Visual C# Resources

**danthecpman** · 01-14-2011, 19:18

I've uses this source when I need to look for info on coding

http://www.techotopia.com/index.php/C_Sharp_Essentials

**SurvivorSean** · 01-15-2011, 09:21

Thanks for the link, helpful and detailed in many ways.

But I think what I'm probably looking for is in a library/DLL somewhere and is probably not part of the C language. What I'm looking for in particular right now for the next little while is file operations, and random routines. Both can be done quite easily in BASIC (which is starting to look appealing again for me all the time). Perhaps those libraries are part of the XNA I'll try and look a little deeper before I loose my mind with "Hello World!". I'm used to avoiding length discussions and looking at an index for what I want to do, find some sample code, and just do it!

Unfortunately I'm not in tune to the complications of today's windows languages and dependencies on other libraries etc. It used to be as simple as open and read commands and a few random functions and that was it. Did I every say how much I hate Bill Gates? He is probably just a scapegoat as someone else would come along with O.O.P. anyways.

Thanks again for the help.

Sean

**longiron** · 01-15-2011, 09:29

Originally posted by SurvivorSean

Quick question for the OR team. What is a good cheap (free) resource available for learning all the complexities of Visual C# and/or XNA?

I have a strong programming background (though dated) and I originally downloaded this to prepare myself for coding for the OR team. My background includes Power C, lots of Basic, some assembly language, a little Visual Basic. I have other languages not applicable to C as well.

Sean,
Some of the best tutorials around are from Riemers Grootjans (http://www.riemers.net/). He walks you through a lot of basics and advanced concepts. MSFT XNA community sit is a good resource, too. If you have any specific questions, I can have James or other programmers comment

**SurvivorSean** · 01-15-2011, 11:14

I appreciate it and will give it a try. I tried doing searches for Random in the help files for example and found nothing in Visual c# or XNA helps. I did find something on google but I haven't understood how it works as it looks like it's calling a function called Random. XNA appears to be what allows this and other file operations to take place, but I'm a little bit out of my element.

I don't want to give up on visual c# and XNA to what I would believe are simple routines, but a side of me wants to load up simple basic. The problem with that is when I reach the part of sharing data over a network the newer languages are able to handle it much simpler so I'd be back to square one.

Thanks for the information. I'm going to try and educate myself as best I can so I'm more in sync with the rest of the world

Thanks

Sean

**SurvivorSean** · 01-15-2011, 13:55

Actually it appears it's XNA that I needed to get what I'm looking for. Haven't quite found it yet but I do like these tutorials as they introduce plenty of interesting concepts. The 2D rendering is actually what I'm currently after as well so this might kill 3 birds with one stone. So despite my resistance and wanting to hug that comfort blanket called Basic and/or Visual Basic I think I'll give this a try.

I'm not really after figuring out how to program a 2D game, but I see the random factors are soon coming into play which I want, and I'm sure file reading and writing is just around the corner.

The only thing is I'm using 3.1 of XNA right now and noticed a few differences. But I'm hoping everything is reverse compatible and I'll find some new features along the way.

Thanks

Sean

**SurvivorSean** · 01-15-2011, 21:16

I've been doing a few of Reimers tutorials starting with 2d first. I suppose instant gratification wants me to get right to the details, but I can't build a tower without a good foundation first

I'm actually thinking about purchasing his book on XNA 3.0 as it certainly has caught my curiosity thats for sure.

One final thought is what is Open Rails using more of. XNA or Visaul C#? With XNA I'm finding more coding than object oriented programming (which is fine by me). But I'm curious if some of the more routine stuff like menu bars, forms, and other tools are used in ORTS and how both can be combined or interact with each other.

Thanks again

Sean

**SurvivorSean** · 01-16-2011, 12:43

Well they didn't have his book on XNA 3.0 which I was going for but I did find an interesting discovery.

Originally I thought that XNA was a bit of overkill for what I want to do, and apparently it is for the time being. Most books/help/articles on Visual C# 2008 are very vague and didn't indicate to me that there were any routines for random number generation, or file saving. I knew XNA had this but missed all the OO components I came to like.

I found a book that originally had a bad review 2 out of 5 stars called Microsoft Visual c# 2008 by John Sharp which also has a CD and I bought it today (XNA 3.0 was not available - at least by the author with the tutorials above). The critics basically complained that it assumed people knew OO programming (which I do) and some more complex issues were not in the scope of the book or led to other chapters.

What sold me on this book is it shows you how to do the random number generation and file saving options and that is basically all I probably need in the next few months. I'm curious how many OR people are programming exclusively under XNA or Visual C# 2008, perhaps a little of both.

Anyways I'm going to give this a shot and perhaps try out the online stuff at a later point. Thanks for all the help.

Sean

Visual C# Resources

Visual C# Resources

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment