The C# Station Tutorial

by Joe Mayo, 8/27/00, updated 10/6/01

Lesson 2:  Expressions, Types, and Variables

This lesson introduces C# expressions, types, and variables.  It's goal is to meet the following objectives:

"Variables" are simply storage locations for data.  You  may place data into them and retrieve their contents as part of a C# expression.  The interpretation of the data in a variable is controlled through "Types".

C# is a strongly "Typed" language.  Thus all operations on variables are performed with consideration of what the variable's "Type" is.  There are rules that define what operations are legal in order to maintain the integrity of the data you put in a variable.  

The C# simple types consist of the boolean type and three numeric types - integrals, floating point, and decimal.

Listing 1-1.  Displaying Boolean Values:  Boolean.cs

using System;

class Booleans
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        bool content = true;
        bool noContent = false;

        Console.WriteLine("It is {0} that C# Station provides C# programming language content.", content);
        Console.WriteLine("The statement above is not {0}.", noContent);
    }
}

In Listing 1-1, the boolean values are written to the console as a part of a sentence.  The "bool" type is simply either a true or false.  When run, this program produces the following output:

>It is True that C# Station provides C# programming language content.

>The statement above is not False.

The following table shows the integral types, their size, and range.

Integral types are well suited for those operations involving whole number calculations.  The char type is the exception, representing a single Unicode character.  As you can see from the table above, you have a wide range of options to choose from, depending on your requirements.  

The following table shows the floating point and decimal types, their size, precision, and range.

Floating point types are used when you need to perform operations requiring fractional representations.    However, for financial calculations, the decimal type may be your best choice.

Results are computed by building expressions.  These expressions are built by combining variables and operators together into statements.  The following table describes the allowable operators, their precedence, and associativity.

Left associativity means that operations are evaluated from left to right.  Right associativity mean all operations occur from right to left, such as assignment operators where everything to the right is evaluated before the result is placed into the variable on the left.

Listing 1-2. Unary Operators:  Unary.cs

using System;

class Unary
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        int unary = 0;
        int preIncrement;
        int preDecrement;
        int postIncrement;
        int postDecrement;
        int positive;
        int negative;
        sbyte bitNot;
        bool logNot;

        preIncrement = ++unary;
        Console.WriteLine("Pre-Increment: {0}", preIncrement);

        preDecrement = --unary;
        Console.WriteLine("Pre-Decrement: {0}", preDecrement);

        postDecrement = unary--;
        Console.WriteLine("Post-Decrement: {0}", postDecrement);

        postIncrement = unary++;
        Console.WriteLine("Post-Increment: {0}", postIncrement);

        Console.WriteLine("Final Value of Unary: {0}", unary);

        positive = -postIncrement;
        Console.WriteLine("Positive: {0}", positive);

        negative = +postIncrement;
        Console.WriteLine("Negative: {0}", negative);

        bitNot = 0;
        bitNot = (sbyte)(~bitNot);
        Console.WriteLine("Bitwise Not: {0}", bitNot);

        logNot = false;
        logNot = !logNot;
        Console.WriteLine("Logical Not: {0}", logNot);
    }
}

When evaluating expressions, post-increment and post-decrement operators return their current value and then apply the operators.  However, when using pre-increment and pre-decrement operators, the operator is applied to the variable prior to returning the final value.

In Listing 1-2, the "unary" variable is initialized to zero.  When the pre-increment (++x) operator is used, "unary" is incremented to 1 and the value 1 is assigned to the "preIncrement" variable.  The pre-decrement (--x) operator turns "unary" back to a 0 and then assigns the value to the "preDecrement" variable.

When the post-decrement (x--) operator is used, the value of "unary", 0,  is placed into the "postDecrement" variable and then "unary" is decremented to -1.  Next the post increment (x++) operator moves the current value of "unary", -1, to the "postIncrement" variable and then increments "unary" to 0.

The variable "bitNot" is initialized to zero and the bitwise not operator is applied.  The bitwise not (~) operator flips the bits in the variable.  In this case, the binary representation of 0, "00000000", was transformed into -1, "11111111".  

Notice the expression "(sbyte)(~bitNot)".  Any operation performed on types sbyte, byte, short, or ushort return integer values.  To assign the result into the bitNot variable we had to use a cast (Type) operator, where Type is the type you wish to convert to (in this case - sbyte).  Cast operators must be performed explicity when you go from a larger type to a smaller type because of the potential for lost data.  Generally speaking, assigning a smaller type to a larger type is no problem, since the larger type has room to hold the entire value.  Also be aware of the dangers of casting between signed and unsigned types.  You want to be sure to preserve the integrity of your data.  Many basic programming texts contain good descriptions of bit representations of variables and the dangers of explicit casting.

