We introduce you to the C# language (and a tiny bit of the .NET Framework), and give you a clear understanding of the fundamentals needed to start writing applications in C#. C# (pronounced "see sharp" or "C Sharp") is one of many .NET programming languages. It is object-oriented and allows you to build reusable components for a wide variety of application types Microsoft introduced C# on June 26th, 2000 and it became a v1.0 product on Feb 13th 2002.
An important point is that C# is a "managed" language, meaning that it requires the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) to execute. Essentially, as an application that is written in C# executes, the CLR is managing memory, performing garbage collection, handling exceptions, and providing many more services that you, as a developer, don't have to write code for. The C# compiler produces Intermediate Language (IL) , rather than machine language, and the CLR understands IL. When the CLR sees the IL, it Just-In-Time (JIT) compiles it, method by method, into compiled machine code in memory and executes it. As mentiond previously, the CLR manages the code as it executes.
C# requires the CLR, you must have the CLR installed on your system. All new Windows operating systems ship with a version of the CLR and it is available via Windows Update for older systems. The CLR is part of the .NET, so if you see updates for the .NET Framework Runtime, it contains the CLR and .NET Framework Class Library (FCL). It follows that if you copy your C# application to another machine, then that machine must have the CLR installed too.
C# is an evolution of the C and C++ family of languages. However, it borrows features from other programming languages, such as Delphi and Java. If you look at the most basic syntax of both C# and Java, the code looks very similar, but then again, the code looks a lot like C++ too, which is intentional. Developers often ask questions about why C# supports certain features or works in a certain way. The answer is often rooted in it's C++ heritage.
C# (pronounced "C sharp") is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language. It will immediately be familiar to C and C++ programmers. C# combines the high productivity of Rapid Application Development (RAD) languages and the raw power of C++. Its development team is led by Anders Hejlsberg. The most recent version is C# 5.0, which was released on August 15, 2012.
Visual C# .NET is Microsoft's C# development tool. It includes an interactive development environment, visual designers for building Windows and Web applications, a compiler, and a debugger. Visual C# .NET is part of a suite of products, called Visual Studio .NET, that also includes Visual Basic .NET, Visual C++ .NET, and the JScript scripting language. All of these languages provide access to the Microsoft .NET Framework, which includes a common execution engine and a rich class library. The .NET Framework defines a "Common Language Specification" (CLS), a sort of lingua franca that ensures seamless interoperability between CLS-compliant languages and class libraries. For C# developers, this means that even though C# is a new language, it has complete access to the same rich class libraries that are used by seasoned tools such as Visual Basic .NET and Visual C++ .NET. C# itself does not include a class library.