CHAPTER 3 CORE C# PROGRAMMING CONSTRUCTS, PART I
Table 3-1. Select Properties of System.Environment
Property
Meaning in Life
ExitCode
Gets or sets the exit code for the application
Is64BitOperatingSystem
Returns a bool to represent if the host machine is running a 64-bit OS
MachineName
Gets the name of the current machine
NewLine
Gets the newline symbol for the current environment
SystemDirectory
Returns the full path to the system directory
UserName
Returns the name of the user that started this application
Version
Returns a Version object that represents the version of the .NET platform
Source Code The SimpleCSharpApp project is located under the Chapter 3 subdirectory.
The System.Console Class
Almost all of the example applications created over the course of the initial chapters of this book make
extensive use of the System.Console class. While it is true that a console user interface (CUI) is not as
enticing as a graphical user interface (GUI) or web-application, restricting the early examples to console
programs will allow us to keep focused on the syntax of C# and the core aspects of the .NET platform,
rather than dealing with the complexities of building desktop GUIs or web sites.
As its name implies, the Console class encapsulates input, output, and error-stream manipulations
for console-based applications. Table 3-2 lists some (but definitely not all) members of interest. As you
can see, the Console class does provide some members that can spice up a simple command-line
application, such as the ability to change background and foreground colors and issue beep noises (in a
variety of frequencies!).
Table 3-2. Select Members of System.Console
Member
Meaning in Life
Beep()
This method forces the console to emit a beep of a specified frequency and
duration.
BackgroundColor
ForegroundColor
These properties set the background/foreground colors for the current output.
They may be assigned any member of the ConsoleColor enumeration.
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