The logical not (!) operator allows you to toggle the value of a boolean variable.  In the example, the "logNot" variable is changed from false to true.  You can expect the following output from the above program.

>Pre-Increment:  1
>Pre-Decrement  0

>Post-Decrement:  0
>Post-Increment  -1

>Final Value of Unary:  0
>Positive:  1

>Negative:  -1
>Bitwise Not:  -1

>Logical Not:  True

Listing 1-3. Binary Operators:  Binary.cs

using System;

class Binary
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        int x, y, result;
        float floatResult;

        x = 7;
        y = 5;

        result = x+y;
        Console.WriteLine("x+y: {0}", result);

        result = x-y;
        Console.WriteLine("x-y: {0}", result);

        result = x*y;
        Console.WriteLine("x*y: {0}", result);

        result = x/y;
        Console.WriteLine("x/y: {0}", result);

        floatResult = (float)x/(float)y;
        Console.WriteLine("x/y: {0}", floatResult);

        result = x%y;
        Console.WriteLine("x%y: {0}", result);

        result += x;
        Console.WriteLine("result+=x: {0}", result);
    }
}

Listing 1-3 shows several examples of binary operators.  As you might expect, the results of addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), and division (/) produce the expected mathematical results.

The "floatResult" variable is a floating point type.  We explicitly cast the integer variables "x" and "y" to calculate a floating point value.

There is also an example of  the remainder(%) operator.  It performs a division operation on two values and returns the remainder.

The last statement shows another form of the assignment with operation (+=) operator.  Any time you use the assignment with operation operator, it's the same as applying the binary operator to both the left hand and right hand sides of the operator and putting the results into the left hand side.  The example could have been written as "result = result + x" and returned the same value.

One type you've seen a lot in the last two lessons is the "string" type.  The "string" type is represented by a list of Unicode characters within single quotes.  i.e. "This is a string."

Another data type is the Array.  Arrays can be thought of as containers that have a list of storage locations for a specified type.  When declaring an Array, you specify the type, Array name, dimensions, and size.

Listing 1-4. Array Operations:  Array.cs

using System;

class Array
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        int[] myInts = { 5, 10, 15 };
        bool[][] myBools = new bool[2][];
        myBools[0] = new bool[2];
        myBools[1] = new bool[1];
        double[,] myDoubles = new double[2, 2];
        string[] myStrings = new string[3];

        Console.WriteLine("myInts[0]: {0}, myInts[1]: {1}, myInts[2]: {2}", myInts[0], myInts[1], myInts[2]);

        myBools[0][0] = true;
        myBools[0][1] = false;
        myBools[1][0] = true;
        Console.WriteLine("myBools[0][0]: {0}, myBools[1][0]: {1}", myBools[0][0], myBools[1][0]);

        myDoubles[0, 0] = 3.147;
        myDoubles[0, 1] = 7.157;
        myDoubles[1, 1] = 2.117;
        myDoubles[1, 0] = 56.00138917;
        Console.WriteLine("myDoubles[0, 0]: {0}, myDoubles[1, 0]: {1}", myDoubles[0, 0], myDoubles[1, 0]);

        myStrings[0] = "Joe";
        myStrings[1] = "Matt";
        myStrings[2] = "Robert";
        Console.WriteLine("myStrings[0]: {0}, myStrings[1]: {1}, myStrings[2]: {2}", myStrings[0], myStrings[1], myStrings[2]);

    }
}

Listing 1-4 shows different implementations of Arrays.  The first example is the "myInts" Array.  It is initialized at declaration time with explicit values.

Next is a jagged array.  It is essentially an array of arrays.  We needed to use the "new" operator to instantiate the size of the primary array and then use the new operator again for each sub-array.

The third example is a two dimensional array.  Arrays can be multi-dimensional, with each dimension separated by a comma.  it must also be instantiated with the "new" operator.

Finally, we have the one dimensional array of strings.

In each case, you can see that array elements are accessed by identifying the integer index for the item you wish to refer to.  Arrays sizes can be any "int" type value.  Their indexes always begin at 0.  Here's the output from Listing 1-4:

    >myInts[0]: 5, myInts[1]: 10, myInts[2]: 15
    >myBools[0][0]: True, myBools[1][0]: True
    >myDoubles[0, 0]: 3.147, myDoubles[1, 0]: 56.00138917
    >myStrings[0]: Joe, myStrings[1]: Matt, myStrings[2]: Robert

By now you know what a C# variable is.  You have learned the C# simple data types as well as arrays and strings.  You also know how to form expressions with C# operators.

I invite you to return for Lesson 3:  Control Statements.  

Your feedback is very important and I appreciate any constructive comments you have. Please feel free to contact me for any questions or comments you may have about this lesson.

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