![Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 21
be controlled using access modifiers to restrict access to
member objects inside the class.
To define the accessibility level of the object, we have
got to declare it by using one of the keywords provided by
C# language, i.e., Public, Private, Protected, and Internal.
Access modifier is expressed by using either of the key-
words mentioned above before the class or a method.
Example:
public class program//Set the access
modifier
to public.
{
}
METHOD
It is a collection of statements that work together to com-
plete a job. At least one class with one Main method will be
present in every C# application.
It includes the following definition. It starts with an
access modifier declaration, then a return type, and later,
we define the method name, and inside the round bracket,
we have the parameters specified.
{Access Modifiers} {return type definition}
Method Name({parameter})
public static void Main(String[] args){
}
After the method has been defined, commands or state-
ments can be written within the curly braces. Arguments
can be passed within the round bracket just after the
method name.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/23351912-250521171336-0189ff96/85/Mastering-C-A-Beginners-Guide-Mohamed-Musthafa-Mc-Divya-Sachdeva-44-320.jpg)
![Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 23
class program1
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string stringValue = Hello;
int integerValue = 10;
float floatValue = 13.2f;
bool booleanValue = false;
}
}
CURLY BRACES
It defines the beginning and the end of any logical state-
ment in a program block. The curly braces are restricted to
the C# language, but they are also found in several other
languages like Java, C++, etc. You can see our first “Hello
World” code used to wrap multiple lines of code together.
It marks the starting and the end point of the logical state-
ment for the compiler.
Any logical entity like Namespace, Class, Method,
Conditional statement, Loops, etc., should be enclosed
inside braces to mark the start and end of the report for the
compiler. For a better grasp of the overall structure of a C#
program, below is the simplest C# program:
* C# Program Structure - Example */
using System;
namespace HelloEveryoneApp
{
class HelloEveryoneClass
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/23351912-250521171336-0189ff96/85/Mastering-C-A-Beginners-Guide-Mohamed-Musthafa-Mc-Divya-Sachdeva-46-320.jpg)
![24 ◾ Mastering C#
/* this is first program in C#
language */
Console.WriteLine(Hello Everyone);
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it will pro-
duce the following output:
• Hello Everyone
Here is the explanation of the above C# program:
• /* C# Program Structure - Example program */: The
C# compiler ignores this line; this is the comment in
the program.
• using System;: The using keyword includes the sys-
tem namespace in the C# program.
• namespace HelloEveryoneApp: This is the
namespace declaration. It is simply a collection of
classes. The HelloEveryoneApp namespace contains
the class named HelloEveryoneClassclass—Here, the
class HelloEveryoneClass includes the data and the
method definitions that your C# program uses.
• static void Main(string[] args): This line defined the
Main method, which is the entry point for all the C#
programs.
• */: The C# compiler also ignores this line; this is also
a comment in the program.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/23351912-250521171336-0189ff96/85/Mastering-C-A-Beginners-Guide-Mohamed-Musthafa-Mc-Divya-Sachdeva-47-320.jpg)
![shield only. Yet the force was homogeneous in virtue of a single
custom, wherein lies the secret of the rise of England's prowess as a
military nation. Though the wealthy thanes might ride horses on the
march, they dismounted one and all for action, and fought, even to
the king himself, on their own feet.[2]
The force was divided into large bands or battalions, of which
the normal formation for battle was a wedge broadening out from a
front of two men to a base of uncertain number; the officers and the
better armed men forming the point, backed by a dense column of
inferior troops. It was with a single line of such wedges, apparently
from five-and-twenty to thirty of them, that Harold took up his
position to bar the advance of the Norman army. Having no cavalry,
he had resolved to stand on the defensive, and had chosen his
ground with no little skill. His line occupied the crest of a hill, his
flanks were protected by ravines, and he had dug across the plain
on his front a trench which was sufficient to check a rapid advance
of cavalry. Moreover, he had caused each battalion to ring itself
about with sharp stakes, planted into the ground at intervals with
the points slanting outwards, as a further protection against the
attack of horse.[3] The reader should take note of these stakes, for
he will find them constantly reappearing up to the seventeenth
century. There then the English waited in close compact masses, a
wall of shields within a hedge of stakes, the men of nine-and-twenty
shires under a victorious leader. There is no need to enter into
details of the battle. The English, as has been well said,[4] were
subjected to the same trial as the famous squares at Waterloo,
alternate rain of missiles and charges of cavalry, and as yet they
were unequal to it. Harold's orders had been that not a man should
move, but when the Normans, after many fruitless attacks, at last
under William's direction simulated flight, the order was forgotten
and one wing broke its ranks in headlong pursuit of the fugitives.
Possibly, if Harold had been equal to the occasion, a general advance
might have saved the day, but he made no such effort, and he was
in the presence of a man who overlooked no blunder. The pursuing
wing was enveloped by the Normans and annihilated; and then](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/23351912-250521171336-0189ff96/85/Mastering-C-A-Beginners-Guide-Mohamed-Musthafa-Mc-Divya-Sachdeva-67-320.jpg)
![solidus, or, as we may say by literal translation of the Latin, the man
who fights for a shilling.
The sole military interest therefore of the reigns of the Norman
kings is to follow the breakdown of the feudal system for military
purposes, and the rapid reversion to the Saxon methods and
organisation. William Rufus was the first to appeal to the English to
arm in his cause, and he did so twice with success. But in the
seventh year of his reign he played them a trick which lost him their
confidence for ever. The fyrd had furnished twenty thousand men for
service against the Norman rebels in France, and had provided every
man, at the cost of his shire, with ten shillings for the expenses of
his journey or, to use a later expression, for his conduct-money.
William met them at the rendezvous, took their two hundred
thousand shillings from them to hire mercenaries withal, and
dismissed them to their homes. This Rufus has been selected by an
historian of repute as the earliest example of an officer and a
gentleman; he should also be remembered as the first officer who
set the fashion, soon to become sadly prevalent, of misappropriating
the pay of his men. The reader should note in passing this early
instance of conduct-money, for we shall find in it the germ of the
Queen's shilling.
1106.
1116.
1125, 25th March.
The reign of Henry the First is interesting in that it shows us
English knights serving in the field against Robert of Normandy
under the walls of Tenchbrai. We find that the old order of battle,
the single line of Hastings,[5] has disappeared and has given place to
the three lines of the Byzantine school, but that, strange to say, the
Saxons have forced their peculiar principle upon the Normans. Henry
caused his English and Norman knights to dismount, formed them
into a solid battalion and placed himself at their head, keeping but
one small body still on their horses. The enemy's cavalry attacked
Henry's mounted men and dispersed them; but the phalanx of the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/23351912-250521171336-0189ff96/85/Mastering-C-A-Beginners-Guide-Mohamed-Musthafa-Mc-Divya-Sachdeva-69-320.jpg)
![small, and was diminished still further by constant evasion of
obligations. He therefore regulated the commutation of personal
military service for payment in money, and formed it, under the old
name of scutage, into a permanent institution. Advantage was
generally taken of the system, and with the money thus obtained he
took Brabançon mercenaries, the prototypes of the landsknechts of a
later time, permanently into his pay. When he needed the feudal
force to supplement these mercenaries, he fell back on the device of
ordering every three knights to furnish and equip one of their
number for service; and finally, driven to extremity, he re-established
the old English fyrd as a National Militia by the Assize of Arms. This,
the earliest of enactments for the organisation of our national forces,
and the basis of all that followed down to the reign of Philip and
Mary, contained the following provisions:—
Every holder of one knight's fee shall have a coat of mail,[6] a
helmet, a shield, and a lance; and every knight as many coats of
mail, helmets, shields, and lances as there are fees in his domain.
Every free layman having in chattels or rent to the value of
sixteen marks shall keep the same equipment.
Every free layman having in chattels or rent ten marks, shall
keep an habergeon,[7] a chaplet[8] of iron, and a lance.
All burgesses and the whole community of freemen shall have a
wambais,[9] a chaplet of iron, and a lance.
It is noteworthy that neither the bow nor the axe appear in this
list of the national weapons, an omission for which it is difficult to
account, since the bow was evidently in full use at the time. Possibly
the temptation to employ it for purposes of poaching may have been
so strong as to make the authorities hesitate to enjoin the keeping
of a bow in every poor freeman's house. The influence of the
poacher will be found equally potent when the time comes for the
introduction of firearms.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/23351912-250521171336-0189ff96/85/Mastering-C-A-Beginners-Guide-Mohamed-Musthafa-Mc-Divya-Sachdeva-72-320.jpg)
![Richard the Lion-Heart, like his predecessors, preferred to
employ mercenaries for his wars, while even the knights who
accompanied him to the Crusade were in receipt of pay. Were it not
that his achievements in the Holy Land had left little mark on English
military history they would be well worthy of a detailed narrative, for
Richard was beyond dispute a really great soldier, a good engineer,
and a remarkably able commander. The story of his march from
Joppa to Jerusalem and of his victory at Arsouf is known to few, but
it remains to all time an example of consummate military skill. A
mixed force compounded of many nations is never very easy to
control, and it was doubly difficult when the best of it was composed
of knights who hated the very name of subordination. Yet it was with
such material, joined to a huge body of half-disciplined infantry, that
Richard executed a flank march in the presence of the most
formidable of living generals, and repulsed him brilliantly when he
ventured, at an extremely trying moment, to attack. The plan of the
campaign, the arrangements and orders for the march, the drill and
discipline imposed on the knights, and the handling of the troops in
the action are all alike admirable. Yet, as has been already stated,
the lessons of the Crusades wrought little influence in England,
mainly because she had already learned from her own experience
the value of a heavily armed infantry, and of the tactical combination
of missile and striking weapons. In the rest of Europe they were for
a time remembered but very soon forgotten;[10] and England was
then once more left alone with her secret.
Two small relics of the Crusades must however find mention in
this place. The first is the employment of the cross as a mark for
distinguishing the warriors of different nations, which became in due
time the recognised substitute for uniform among European soldiers.
Each nation took a different colour for its cross, that of the English
being at first white, which, curiously enough, is now the regular
facing for English regiments of infantry. The second relic is the
military band which, there seems to be little doubt, was copied from
the Saracens. In their armies trumpets and drums, the latter
decidedly an Oriental instrument, were used to indicate a rallying-](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/23351912-250521171336-0189ff96/85/Mastering-C-A-Beginners-Guide-Mohamed-Musthafa-Mc-Divya-Sachdeva-73-320.jpg)
![Commissions of Array, as they were called, will come before us again
so late as in the reign of Charles the First.
