practical note

Although C# is derived from the C programming language, it introduces some unique and powerful features, such as delegates (which can be viewed as type-safe function pointers) and lambda expressions which introduce elements of functional programming languages, as well as a simpler single class inheritance model (than C++) and, for those of you with experience in "C-like" languages, a very familiar syntax that may help beginners become proficient faster than its predecessors. Similar to Java, it is object-oriented, comes with an extensive class library, and supports exception handling, multiple types of polymorphism, and separation of interfaces from implementations. Those features, combined with its powerful development tools, multi-platform support, and generics, make C# a good choice for many types of software development projects: rapid application development projects, projects implemented by individuals or large or small teams, Internet applications, and projects with strict reliability requirements. Testing frameworks such as NUnit make C# amenable to test-driven development and thus a good language for use with Extreme Programming (XP). Its strong typing helps to prevent many programming errors that are common in weakly typed languages.