values of public properties.
  • Support for inheritance hierarchies in record classes. Record classes support inheritance. Record structs don't support inheritance.

For more information, see Records.

C# Language Specification

For more information, see the C# Language Specification. The language specification is the definitive source for C# syntax and usage.