1285.
But, like all his predecessors, Edward was careful to cherish the
national militia which had grown out of the fyrd. The Statute of
Winchester re-enacted the Assize of Arms and redistributed the force
into new divisions armed with new weapons. The wealthiest class of
freemen was now required to keep a hauberk[11] of iron, a sword
and a knife, and a horse. The two lower classes were now
subdivided into four, whereof the first was to keep the same arms as
the wealthiest, the horse excepted; the second a sword, bow and
arrows, and a knife; the third battle-axes, knives, and other less
weapons, in which last are included bills;[12] and the rest bows and
arrows, or if they lived in the forest, bows and bolts, the latter being
probably less deadly to the king's deer than arrows. Here then was
the axe of Harold's day revived, and the archers established by
statute. It is evident, from the fact that they wore no defensive
armour, that the archers were designed to be light infantry, swift and
mobile in their limbs, skilful and deadly with their weapons. The
name of Edward the First must be ever memorable in our history for
the encouragement that he gave to the long-bow; but we seek in
vain for the man, if such there was, who founded the tradition, still
happily strong among us, that the English whatever their missile
weapon shall always be good shots. Even at the siege of Messina by
Richard the First the archers drove the Sicilians from the walls; for
no man could look out of doors but he would have an arrow in his
eye before he could shut it.
1297.
1298.
The bowmen had not long been a statutory force before they
were called upon for active service. The defeat of the English by
William Wallace at Cambuskenneth had summoned Edward from
France to take the field in person against the Scots; and he met](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/23351912-250521171336-0189ff96/85/Mastering-C-A-Beginners-Guide-Mohamed-Musthafa-Mc-Divya-Sachdeva-76-320.jpg)
![and under his feeble son the English army learned at Bannockburn
an ignominious lesson in tactics. The Scotch army, forty thousand
strong, was composed principally of pikemen, who were drawn up,
as at Falkirk, in four battalions, with the burn in their front and
broken ground on either flank. Their cavalry, numbering a thousand,
a mere handful compared to the host of the English men-at-arms,
was kept carefully in hand. Edward opened the action by advancing
his archers to play on the Scottish infantry, but omitted to support
them; and Bruce, seeing his opportunity, let loose his thousand
horse on their flank and rolled them up in confusion. The English
cavalry then dashed in disorder against the serried pikes, failed,
partly from want of space and partly from bad management, to
make the slightest impression on them, and were driven off in
shameful and humiliating defeat. So the English learned that their
famous archers could not hold their own against cavalry without
support,[13] and they took the lesson to heart. The old system of
dismounting the men-at-arms had been for the moment abandoned
with disastrous results; the man who was to revive it had been born
at Windsor Castle just two years before the fight.
1327.
1333.
Thirteen years later this boy ascended the throne of England as
King Edward the Third, and almost immediately marched with a
great host against the Scots. The campaign came to an end without
any decisive engagement, but on the one occasion when an action
seemed imminent, the English men-at-arms dismounted and put off
their spurs after the old English fashion. Peace was made, but only
to be broken by the Scots, and then Edward took his revenge for
Bannockburn at Halidon Hill. The English men-at-arms alighted from
their horses, and were formed into four battalions, each of them
flanked by wings of archers, the identical formation adopted two
centuries later for the pikemen and musketeers. The Scots, whose
numbers were far superior, were also formed on foot in four
battalions, but without the strength of archers. And then, says the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/23351912-250521171336-0189ff96/85/Mastering-C-A-Beginners-Guide-Mohamed-Musthafa-Mc-Divya-Sachdeva-78-320.jpg)
![old historian,[14] the English minstrels blew aloud their trumpets
and sounded their pipes and other instruments of martial music, and
marched furiously to meet the Scots. The archers shot so thick and
fast that the enemy, unable to endure it, broke their ranks, and then
the English men-at-arms leaped on to their horses for the pursuit.
The Scotch strove gallantly to rally in small bodies, but they were
borne down or swept away; they are said to have lost ten thousand
slain out of sixty thousand that entered the battle.
The mounting of the men-at-arms for the pursuit gave the
finishing touch to the English tactical methods, and the nation was
now ready for war on a grander scale. Moreover, there was playing
round the knees of good Queen Philippa a little boy of three years
old who was destined to be the victor of Poitiers. It is therefore time,
while the quarrel which led to the Hundred Years' War is maturing,
to observe the point to which two centuries and a half of progress
had brought English military organisation.
Authorities.—By far the best, so far as I know the only, account of the
rise of English tactics and of English military power is to be found in Die
Entwickelung des Kriegswesens in der Ritterzeit, by Major-General Köhler, vol.
ii. pp. 356 sq., and vol. v. pp. 97 sq., a work to which my obligations must be
most gratefully acknowledged. The authorities are faithfully and abundantly
quoted. Freeman's Norman Conquest, Mr. J. H. Round's Feudal England,
Hewitt's Ancient Armour, Oman's Art of War in the Middle Ages, Grose's
Military Antiquities, and Rymer's Fœdera are authorities which will occur to
every one, as also the Constitutional Histories of Hallam, Stubbs, and Gneist.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/23351912-250521171336-0189ff96/85/Mastering-C-A-Beginners-Guide-Mohamed-Musthafa-Mc-Divya-Sachdeva-79-320.jpg)
Mastering C A Beginners Guide Mohamed Musthafa Mc Divya Sachdeva
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- 7. Mastering Computer Science Series Editor: Sufyan bin Uzayr Mastering C#: A Beginner’s Guide Mohamed Musthafa MC, Divya Sachdeva, and Reza Nafim Mastering GitHub Pages: A Beginner’s Guide Sumanna Kaul and Shahryar Raz Mastering Unity: A Beginner’s Guide Divya Sachdeva and Aruqqa Khateib Mastering Unreal Engine: A Beginner’s Guide Divya Sachdeva and Aruqqa Khateib Mastering Java: A Beginner’s Guide Divya Sachdeva and Natalya Ustukpayeva Mastering Python for Web: A Beginner’s Guide Mathew Rooney and Madina Karybzhanova For more information about this series, please visit: https:// www.routledge.com/Mastering-Computer-Science/ book-series/MCS The “Mastering Computer Science” series of books are authored by the Zeba Academy team members, led by Sufyan bin Uzayr. Zeba Academy is an EdTech venture that develops courses and content for learners primarily in STEM fields, and offers education consulting to Universities and Institutions worldwide. For more info, please visit https:// zeba.academy
- 8. Mastering C# A Beginner’s Guide Edited by Sufyan bin Uzayr
- 9. First edition published 2022 by CRC Press 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 and by CRC Press 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, LLC © 2022 Sufyan bin Uzayr Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, access www. copyright.com or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. For works that are not available on CCC please contact mpkbookspermissions@tandf.co.uk Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. ISBN: 9781032103235 (hbk) ISBN: 9781032103228 (pbk) ISBN: 9781003214779 (ebk) DOI: 10.1201/9781003214779 Typeset in Minion by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
- 10. v Contents About the Editor, xvii Chapter 1 ◾ Mastering C# Programming Language—A Beginner’s Guide 1 INTRODUCTION TO C# PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE 3 WHAT IS C# 3 WHY C# MATTERS 5 HISTORY OF C# 6 C# Version 1.0 8 C# Version 1.2 8 C# Version 2.0 9 C# Version 3.0 9 C# Version 4.0 10 C# Version 5.0 11 C# Version 6.0 12 C# Version 7.0 13
- 11. vi ◾ Contents C# Version 7.1 14 C# Version 7.2 14 C# Version 7.3 15 C# Version 8.0 16 C# Version 9.0 17 UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE C# PROGRAM 18 USING KEYWORD 19 NAMESPACE 19 CLASS 20 Access Modifiers 20 METHOD 21 CONSTRUCTOR 22 DATA TYPES 22 CURLY BRACES 23 Chapter 2 ◾ Building Blocks of C# 27 MEMBERS 27 Accessibility 28 Fields 29 Methods 29 Parameters 30 Method Body and Local Variables 30 Static and Instance Methods 31 Method Overloading 31 Other Function Members 33
- 12. Contents ◾ vii Constructors 33 Events 34 Operators 34 Finalizers 34 Expressions 34 Statements 35 UNDERSTANDING THE CLI 35 Common Type System 35 Common Language Specification 36 Metadata 36 Virtual Execution System 36 THE .NET FRAMEWORKS 37 CLR 37 Framework Class Library (FCL) 37 App Models 37 Why Do Companies Use .NET? 39 .NET Framework for Users 40 Important Points 42 What Languages Do Developers Have Access to While Working with .NET? 43 ASSEMBLIES IN .NET 44 GAC 45 Assembly Manifest 46 What Are the Benefits of Using Assemblies? 47 Versioning Problems 47
- 13. viii ◾ Contents DLL Conflicts 48 The Solution 48 How Does It Work? 49 Chapter 3 ◾ Data Types and Operators 51 VALUE DATA TYPE 52 REFERENCE DATA TYPE 53 Pointer Data Type 54 Operators 54 BASIC DATA TYPES IN C# 55 Integer 55 Double 56 Boolean 57 String 58 VARIABLES 59 Local Variables 59 Instance Variables or Non-Static Variables 61 Static Variables or Class Variables 64 Difference between Instance Variable and Static Variable 65 Constants Variables 66 Read-Only Variables 68 CONSTANTS 70 Which Types Can Be Used as a Constant? 72 A Constant Alternative: The Read-Only Field 73 REFERENCE TYPE AND VALUE TYPES 75
- 14. Contents ◾ ix ARRAYS AND OPERATORS 77 OPERATORS 80 Arithmetic Operators 80 Relational Operators 83 Logical Operators 84 Assignment Operators 84 Chapter 4 ◾ Exploring User-Defined Types 89 CLASSES AND OBJECTS 90 System Classes 93 Creating and Using Objects 94 Releasing the Objects 95 Access to Fields of an Object 96 Access to the Memory and Properties of an Object—Example 96 Calling Methods of Objects 97 Calling Methods of Objects—Example 97 CONSTRUCTORS 98 Constructor with Parameters 98 Calling Constructors—Example 99 When to Use Static Fields and Methods 101 Static Fields and Methods—Example 102 STRUCTURES 103 Structs with Methods 104 Structs and Constructors 105 Nested Structs 106
- 15. x ◾ Contents ENUMERATION 110 NAMESPACES 118 Nested Namespaces 123 Chapter 5 ◾ Object-Oriented Programming in C# 127 WHAT IS OOP 129 Basic Principles Concept in C# Programming 129 Structure of OOP 130 Class 131 Objects 132 Method 133 Encapsulation 135 Abstract Classes 138 Inheritance 140 Polymorphism 142 IMPLEMENTATION OF OOP 146 Encapsulation 146 Inheritance 146 Polymorphism 147 Reusability 147 Compiling the Program 148 Classes and Objects 149 Multiple Class Declaration 150 Partial Classes 151
- 16. Contents ◾ xi Static Classes 154 Constructor and Destructor 154 Static Constructor 156 Destructors 158 Function Overloading 160 Virtual Methods 162 Hiding Methods 163 Abstract Classes 165 Sealed Classes 166 Interface 167 ENCAPSULATION AND INHERITANCE 169 Advantages of Encapsulation 172 Inheritance 173 Types of Inheritance in C# 173 Advantages of Inheritance in C# 176 Why Use Inheritance and How It Makes It Easy to Work? 177 CONCLUSION 177 Chapter 6 ◾ Generics in C# 179 WHAT ARE GENERICS 180 Characteristics of Generics 181 Type Safety 182 Performance 183 Binary Code Reuse 184
- 17. xii ◾ Contents Generic Methods 185 Generic Class and Methods 186 C# Constraint 189 C# Multiple Constraints 191 GENERIC TYPES AND METHODS 193 Generic Types 193 Constraints 196 Type Constraints 198 Reference Type Constraints 201 Value Type Constraints 203 Value Types Down with Unmanaged Constraints 204 Not Null Constraints 204 Other Special Type Constraints 204 Multiple Constraints 205 Type Inference 206 COVARIANCE AND CONTRAVARIANCE IN GENERICS 206 Generic Interfaces with Contravariant Type Parameters 210 Chapter 7 ◾ Functional Programming and Lambdas in C# 213 FUNCTIONAL PROGRAMMING 214 Benefits of Functional Programming 215 Function Types 218
- 18. Contents ◾ xiii Function Arithmetic 223 C# Functional Programming 225 Higher-Order Functions 226 Asynchronous Functions 227 Asynchronous Functions with Callbacks 229 Tuples 230 Closures 233 LAMBDA EXPRESSION 234 Async Lambdas 236 Variable Scope in Lambda Expression 238 Statement Lambda 240 LINQ 242 Advantages of LINQ Include the Following: 243 Namespace 245 Filtering 247 Distinct 248 Aggregation 250 Method Chaining 250 Existence Operations 251 Intersection 253 Union 253 Except 253 Grouping 254
- 19. xiv ◾ Contents Chapter 8 ◾ Dynamic Programming and Reflection 257 ADVANTAGES OF DYNAMIC AND STATIC LANGUAGES 259 Recursion vs. Dynamic Programming 263 Recursion vs. Iteration 263 Approaches of Dynamic Programming 263 Top-Down Approach 263 Advantages 264 Bottom-Up Approach 266 Key Points 266 DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING IN C# 266 How to Use Dynamic 267 Dynamic and Overloading of Methods 272 Conclusion 274 UNDERSTANDING REFLECTION 275 Defining Reflection in C# 275 A Simple Use Case 276 How Reflection in C# Works 278 Uses for Reflection C# 280 USING DYNAMIC TYPE 281 How Does Dynamic Type Work? 281 Short Overview of DLR 283 Call Ste Caching 283 Expression Trees 284 Dynamic Object Interoperability 284
- 20. Contents ◾ xv Why Should We Use the Dynamic Type 284 Dynamic vs. Reflection 285 Var vs. Object vs. Dynamic 287 Var Keyword 288 Object Keyword 288 Dynamic Keyword 289 APPRAISAL, 291 INDEX, 299
- 22. xvii About the Editor Sufyan bin Uzayr is a writer, coder, and entrepreneur with more than a decade of experience in the industry. He has authored several books in the past, pertaining to a diverse range of topics, ranging from History to Computers/IT. Sufyan is the Director of Parakozm, a multinational IT company specializing in EdTech solutions. He also runs Zeba Academy, an online learning and teaching vertical with a focus on STEM fields. Sufyan specializes in a wide variety of technologies, such as JavaScript, Dart, WordPress, Drupal, Linux, and Python. He holds multiple degrees, including ones in Management, IT, Literature, and Political Science. Sufyan is a digital nomad, dividing his time between four countries. He has lived and taught in universities and educational institutions around the globe. Sufyan takes a keen interest in technology, politics, literature, history and sports, and in his spare time, he enjoys teaching coding and English to young students. Learn more at sufyanism.com.
- 24. 1 DOI: 10.1201/9781003214779-1 C h a p t e r 1 Mastering C# Programming Language— A Beginner’s Guide IN THIS CHAPTER ➢ What is C#? ➢ Basic Introduction to C# ➢ Evolution of C# In this fast-moving world of digital transformation, almost everyone has access to the Internet and smartphones. The use of the Internet is all about browsing websites and several
- 25. 2 ◾ Mastering C# kinds of mobile apps. Interestingly, you may not count the number of apps that you use per day. Whether it’s most rampantly used microblogging apps like Twitter, stream- ing services like Netflix, messaging apps like WhatsApp, the coding stays at the foundation of everything. There are over 1.7 billion websites on the Internet today, all of which are powered by some programming language. It continues to evolve in both industry and research as sys- tems and applications change. Programming is the pro- cess that makes it possible to create software, applications, and websites. It is a kind of artificial language that can be used to control the behavior of a machine, particularly a computer or other gadget like a mobile. We already know that computers or any other similar technologies cannot think themselves; they require users to give sets of ordered instructions to know what to do. So programming works here. It is used to facilitate communication about organiz- ing and manipulating information and express algorithms precisely. Its languages are entirely different from most other forms of human expression in that they require a greater degree of precision and completeness. This sort of language is referred to as “code.” Most of the resources you use on the computer and Internet are made with code. Learning this sort of coding is simple. All you need is some idea and the right tool. Coding an app involves taking a picture, designing the app, testing it, and releasing it. There is never a better ideal time to develop an app than today. Surprisingly, you have an enormous mar- ket for your app once it hits Google Play and App Store. If you are newer to the mobile app development world but ardently want to be part of it somehow by yourself, this
- 26. Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 3 book is a detailed guide that will help learners get started with C# programming. It firstly talks about the basics and then moves on to practical exercises to help readers quickly gain the required knowledge. INTRODUCTION TO C# PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE C# is a general-purpose, advanced and Object-Oriented Programming Language pronounced as “C sharp” cre- ated by Microsoft that runs on the .NET Framework. C# has roots in the C family, and the language is close to other popular languages like C++ and Java. The first ver- sion was released in the year 2002. The latest version, C# 8, was released in September 2019. C# is recognized as a standard by ECMA and ISO. C# is specifically designed for Common Language Infrastructure (CLI). It’s a stan- dard for describing executable code and the environment in which it runs. C# was initially known as C-like Object- Oriented Language (COOL) but altered the name to pre- vent trademark concerns. Since the C# is formed within the .Net Framework initiative by Microsoft, it provides various integrated development environments (IDEs) to run C# programs smoothly. While C# can be put to better use in the hands of all sorts of programmers, a large part of the language’s user base comprises those who are partial to the Microsoft platform. WHAT IS C# C# (pronounced “C-sharp”) is an object-based program- ming language from Microsoft that significantly focuses
- 27. 4 ◾ Mastering C# on combining the computing power of C++ with the programming ease of Visual Basic. C# is based on C++ and includes features similar to those of Java. It’s a blend between C and C++. C# is commonly used for backend services, windows applications, website development, and game development. C# is arranged to work with Microsoft’s .NET platform. Microsoft’s main aim is to facilitate exchanging informa- tion and services over the web and let developers build highly portable applications. C# smoothen programming by using Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), which allowed access to a programming object or method without requiring the programmer to write additional code for each step. That is something quite interesting. Do you know one thing? Programmers here can build on existing code rather than repeatedly duplicating it. C# is expected to make it faster and less expensive to market new products and services. C# programs run on .NET and a virtual execution system called the common language runtime (CLR) and included many class libraries. The CLR is the implementation of the CLI by Microsoft, an international standard. The CLI is the ground for creating execution and development envi- ronments in which languages and libraries work together continuously. Source code written in C# is compiled into an inter- mediate language (IL) that matches the CLI specification. The IL code and its resources, like bitmaps and strings, are saved in an assembly, which usually ends in.dll. A pack includes a manifest that provides information about the assembly’s types, genre, and culture.
- 28. Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 5 When the C# program is carried out, the assembly is filled into the CLR. The CLR performs Just-In-Time (JIT) compilation to change the IL code to native machine instructions. The CLR gives other services related to automatic garbage collection, exception handling, and resource management. Code carried out by the CLR is sometimes referred to as “managed code,” in comparison with “unmanaged code,” which is composed into native machine language that selects a specific platform. Language interoperability is a crucial feature .NET. IL code produced by the C# compiler conforms to the Common Type Specification (CTS). IL code generated from C# can simply interact with code generated from the .NET versions of F#, Visual Basic, C++, or any of more than 20 other CTS-compliant languages. A single assembly may include different modules written in different .NET lan- guages, and the types can reference each other as if they were written in the same, unique language. Besides the runtime services, .NET also includes com- prehensive libraries. These libraries support many differ- ent kinds of workloads. They’re organized into namespaces that give a wide variety of proper functionality for every- thing from file input and output to string manipulation to XML parsing, web application frameworks, and Windows Forms controls. The typical C# application utilizes the .NET class library considerably to handle every day “plumbing” chores. WHY C# MATTERS As a beginner, it’s pretty simple to learn C#; to know C#, you should have at least a basic idea of writing code, even if
- 29. 6 ◾ Mastering C# you have yet to build your first application or program. The learning curve for C# is comparatively low when compared to more complex languages. C# is an excellent choice for developers with moderate to advanced experience with writing code. While experts admit the language is one of the reasonable complexities, they agree that it’s relatively simple to grasp and outper- form. Once you’re introduced to C# and put in the time to get the hang of it, you can expect to advance quickly from an amateur to an expert. This is since C# is a first-class language, which means it’s relatably easy to grasp and write, making it a splendid choice for beginners and a convenient option for experts. In addition to readability, C# can also automate complex tasks that require a lot of time to achieve minor results. This programming language is also statistically typed, which means that errors are identified before the applica- tion goes live. This makes it simple to detect minor flaws in your stack that would otherwise be almost. HISTORY OF C# In 2000, Microsoft announced its initial version of C# as a part of the .NET Framework. VB.NET was also an alternative, but VB.NET stuck to the standard Microsoft Visual Basic syntax, while C# was close to Java, a C-style language. The name was given to C# firstly was “Cool.” Microsoft was conscious of working with a language very approximately to C++, so they wanted to specify that its new language was one step higher than C++. C# is a newly discovered language on the market developed by Microsoft. Initially, Microsoft advanced and deployed the
- 30. Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 7 Active Server Pages (ASP) language. This language is now labeled Classic ASP, and its support has been discontinued. ASP lets programmers generate VB-like scripts to enlarge dynamic web pages. These sort of web pages continued on aged Internet information Services (IIS) servers running Windows. Some Linux providers also supported Classic ASP, but it was routinely a nonstandard way to create web pages. In the late 1990s, Microsoft decided to make a lan- guage that fought a tight-spirited fight with Java. During this course of time, Java was the most common language, and its popularity was rising. Classic ASP had its place, but the software required to create the product was a paid application. Java was used to develop web applications, and it was favored among developers who understood C and C++. Instead of label the new language C+++, they decided to use the name C# (pronounced C sharp), which attributes the musical notation that a note should be higher in pitch. The C# team is continuing to innovate and add new spe- cific features. This chapter provides a history of a significant release of the C# language as they are meticulously focusing on remarkable innovation and adding spectacular features to this. • C# version 1.0. • C# version 1.2. • C# version 2.0. • C# version 3.0. • C# version 4.0.
- 31. 8 ◾ Mastering C# • C# version 5.0. • C# version 6.0. • C# version 7.0. • C# version 7.1. • C# version 7.2. • C# version 7.3. • C# version 8.0. • C# version 9.0. C# Version 1.0 Microsoft released the first version of C# with Visual Studio 2002. Use of managed code was introduced with this ver- sion. C# 1.0 was the first language that developers adopted to build .NET applications. The significant features of C# 1.0 include: • Classes. • Structs. • Interfaces. • Events. • Properties. • Delegates. C# Version 1.2 This version was introduced with Visual Studio .NET 2003. It mainly includes a few minor enhancements to the
- 32. Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 9 language. The most significant is that the code generated a for each loop called Dispose on an IEnumerator when IEnumerator implemented IDisposable. C# Version 2.0 With Visual Studio 2005 (formerly codenamed Whidbey), C# is back with some innovations. The C# language has successfully been updated to version 2.0 and comes with several language extensions. Besides generic types, the C# language introduces other exciting features such as Iterators, Partial Classes, Anonymous methods, partial types, and Nullable value types. Other C# 2.0 features essentially added capabilities to existing features: • Getter/setter separate accessibility. • Method group conversions (delegates). • Static classes. • Delegate inference. While C# may have started as a generic OOL, C# version 2.0 changed that hastily. Once they had complete control over them, they went after some complicated developer pain points. And they even went after them in a significant way. C# Version 3.0 C# version 3.0 was released as part of .Net version 3.5. Many of the features added explicitly with this version sup- ported Language Integrated Queries (LINQ).
- 33. 10 ◾ Mastering C# List of added features: • LINQ. • Lambda expressions. • Extension methods. • Anonymous types. • Implicitly typed variables. • Object and collection initializers. • Automatically implemented properties. • Expression trees. In retrospect, many of these features above seem both inev- itable and inseparable. They all fit together strategically. It’s generally thought that the C# version’s killer feature was the query expression, also popularly known as Language- Integrated Query (LINQ). A more nuanced view examines expression trees, lambda expressions, and anonymous types as the foundation of LINQ. But, in either case, C# 3.0 introduced a breathtaking concept.C#3.0hadbeguntolaythegroundworkforturning C# into a hybrid OOL/Functional language. Importantly, you could now write SQL-style declarative queries to per- form operations on collections, among other things. C# Version 4.0 Microsoft introduced this version of the C# in April 2010 with Visual Studio 2010. Mono C# compiler fully sup- ported the new version by October 2010 with the release of
- 34. Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 11 Mono 2.8. The next version did introduce some interesting new features: • Dynamic binding • Named/optional arguments • Generic covariant and contravariant • Embedded interop types The new version of the C# language brought a new type of dynamic. Once a variable is declared as having type dynamic, operations on these values are not done or veri- fied at compile-time but instead happen entirely at run- time. This is also known as duck typing. Embedded interop types eased the deployment pain of creating COM interop assemblies for your applica- tion. Generic and contravariance provide you with more power to use generics, but they’re a bit academic and prob- ably most appreciated by framework and library authors. Named and optional parameters let you eliminate many method overloads and provide convenience. But none of those features are precisely paradigm-altering. C# Version 5.0 C# version 5.0, released with Visual Studio 2012, was a focused version of the language. Almost all of the effort for that version went into another disruptive language concept: the async and await model for asynchronous programming. Here’s the list of the significant features: • Asynchronous methods. • Caller info attributes.
- 35. 12 ◾ Mastering C# The Async feature establishes two keywords, async and await, which allows you to write asynchronous code more quickly and intuitively like synchronous code. Before C# 5.0, for writing an asynchronous code, you have to define callbacks (also known as continuations) to capture what happens after an asynchronous process completes. This makes your code and another routine task such as excep- tion handling complicated. Caller information can help you out in tracing, debugging, and creating diagnosis tools. It will help you avoid duplicate codes that are gener- ally invoked in many methods for the same purpose, such as logging and tracing. C# Version 6.0 With versions 3.0 and 5.0, C# had added significant and outstanding new features in an OOL. With unique version 6.0, released with Visual Studio 2015, it would wane from doing a dominant killer feature and, in lieu, release many more minor features that made C# programming more productive. The C# 6.0 version contains many essential ele- ments which will improve the productivity of developers. Here are some of them: • Using static. • Exception filters. • Auto-property initializers. • Expression bodied members. • Null propagator. • String interpolation.
- 36. Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 13 • Name of operator. • Index initializers. • Await in catch/finally blocks. • Default values for getter-only properties. Each of these features is quite interesting in its own right. But if you gaze at them all together, you see an inter- esting pattern. In this version, C# eliminated language boilerplate to make code more terse and readable. So for fans of clean, simple code, this language version was a huge win. C# Version 7.0 With Visual Studio 2017 (March 7, 2017), we got a new ver- sion of C#—C# 7.0. There is a lot of new exciting features that nicely build on top of existing ones. Here is an overview of new features in C#: • Out variables. • Pattern matching. • Tuples. • Deconstruction. • Discards. • Local functions. • Binary literals. • Digit separators.
- 37. 14 ◾ Mastering C# All of these features provide extraordinary new capabilities for developers and the opportunity to write even cleaner code than ever. A highlight is condensing the declaration of variables to use with the out keyword and allowing mul- tiple return values via tuple. But C# is being put to ever broader use. .NET Core now targets any operating system and has its eyes firmly on the cloud and portability. These new capabilities indeed occupy the language designers’ thoughts and time and come up with new features. C# Version 7.1 C# 7.1 was released in August 2017 as part of the 15.3 updates for Visual Studio 2017. The most notable new fea- ture in C# 7.1 is the ability to have an async Main method. With C# 7.0, we started seeing point releases on C#, start- ing with version 7.1. This marked an increased release cadence for C#. New language features for this release were: • Async Main method, • Default literal expressions, • Inferred tuple element names, and • Pattern matching on generic type parameters. C# 7.1 also added the language version selection configura- tion element, as well as new compiler behavior. C# Version 7.2 C# 7.2 added a few more minor language features to C#. These were:
- 38. Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 15 • The addition of code enhancements allowing devel- opers to write safe, efficient code, • The in modifier on parameters, • The ref read-only modifier on method returns, • The read-only struct declaration, • The ref struct declaration, • Non-trailing named arguments, • Leading underscores in numeric literals, • Private protected access modifier, and • Conditional ref expressions. C# Version 7.3 The point releases of C# 7 allowed developers to get their hands on new language features sooner rather than later. It was the release of C# 7.3 that had two main themes. One theme allowed safe code to perform unsafe code, and the otherprovidedadditionalimprovementstoexistingfeatures. From a better performant, safe code perspective, we saw: • The accessing of fields without pinning; • Reassigning ref local variables; • On stackalloc arrays, initializers are used; • Fix statements can be used with any type that sup- ports a pattern; and • Additional generic constraints.
- 39. 16 ◾ Mastering C# C# Version 8.0 C# 8.0 is the first major C# release that explicitly targets .NET Core. Some features rely on new CLR capabilities, others on library types added only in .NET Core. C# 8.0 added up the following specifications and enhancements to the C# language: • Default interface methods. • Nullable reference types. • Pattern matching enhancements. • Asynchronous streams/Asynchronous disposable. • Using declarations. • Enhancement of interpolated verbatim strings. • Null-coalescing assignment. • Static local functions. • Indices and ranges. • Unmanaged constructed types. • Read-only member. Nullable reference types are perhaps the most significant feature in C# 8.0. It introduces a configurable change whereby reference types are non-nullable by default but can explicitly allow null with a nullable modifier. Of course, the new feature list doesn’t stop there. Other more prominent features include support for data and pattern matching improvements. The latter provides a terse syntax
- 40. Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 17 instead of switch expressions (yes, expressions) that enable conditional checks to evaluate the shape and data within an object to determine a result. In addition, there are sev- eral miscellaneous enhancements such as default interface implementations, using declarations, static local func- tions, indices/ranges, and a null-coalescing assignment operator. C# Version 9.0 C# 9.0 was released with .NET 5. It’s the default language version for any assembly that targets the .NET 5 release. Many C# 9.0 features rely on new features in the .NET 5.0 libraries and updates to the .NET CLR that’s part of .NET 5.0. Therefore, C# 9.0 is supported only on .NET 5.0. C# 9.0 focuses on features that help native cloud applications, modern software engineering practices, and more concise readable code. C# 9.0 adds the following features and enhancements to the C# language: • Top-level statements. • Record types. • Init-only setters. • Enhancements to pattern matching. • Natural-sized integers. • Function pointers. • Omit localsinit. • Target type new.
- 41. 18 ◾ Mastering C# • Target type conditional. • Static anonymous methods. • Covariant return types. • Lambda discard parameters. • Attributes on local functions. C# 9.0 continues three themes from previous releases: removing ceremony, separating data from algorithms, and providing more patterns in more places. The introduction of the record offers a concise syntax for reference types that follow value semantics for equality. You’ll use these types to define data containers that typically define minimal behavior. Init-only setters provide the capability for the nondestructive mutation (with expressions) in records. C# 9.0 also adds covariant return types so that derived forms can override virtual methods and return a style derived from the base method’s return type. UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE C# PROGRAM A typical C# program includes several different parts as shown below: • Namespace. • Class. • The main method. • Methods inside the class.
- 42. Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 19 • Class definition or class attributes. • Statements. • Comments. Few things need to be kept in your mind while writing a C# program. C# programs are case-sensitive, which does mean “string” is different from “String.” All the statements you write in the program should be concluded with a semi- colon, i.e., “;” a semicolon tells the program explicitly that the current line of the statement has ended. USING KEYWORD The using keyword is importantly used to handle any object used to carry out the namespace. It is mainly used to bring in a namespace. Because a namespace is a collec- tion of classes, each of which has its functionality, we can use the keyword to implement various features from the namespace that has been imported. NAMESPACE A namespace is a logical grouping of similar classes and objects. Its purpose is to keep a diverse group of items apart from one another. This allows programmers to define one class in one namespace and another in a different namespace without generating any problems. Let’spretendwe’recreatingtwonamespaces:“fruits”and “colors.” Both of these namespaces can have an “Orange” class without interfering with any other. A namespace is created by entering the name of the namespace followed by the term namespace. Namespace ConsoleApplication, for example.
- 43. 20 ◾ Mastering C# CLASS Defining a class is analogous to defining a data type’s blue- print. The data is not described by style; instead, it is orga- nized as a significant entity. For instance, if we have a class called “Fruit,” we may create many related objects within it, such as mango, apple, grapes, and so on. Thus, the class fruit will contain differ- ent objects with other properties such as color, smell, taste edible, etc. Each of these items and property will be a part of the class. Similar to the example mentioned above, the Object- Oriented Programming Language such as C# also defines different properties inside, i.e., fields, methods, conditions, events, etc. The objects inside the class include a definition of the operations that can be performed. Objects are an instance of the class and the methods or the variables that are the class members. In summary, the course enables you to create unique objects by combining different techniques, events, and object kinds. A class is defined by preceding the course name with the keyword “class.” A pair of curly braces determine the class body. class program1 { //body of the class } Access Modifiers It defines the accessibility of an object, and it is very com- ponents. All C# components have an access level that may
- 44. Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 21 be controlled using access modifiers to restrict access to member objects inside the class. To define the accessibility level of the object, we have got to declare it by using one of the keywords provided by C# language, i.e., Public, Private, Protected, and Internal. Access modifier is expressed by using either of the key- words mentioned above before the class or a method. Example: public class program//Set the access modifier to public. { } METHOD It is a collection of statements that work together to com- plete a job. At least one class with one Main method will be present in every C# application. It includes the following definition. It starts with an access modifier declaration, then a return type, and later, we define the method name, and inside the round bracket, we have the parameters specified. {Access Modifiers} {return type definition} Method Name({parameter}) public static void Main(String[] args){ } After the method has been defined, commands or state- ments can be written within the curly braces. Arguments can be passed within the round bracket just after the method name.
- 45. 22 ◾ Mastering C# These arguments are helpful while calling a method with specific parameters. In the above example, we have crossed only one parameter, “args,” with the argument type as an array of strings. CONSTRUCTOR Constructors are the unique class methods that are auto- matically invoked whenever an instance of a specific type is created. The main advantage of the constructor is that it can initialize the private fields of a class. A class can have some constructors, and it doesn’t need to have any return type. Only one static constructor is allowed inside a class, and that cannot be parameterized. Constructors are declared by using any access modifier and then using the class name in which it is created. For Example, a constructor defini- tion will look something like this. class program1 { public class(){ //This is a constructor } } DATA TYPES Data types are used in almost all programming languages. A data type tells the compiler what kind of value a variable will hold. C# has several built-in data types such as String, Integer, Float, Boolean, etc. Each data type has its own set of definitions for the values it can hold. A data type is used to declare a variable by the primary variable with the data type keyword.
- 46. Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 23 class program1 { static void Main(string[] args) { string stringValue = Hello; int integerValue = 10; float floatValue = 13.2f; bool booleanValue = false; } } CURLY BRACES It defines the beginning and the end of any logical state- ment in a program block. The curly braces are restricted to the C# language, but they are also found in several other languages like Java, C++, etc. You can see our first “Hello World” code used to wrap multiple lines of code together. It marks the starting and the end point of the logical state- ment for the compiler. Any logical entity like Namespace, Class, Method, Conditional statement, Loops, etc., should be enclosed inside braces to mark the start and end of the report for the compiler. For a better grasp of the overall structure of a C# program, below is the simplest C# program: * C# Program Structure - Example */ using System; namespace HelloEveryoneApp { class HelloEveryoneClass { static void Main(string[] args) {
- 47. 24 ◾ Mastering C# /* this is first program in C# language */ Console.WriteLine(Hello Everyone); Console.ReadKey(); } } When the above code is compiled and executed, it will pro- duce the following output: • Hello Everyone Here is the explanation of the above C# program: • /* C# Program Structure - Example program */: The C# compiler ignores this line; this is the comment in the program. • using System;: The using keyword includes the sys- tem namespace in the C# program. • namespace HelloEveryoneApp: This is the namespace declaration. It is simply a collection of classes. The HelloEveryoneApp namespace contains the class named HelloEveryoneClassclass—Here, the class HelloEveryoneClass includes the data and the method definitions that your C# program uses. • static void Main(string[] args): This line defined the Main method, which is the entry point for all the C# programs. • */: The C# compiler also ignores this line; this is also a comment in the program.
- 48. Mastering C# Programming Language ◾ 25 • Console.WriteLine(“Hello Everyone”);: This is the same behavior of the Main method. Here the WriteLine() is the method of the Console class, which is defined in the system namespace. This state- ment causes the message “Hello Everyone” to be dis- played on the output screen. • Console.ReadKey();: This is for the VS.NET users. This statement makes the C# program wait for a key- press, and it prevents the sudden closing of the output screen when the program is launched from the Visual Studio .NET. To compile and to run the above C# program using Visual Studio.NET (VS.NET), follow these steps: • open visual studio • on the menu bar • choose FILE - NEW - PROJECT • choose visual C# from templates • choose windows • choose console application • specify a name for your project • Click OK After processing the above-given steps, your new project in the Solution Explorer is created. Now just write the above code in the Code Editor. After writing the code, to
- 49. 26 ◾ Mastering C# run your C# program, just press the F5 key or click on the RUN button to execute the project. After performing this, a command prompt window will appear, containing the line, Hello World.
- 50. 27 DOI: 10.1201/9781003214779-2 C h a p t e r 2 Building Blocks of C# IN THIS CHAPTER ➢ ➢ Building Blocks of C# ➢ ➢ Understanding the CLI ➢ ➢ Methods and Operators We learned about the basic notion of C# programming in the previous chapter, and now we’ll study the building blocks of C#. MEMBERS The members of a class are of two types. 1. Static members: Static members belong to classes. 2. Instance members: Instance members allied to objects (instances of classes).
- 51. 28 ◾ Mastering C# The following is the outline for the kinds of members a class can contain: • Fields: Variables that are related to the class. • Types: Nested types declared by the class. • Properties: Actions related to reading and writing named properties of the class. • Constants: Constant values associated with the class. • Indexers: Actions related to indexing instances of the class like an array. • Events: Notifications that the class can create. • Operators: Conversions and expression operators aided by the class. • Constructors: Actions need to initialize instances of the class or the class itself. • Methods: Actions that the class can simply perform. • Finalizers: Actions taken before the permanent dele- tion of instances of the class. Accessibility Each class member has associated accessibility, which con- trols the regions of program text that can access the member. Six forms of possible accessibility can be summarised as below: 1. Protected: Access is confined to this class or classes derived from this class. 2. Private protected: Access is confined to this class or classes derived from this type within the same assembly.
- 52. Building Blocks of C# ◾ 29 3. Protected internal: Access is confined to this class, classes derived from this class, or classes within the same assembly. 4. Public: Access isn’t limited. 5. Private: Access is limited to this class. 6. Internal: Access is confined to the current assembly. Fields A field is a variable that is related to a class or with an instance of a class. A field stated with the static modifier expounds a static field. It precisely identifies one storage location. It is not a problem how many instances of classes are created. Only one copy of a static field would be there. A field announced without the static modifier clearly defines an instance field. Every instance of a class includes a separate copy of all the instance fields of that class. Methods A method is a member that introduces a computation or action that an object or class can perform. Static methods are acquired through the class while instance methods are acquired through instances of the class. Methods may have a bunch of parameters, which includes values or variable references given to the technique. Methods have a return type, which describes the type of the value computed and returned by the method. A method’s return type is invalid if it doesn’t return a value.
- 53. 30 ◾ Mastering C# Like types, methods may also have many parameters, for which type arguments must be emphasized when the method is called. Unlike types, the type arguments can be understood from the arguments of a method call and need not be given. The signature of a method should be unique in the class in which the method is declared. The signature of a method always includes the name of the method, the number of type parameters, and the modifiers, number, and types of its parameters. The signature of a method doesn’t contain the return type.1 Parameters Parameters are typically used to pass values or variable references to methods. The parameters of a method get their exact values from the arguments specified when the method is invoked. There are four kinds of parameters: 1. Value parameters. 2. Reference parameters. 3. Output parameters. 4. Parameter arrays. Method Body and Local Variables The body of a method highlights the statements that should be executed whenever the method is called. 1 Bill Wagner and Aren Windham (2021).Program building blocks.Microsoft
- 54. Building Blocks of C# ◾ 31 Variables unique to the method invocation can be declared in the method body. It is called local variables. A local variable declaration specifies a variable name, a type name, and possibly an initial value. Static and Instance Methods A static method is a kind of method declared with a static modifier. It can only directly access static members and can’t operate on a specific instance. An instance method is a method declared without a static modifier. It runs on a specific instance and can eas- ily acquire both static and instance members. The exam- ple on which an instance method was invoked can be accessed like this. It’s a mistake to refer to this in a static method. Method Overloading Because of method overloading, various methods in the same class can have the same name as long as their signa- tures are distinct. The compiler uses overload resolution to find the exact method to invoke when compiling an invocation of an overloaded method. Overload resolution finds the one method that appropriately suits the argu- ments. An error will be reported if no single best match can be found. The following example indicates overload resolu- tion in effect. The comment for each of the invocations in the UsageExample method invokes which method is invoked.
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- 56. Battle of Ramillies 466 The pursuit after the Action 472 Fruits of the Victory 473 Ostend and Menin taken 474 Close of the Campaign 475 C H A P T E R V I The War in the Peninsula 476 Peterborough in San Mateo 477 His Capture of Nules 479 His Relief of Valencia 481 Galway's Advance from Portugal to Madrid 482 He is cut off from his base and marches for Valencia 483 Peninsula Campaign of 1707 484 Galway defeated at Almanza 485 Peterborough leaves the Peninsula 488 C H A P T E R V I I Marlborough's Campaign of 1707 490 His only chance ruined by Dutch Deputies 491 His Difficulties in England 492 His Campaign of 1708 493 Ghent and Bruges betrayed to the French 494 His march to Oudenarde 495 Battle of Oudenarde 496 The Siege of Lille 503 Marlborough shifts his base to Ostend 507 Action of Wynendale 507
- 57. The Elector of Bavaria invests Brussels 509 Marlborough's march to relieve it 509 Fall of Lille; recovery of Ghent and Bruges 510 Capture of Minorca 511 C H A P T E R V I I I Unsuccessful Negotiations for Peace 512 Campaign of 1709; Villars in command of the French 513 Siege of Tournay 513 The march upon Mons 515 Indecisive Action of the Allies 517 Battle of Malplaquet 517 Fall of Mons 526 C H A P T E R I X The Peninsular Campaign of 1709; Siege of Alicante 528 Death of General Richards 529 Campaign in Portugal; Action of the Caya 529 Catalonian Campaign of 1710 530 Combat of Almenara 531 Action at Saragossa 531 Reinforcement of the French; Evacuation of Madrid 532 The Defence of Brihuega 532 British forced to Capitulate 534 Action of Villa Viciosa 534 Virtual close of the War in the Peninsula 535 Political Changes in England 536 Marlborough's Campaign of 1710 537
- 58. Fall of the Government in England 538 Insults offered to Marlborough 538 C H A P T E R X The ne plus ultra of Villars 540 Death of the Emperor Joseph 541 Opening of the Campaign of 1711 541 Eugene's Army withdrawn 541 Marlborough's Stratagem for passing the French Lines 542 Despair in his Army 544 The French Lines passed 545 Perversity of the Dutch Deputies 547 Capture of Bouchain 548 Marlborough dismissed from all Public Employment 549 The Command for 1712 given to the Duke of Ormonde 549 Rage of the British Troops at their withdrawal from the Allied Army 550 Mutiny 551 Peace of Utrecht; Virtual Banishment of Marlborough 552 Honour paid to him in the Low Countries 553 C H A P T E R X I Growth of the British Army during the War 554 Apparent defects in its Organisation 556 Opposition of Marlborough to the System of Drafting 557 The chief Causes of Waste in Men 558 Unpopularity of Colonial Service 560 Neglect of Soldiers' Welfare in England 562 The sources of Recruiting 563
- 59. The Recruiting Acts 564 Introduction of Short Service 566 Abuses under the Recruiting Acts 567 Desertion 569 Reforms for the Soldiers' Benefit 570 The Board of General Officers 571 Good Discipline of Marlborough's Army 572 Officers 572 Colonel Chartres 573 Hardships of Officers; Recruits 574 Remounts 575 Dishonesty of Agents 576 Contributions to Pensions 577 Infant Officers 577 Order for Abolition of Purchase 578 Marlborough's Intervention 578 General Administration; Effects of the Union with Scotland 580 Marines made Subject to the Admiralty 581 Enhanced Powers and Change of Status of the Secretary-at-War 581 The Office of Ordnance 582 Armament; Disappearance of the Pike 584 The British Musket; Marlborough's Fire-discipline 585 Drill and Discipline of the Infantry 585 The Cavalry; Shock Action; Defensive Armour 586 The Artillery 587 The Duke of Marlborough 587
- 60. MAPS AND PLANS The Campaign of 1346 To face page 36 The Campaign of 1356 40 The Campaign of 1367 46 The Campaign of 1415 62 Dunbar, 1650 244 Dunkirk Dunes, 1658 272 Steenkirk, 1692 366 Landen, 1693 376 Namur, 1695 378 Schellenberg, 1704 426 Blenheim, 1704 442 Gibraltar, 1705 450 Lines of the Geete 454 Barcelona, 1705 462 Ramillies, 1706 472 Oudenarde, 1708 500 Malplaquet, 1709 524 The Campaign of 1711 548 The British Islands and Northern France: Map 1 End of volume The Netherlands in the 18th Century Map 2 Spain and Portugal Map 3 Germany, 1600-1763 Map 4
- 62. B O O K I
- 64. C H A P T E R I The history of the British Army is commonly supposed to begin with the year 1661, and from the day, the 14th of February, whereon King Charles the Second took over Monk's Regiment of Foot from the Commonwealth's service to his own, and named it the Coldstream Guards. The assumption is unfortunately more convenient than accurate. The British standing army dates not from 1661 but from 1645, not from Monk's regiment but from the famous New Model, which was established by Act of the Long Parliament and maintained, in substance, until the Restoration. The continuity of the Coldstream regiment's existence was practically unbroken by the ceremony of Saint Valentine's day, and this famous corps therefore forms the link that binds the New Model to the Army of Queen Victoria. But we are not therefore justified in opening the history of the army with the birth of the New Model. The very name indicates the existence of an earlier model, and throws us back to the outbreak of the Civil War. There then confronts us the difficulty of conceiving how an organised body of trained fighting men could have been formed without the superintendence of experienced officers. We are forced to ask whence came those officers, and where did they learn their profession. The answer leads us to the Thirty Years' War and the long struggle for Dutch Independence, to the English and Scots, numbered by tens, nay, hundreds of thousands, who fought under Gustavus Adolphus and Maurice of Nassau. Two noble regiments still abide with us as representatives of these two schools, a standing record of our army's 'prentice years. But though we go back two generations before the Civil War to find the foundation of the New Model Army, it is impossible to pause there. In the early years of Queen Elizabeth's reign we are brought face to face with an important period in our military history, with a break in old traditions, an unwilling conformity with foreign
- 65. standards, in a word, with the renascence in England of the art of war. For there were memories to which the English clung with pathetic tenacity, not in Elizabeth's day only but even to the midst of the Civil War, the memories of King Harry the Fifth, of the Black Prince, of Edward the Third, and of the unconquerable infantry that had won the day at Agincourt, Poitiers, and Creçy. The passion of English sentiment over the change is mirrored to us for all time in the pages of Shakespeare; for no nation loves military reform so little as our own, and we shrink from the thought that if military glory is not to pass from a possession into a legend, it must be eternally renewed with strange weapons and by unfamiliar methods. This was the trouble which afflicted England under the Tudors, and she comforted herself with the immortal prejudice that is still her mainstay in all times of doubt, I tell thee herald, I thought upon one pair of English legs Did march three Frenchmen. The origin of the new departures in warfare must therefore be briefly traced through the Spaniards, the Landsknechts, and the Swiss, and the old English practice must be followed to its source. Creçy gives us no resting-place, for Edward the Third's also was a time of military reform; the next steps are to the Battle of Falkirk, the Statute of Winchester, and the Assize of Arms; and still the English traditions recede before us, till at last at the Conquest we can seize a great English principle which forced itself upon the conquering Normans, and ultimately upon all Europe. This then is the task that is first attempted in this book: to follow, however briefly and imperfectly, the growth of the English as a military power to the time of its first manifestation at Creçy, and onward to the supreme day of Agincourt; then through the decay under the blight of the Wars of the Roses to the revival under the Tudors, and to the training in foreign schools which prepared the way for the New Model and the Standing Army. The period is long, and the conditions of warfare vary constantly from stage to stage,
- 66. but we shall find the Englishman, through all the changes of the art of war unchangeable, a splendid fighting man. The primitive national army of the English, as of other Teutonic nations, consisted of the mass of free landowners between the ages of sixteen and sixty; it was called in the Karolingian legislation by the still existing name of landwehr, and known in England as the fyrd. Its term of service was fixed by custom at two months in the year. The force was reorganised by King Alfred or by his son through the division of the country into military districts, every five hides of land being required to provide an armed man at the king's summons, and to provide him with victuals and with pay. Further, all owners of five hides of land and upwards were required to do thane's service, that is to say, to appear in the field as heavily-armed men at their own charge, and to serve for the entire campaign. The organisation of the thanes was by shires. With the conquest of England by Canute a new military element was introduced by the establishment of the royal body-guard, a picked force of from three to six thousand Danish troops, which were retained by him after the rest of the army had been sent back to Denmark, and were known as the house- carles. It was with an army framed on this model—the raw levies of the fyrd and the better trained men of the body-guard—that King Harold, flushed with the victory of Stamford Bridge, marched down to meet the invasion of William of Normandy. The heavily-armed troops wore a shirt of ringed or chain-mail, and a conical helmet with a bar protecting the nose; their legs were swathed in bandages not wholly unlike the putties of the present day, and their arms were left free to swing the Danish axe. They carried also a sword, five missile darts, and a shield, but the axe was the weapon that they loved, for the Teutonic races, unlike the Latin, have ever preferred to cut rather than to thrust. The light-armed men, who could not afford defensive armour, came into the field with spear and
- 67. shield only. Yet the force was homogeneous in virtue of a single custom, wherein lies the secret of the rise of England's prowess as a military nation. Though the wealthy thanes might ride horses on the march, they dismounted one and all for action, and fought, even to the king himself, on their own feet.[2] The force was divided into large bands or battalions, of which the normal formation for battle was a wedge broadening out from a front of two men to a base of uncertain number; the officers and the better armed men forming the point, backed by a dense column of inferior troops. It was with a single line of such wedges, apparently from five-and-twenty to thirty of them, that Harold took up his position to bar the advance of the Norman army. Having no cavalry, he had resolved to stand on the defensive, and had chosen his ground with no little skill. His line occupied the crest of a hill, his flanks were protected by ravines, and he had dug across the plain on his front a trench which was sufficient to check a rapid advance of cavalry. Moreover, he had caused each battalion to ring itself about with sharp stakes, planted into the ground at intervals with the points slanting outwards, as a further protection against the attack of horse.[3] The reader should take note of these stakes, for he will find them constantly reappearing up to the seventeenth century. There then the English waited in close compact masses, a wall of shields within a hedge of stakes, the men of nine-and-twenty shires under a victorious leader. There is no need to enter into details of the battle. The English, as has been well said,[4] were subjected to the same trial as the famous squares at Waterloo, alternate rain of missiles and charges of cavalry, and as yet they were unequal to it. Harold's orders had been that not a man should move, but when the Normans, after many fruitless attacks, at last under William's direction simulated flight, the order was forgotten and one wing broke its ranks in headlong pursuit of the fugitives. Possibly, if Harold had been equal to the occasion, a general advance might have saved the day, but he made no such effort, and he was in the presence of a man who overlooked no blunder. The pursuing wing was enveloped by the Normans and annihilated; and then
- 68. William turned the whole of his force against the fragment of the line that remained upon the hill. The English stood rooted to the ground enduring attack after attack, until at last, worn out with fatigue and choked with dead and wounded, they were broken and cut down, fighting desperately to the end. Indiscipline had brought ruin to the nation; and England now passed, to her great good fortune, under the sway of a race that could teach her to obey. But the English had still one more lesson to learn. Many of the nobles, chafing against the rule of a foreigner, forsook their country and, taking service with the Byzantine emperors, joined the famous Varangian Guard of the Emperor Alexius Comnenus. At Durazzo they for the second time met the Normans, under the command of Robert Guiscard. True to their custom, they dismounted and fought on foot, a magnificent corps, the choicest of the whole army. As at Hastings, the Normans attacked and were repulsed, and as at Hastings, the undisciplined English broke their ranks in pursuit. Robert Guiscard saw his opportunity, hurled his cavalry on to their flank, and then surrounding them on all sides cut them down, in spite of a furious resistance, to the very last man. So perished these untameable, unteachable spirits, the last of the unconquered English. The Conquest was immediately followed by the institution of knight-service. But this system, as introduced into England, differed in many material respects from that which reigned on the continent of Europe. It was less distinctly military in character, and far less perfect as an organisation for national defence. The distribution of England into knight's fees, however clearly it might be mapped out on paper, was a work of time and not to be accomplished in a day. Moreover, there was disloyalty to be reckoned with; for the English were a stiff-necked people, and were not readily reconciled to the yoke of their new masters. We find, therefore, that in very early days the practice of accepting money in lieu of personal service crept in, and enabled the Norman kings to fight their battles with hired mercenaries. For this reason England has been called the cradle of the soldier; the soldier being the man who fights for pay, solde,
- 69. solidus, or, as we may say by literal translation of the Latin, the man who fights for a shilling. The sole military interest therefore of the reigns of the Norman kings is to follow the breakdown of the feudal system for military purposes, and the rapid reversion to the Saxon methods and organisation. William Rufus was the first to appeal to the English to arm in his cause, and he did so twice with success. But in the seventh year of his reign he played them a trick which lost him their confidence for ever. The fyrd had furnished twenty thousand men for service against the Norman rebels in France, and had provided every man, at the cost of his shire, with ten shillings for the expenses of his journey or, to use a later expression, for his conduct-money. William met them at the rendezvous, took their two hundred thousand shillings from them to hire mercenaries withal, and dismissed them to their homes. This Rufus has been selected by an historian of repute as the earliest example of an officer and a gentleman; he should also be remembered as the first officer who set the fashion, soon to become sadly prevalent, of misappropriating the pay of his men. The reader should note in passing this early instance of conduct-money, for we shall find in it the germ of the Queen's shilling. 1106. 1116. 1125, 25th March. The reign of Henry the First is interesting in that it shows us English knights serving in the field against Robert of Normandy under the walls of Tenchbrai. We find that the old order of battle, the single line of Hastings,[5] has disappeared and has given place to the three lines of the Byzantine school, but that, strange to say, the Saxons have forced their peculiar principle upon the Normans. Henry caused his English and Norman knights to dismount, formed them into a solid battalion and placed himself at their head, keeping but one small body still on their horses. The enemy's cavalry attacked Henry's mounted men and dispersed them; but the phalanx of the
- 70. dismounted remained unbroken, pressed on against the rabble of hostile infantry, broke it down and almost annihilated it. The victory was hailed by the English as atonement for the defeat at Hastings, so bitter even then was the rivalry between ourselves and our gallant neighbours across the channel. Ten years later the English were again in France, fighting not only against rebellious Norman barons but against their ally, the French King Louis the Sixth. A long and desultory war was closed by the action of Brenville. Again Henry dismounted four hundred out of five hundred of his knights and following the tactics of Tenchbrai won, though not without hard fighting, a second victory. A third engagement, known as the battle of Beaumont, saw the old English practice repeated for the third time with signal success; but here must be noticed the entry of a new force, a company of archers, which contributed not a little to the fortunate issue of the day. For as the Norman cavalry came thundering down on the English battalion, the archers moved off to their left flank and poured in such a shower of arrows that the horsemen were utterly overthrown. These archers must not be confounded with the famous English bowmen of a later time, for most probably they were merely copied, like the order of battle, from the Byzantine model; but they taught the English the second of two useful lessons. Henry had already discovered that dismounted knights could hold their own against the impetuous cavalry of France; he now learned that the attack of horse could be weakened almost to annihilation by the volley of archers. This, at a time when cavalry held absolute supremacy in war, was a secret of vital importance, a secret indeed which laid the foundation of our military power. Henry, evidently alive to it, encouraged the practice of archery by ordaining that, if any man should by accident slay another at the butts, the misadventure should not be reckoned to him as a crime. 1141. The miserable reign of Stephen, so unsatisfactory to the general historian, possesses through the continued development of English
- 71. tactical methods a distinct military interest. The year 1138 is memorable for the Battle of the Standard, the first of many actions fought against the Scots, and typical of many a victory to come. The English knights as usual fought on foot, and aided by archers made havoc of the enemy. Here is already the germ of the later infantry; we shall find lances and bows give way to pikes and muskets, but for five whole centuries we shall see the foot compounded of two elements, offensive and defensive, until the invention of the bayonet slowly welds them into one. At the battle of Lincoln, on the other hand, we find the defensive element acting alone and suffering defeat, though not disgrace; for the dismounted knights who stood round Stephen fought with all the old obstinacy and yielded only to overwhelming numbers. Thus, though two generations had passed since the Conquest, the English methods of fighting were still in full vigour, and the future of English infantry bade fair to be assured. Nor was the cavalry neglected; for amid all the earnest of this turbulent reign there was introduced the mimic warfare known as the tournament. This was an invention of the hot-blooded, combative French, and had been originally so close an imitation of genuine battle, that the Popes had intervened to prohibit the employment therein of any but blunt weapons. The tournament being not a duel of man against man, but a contest of troop against troop, was a training not only for individual gallantry, but for tactics, drill, discipline, and leadership; victory turning mainly on skilful handling and on the preservation of compact order. Thus by the blending of English foot and Norman horse was laid, earlier than in any other country of Europe, the foundation of an army wherein both branches took an equal share of work in the day of action. 1181. The next in succession of our kings was a great soldier and a great administrator, yet the work that he did for the army was curiously mixed. Engaged as he was incessantly in war, he felt more than others the imperfection of the feudal as a military system. The number of knights that could be summoned to his standard was very
- 72. small, and was diminished still further by constant evasion of obligations. He therefore regulated the commutation of personal military service for payment in money, and formed it, under the old name of scutage, into a permanent institution. Advantage was generally taken of the system, and with the money thus obtained he took Brabançon mercenaries, the prototypes of the landsknechts of a later time, permanently into his pay. When he needed the feudal force to supplement these mercenaries, he fell back on the device of ordering every three knights to furnish and equip one of their number for service; and finally, driven to extremity, he re-established the old English fyrd as a National Militia by the Assize of Arms. This, the earliest of enactments for the organisation of our national forces, and the basis of all that followed down to the reign of Philip and Mary, contained the following provisions:— Every holder of one knight's fee shall have a coat of mail,[6] a helmet, a shield, and a lance; and every knight as many coats of mail, helmets, shields, and lances as there are fees in his domain. Every free layman having in chattels or rent to the value of sixteen marks shall keep the same equipment. Every free layman having in chattels or rent ten marks, shall keep an habergeon,[7] a chaplet[8] of iron, and a lance. All burgesses and the whole community of freemen shall have a wambais,[9] a chaplet of iron, and a lance. It is noteworthy that neither the bow nor the axe appear in this list of the national weapons, an omission for which it is difficult to account, since the bow was evidently in full use at the time. Possibly the temptation to employ it for purposes of poaching may have been so strong as to make the authorities hesitate to enjoin the keeping of a bow in every poor freeman's house. The influence of the poacher will be found equally potent when the time comes for the introduction of firearms.
- 73. Richard the Lion-Heart, like his predecessors, preferred to employ mercenaries for his wars, while even the knights who accompanied him to the Crusade were in receipt of pay. Were it not that his achievements in the Holy Land had left little mark on English military history they would be well worthy of a detailed narrative, for Richard was beyond dispute a really great soldier, a good engineer, and a remarkably able commander. The story of his march from Joppa to Jerusalem and of his victory at Arsouf is known to few, but it remains to all time an example of consummate military skill. A mixed force compounded of many nations is never very easy to control, and it was doubly difficult when the best of it was composed of knights who hated the very name of subordination. Yet it was with such material, joined to a huge body of half-disciplined infantry, that Richard executed a flank march in the presence of the most formidable of living generals, and repulsed him brilliantly when he ventured, at an extremely trying moment, to attack. The plan of the campaign, the arrangements and orders for the march, the drill and discipline imposed on the knights, and the handling of the troops in the action are all alike admirable. Yet, as has been already stated, the lessons of the Crusades wrought little influence in England, mainly because she had already learned from her own experience the value of a heavily armed infantry, and of the tactical combination of missile and striking weapons. In the rest of Europe they were for a time remembered but very soon forgotten;[10] and England was then once more left alone with her secret. Two small relics of the Crusades must however find mention in this place. The first is the employment of the cross as a mark for distinguishing the warriors of different nations, which became in due time the recognised substitute for uniform among European soldiers. Each nation took a different colour for its cross, that of the English being at first white, which, curiously enough, is now the regular facing for English regiments of infantry. The second relic is the military band which, there seems to be little doubt, was copied from the Saracens. In their armies trumpets and drums, the latter decidedly an Oriental instrument, were used to indicate a rallying-
- 74. point; for though at ordinary times the standards sufficed to show men the places of their leaders, yet in the dust of battle these were often hidden from sight; and it was therefore the rule to gather the minstrels (such was the English term) around the standards, and bid them blow and beat strenuously and unceasingly during the action. The silence of the band was taken as a proof that a battalion had been broken and that the colours were in danger; and the fashion lasted so long that even in the seventeenth century the bandsmen in all pictures of battles are depicted, drawn up at a safe distance and energetically playing. 1214. The reign of King John accentuated still further the weak points of the English feudal system as a military organisation. The principle introduced by the Conqueror had been to claim for the sovereign direct feudal authority over every landholder in the country, suffering no intermediate class of virtually independent vassals, such as existed in France, to intercept the service of those who owed duty to him. Of the advantages of this innovation mention shall presently be made elsewhere, but at this point it is necessary to dwell only on its military defects. The whole efficiency of the feudal system turned on the creation of a caste of warriors; and such a caste can obviously be built up only by the grant of certain exclusive privileges. The English knights possessed no such privileges. There were no special advantages bound up with the tenure of a fief. Far from enjoying immunity from taxation, as in France and Germany, the knights were obliged to pay not only the imposts required of all classes, but scutage into the bargain. Again the winning of a knight's fee lay open to all ranks of freemen, so that it could not be regarded as the hereditary possession of a proud nobility. Yet again, the grant of the honour of knighthood was the exclusive right of the sovereign, who converted it simply into an instrument of extortion. Briefly, there was no inducement to English knights faithfully to perform their service; the sovereign took everything and gave nothing; and at last they would endure such oppression no longer. When John required a
- 75. feudal force, in the year 1205, he was obliged to arrange that every ten knights should equip one of their number for service. Moreover, the knights who did serve him showed no merit; the English contingent at Bouvines having covered itself with anything but glory. Finally, came mutiny and rebellion and the Great Charter, wherein the express stipulation that fiefs should be both alienable and divisible crushed all hopes of an hereditary caste of warriors for ever. 1252. After the Charter the national force was composed nominally of three elements, the tenants in chief with their armed vassals, the minor tenants in chief, and the freemen subject to the Assize of Arms, the last two being both under the orders of the sheriffs. It made an imposing show on paper, but was difficult to bring efficient into the field. No man was more shameless than Henry the Third in forcing knighthood, for the sake of the fees, upon all free landholders whom he thought rich enough to support the dignity; yet, when the question became one not of money but of armed men, he was forced to fall back on the same resource as his greater namesake. He simply issued a writ for the enforcement of the Assize of Arms, and ordered the sheriffs to furnish a fixed contingent of men-at-arms, to be provided by the men of the county who were subject thereto. 1282. The defects of feudal influence in military matters were now so manifest, that Edward the First tried hard to do away with them altogether. Strictly speaking the feudal force was summoned by a special writ addressed to the barons, ordering them to appear with their due proportion of men and horses, and by similar directions to the sheriffs to warn the tenants in chief within their bailiwicks. The system was however, so cumbrous and ineffective that Edward superseded it by issuing commissions to one or two leading men of the county to muster and array the military forces. These
- 76. Commissions of Array, as they were called, will come before us again so late as in the reign of Charles the First. 1285. But, like all his predecessors, Edward was careful to cherish the national militia which had grown out of the fyrd. The Statute of Winchester re-enacted the Assize of Arms and redistributed the force into new divisions armed with new weapons. The wealthiest class of freemen was now required to keep a hauberk[11] of iron, a sword and a knife, and a horse. The two lower classes were now subdivided into four, whereof the first was to keep the same arms as the wealthiest, the horse excepted; the second a sword, bow and arrows, and a knife; the third battle-axes, knives, and other less weapons, in which last are included bills;[12] and the rest bows and arrows, or if they lived in the forest, bows and bolts, the latter being probably less deadly to the king's deer than arrows. Here then was the axe of Harold's day revived, and the archers established by statute. It is evident, from the fact that they wore no defensive armour, that the archers were designed to be light infantry, swift and mobile in their limbs, skilful and deadly with their weapons. The name of Edward the First must be ever memorable in our history for the encouragement that he gave to the long-bow; but we seek in vain for the man, if such there was, who founded the tradition, still happily strong among us, that the English whatever their missile weapon shall always be good shots. Even at the siege of Messina by Richard the First the archers drove the Sicilians from the walls; for no man could look out of doors but he would have an arrow in his eye before he could shut it. 1297. 1298. The bowmen had not long been a statutory force before they were called upon for active service. The defeat of the English by William Wallace at Cambuskenneth had summoned Edward from France to take the field in person against the Scots; and he met
- 77. them on the field of Falkirk. The Scottish army consisted for the most part of infantry armed with pikes, not yet the long pikes of eighteen feet which they were to wield so gallantly under Gustavus Adolphus, but still a good and formidable weapon. Wallace drew them up behind a marsh in four circular battalions ringed in with stakes, posting his light troops, which were armed principally with the short-bow, in the intervals between them, and his one weak body of horse in rear. The English knights were formed as usual in column of three divisions, vanguard, battle and rearguard, and with them was a strong force of archers. Untrue to its old traditions, the English cavalry did not dismount, but galloped straight to the attack. The first division plunged headlong into the swamp (for the mediæval knight, in spite of a hundred warnings, rarely took the trouble to examine the ground before him), did no execution, and suffered heavy loss. The second division, under the Bishop of Durham, then skirted the swamp and came in sight of the Scottish horse. The Bishop hesitated and called a halt. Back to your mass, Bishop, answered one contemptuous knight. His comrades charged, dispersed the Scottish cavalry, and drove away the archers between the pikemen; but the four battalions stood firm and unbroken, and the knights surged round them in vain. Then the king brought up the archers and the third division of horse. Pushing the archers forward, he held the cavalry back in support until an incessant rain of arrows had riddled the Scottish battalions through and through, and then hurling the knights forward into the broken ranks, he fairly swept them from the field. It was the old story, heavy fire of artillery followed by charges of cavalry, the training of the Scots as Hastings had been of the English, for the trial of Waterloo. 1314. It is interesting to note that Edward made an effort even then for the constitutional union of the two countries which had so honourably lost and won the day at Falkirk, but he was four centuries before his time. The war continued with varying fortune during the ensuing years. The maker of the English archers died,
- 78. and under his feeble son the English army learned at Bannockburn an ignominious lesson in tactics. The Scotch army, forty thousand strong, was composed principally of pikemen, who were drawn up, as at Falkirk, in four battalions, with the burn in their front and broken ground on either flank. Their cavalry, numbering a thousand, a mere handful compared to the host of the English men-at-arms, was kept carefully in hand. Edward opened the action by advancing his archers to play on the Scottish infantry, but omitted to support them; and Bruce, seeing his opportunity, let loose his thousand horse on their flank and rolled them up in confusion. The English cavalry then dashed in disorder against the serried pikes, failed, partly from want of space and partly from bad management, to make the slightest impression on them, and were driven off in shameful and humiliating defeat. So the English learned that their famous archers could not hold their own against cavalry without support,[13] and they took the lesson to heart. The old system of dismounting the men-at-arms had been for the moment abandoned with disastrous results; the man who was to revive it had been born at Windsor Castle just two years before the fight. 1327. 1333. Thirteen years later this boy ascended the throne of England as King Edward the Third, and almost immediately marched with a great host against the Scots. The campaign came to an end without any decisive engagement, but on the one occasion when an action seemed imminent, the English men-at-arms dismounted and put off their spurs after the old English fashion. Peace was made, but only to be broken by the Scots, and then Edward took his revenge for Bannockburn at Halidon Hill. The English men-at-arms alighted from their horses, and were formed into four battalions, each of them flanked by wings of archers, the identical formation adopted two centuries later for the pikemen and musketeers. The Scots, whose numbers were far superior, were also formed on foot in four battalions, but without the strength of archers. And then, says the
- 79. old historian,[14] the English minstrels blew aloud their trumpets and sounded their pipes and other instruments of martial music, and marched furiously to meet the Scots. The archers shot so thick and fast that the enemy, unable to endure it, broke their ranks, and then the English men-at-arms leaped on to their horses for the pursuit. The Scotch strove gallantly to rally in small bodies, but they were borne down or swept away; they are said to have lost ten thousand slain out of sixty thousand that entered the battle. The mounting of the men-at-arms for the pursuit gave the finishing touch to the English tactical methods, and the nation was now ready for war on a grander scale. Moreover, there was playing round the knees of good Queen Philippa a little boy of three years old who was destined to be the victor of Poitiers. It is therefore time, while the quarrel which led to the Hundred Years' War is maturing, to observe the point to which two centuries and a half of progress had brought English military organisation. Authorities.—By far the best, so far as I know the only, account of the rise of English tactics and of English military power is to be found in Die Entwickelung des Kriegswesens in der Ritterzeit, by Major-General Köhler, vol. ii. pp. 356 sq., and vol. v. pp. 97 sq., a work to which my obligations must be most gratefully acknowledged. The authorities are faithfully and abundantly quoted. Freeman's Norman Conquest, Mr. J. H. Round's Feudal England, Hewitt's Ancient Armour, Oman's Art of War in the Middle Ages, Grose's Military Antiquities, and Rymer's Fœdera are authorities which will occur to every one, as also the Constitutional Histories of Hallam, Stubbs, and Gneist.
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