Ten Reasons to Use C# to
Teach Introductory
Computer Programming
Kyle Lutes, kdlutes@purdue.edu
Jack Purdum, jpurdum@purdue.edu
Background
Kyle Lutes
Associate Professor
Department of Computer Technology
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
Introductory Programming
Language Choices
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Basic
Pascal
Cobol
C
C++
Visual Basic
Java
others
C#
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
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C# is a “true” object-oriented
programming language
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C# supports:
 Encapsulation
 Inheritance
 Polymorphism
In C#, all types are derived from
System.Object
Constructors, garbage collection, method
overloading, interfaces, multi-threading, etc.
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
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In addition to Windows forms-based
applications, Visual Studio .NET and
C# can be used to easily develop:
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Web applications using ASP.NET
Client/Server and enterprise applications
Class library DLL components
Pocket PC PDA and Smart Phone applications
Windows Services
Console applications
Graphical and Game applications
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
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Easy to create Windows formsbased applications
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More interesting to students
More real-world than console-based
applications
Helps enforce object-oriented
programming through reuse of GUI
controls
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
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Visual Studio .NET IDE helps make
programming enjoyable:
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A form designer for designing Graphical User
Interfaces
Interactive debugging makes it easier to see
how code executes (breakpoints, stepping
through code, examining the contents of
variables, etc.)
Next version of Visual Studio .NET supports
“edit and continue” debugging
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
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Microsoft makes it easy for
educational institutions and
students to get Visual Studio .NET
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MSDN Academic Alliance
Microsoft Campus Agreements
Visual Studio.NET bundled with textbooks
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
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Microsoft will soon release Visual C# Express
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“Visual C# 2005 Express Edition is a simple,
lightweight, integrated development environment
designed for beginning programmers and nonprofessional developers interested in building Windows
Forms, class libraries, and console-based applications.”
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http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/vcsharp/default.aspx
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
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Visual Basic is widely accepted as an easy
language for beginners to learn, its opponents
label Visual Basic as a “toy” programming
language limited to simple programming tasks
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We have found many students share this uninformed
opinion and object to having to learn Visual Basic
Students would rather learn new technology
Using C# reduces the “I-already-know-all-this”
attitude
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
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Visual Basic gets more complex with
each new version, and so loses its
advantage over more complex
development environments
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C# has a smaller keyword set, yet still
offers a robust development language
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
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More coding examples exist for C#
than do for Visual Basic.NET and
other .NET languages
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Especially true for the MSDN help
examples
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
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Software developers who use C#
earn higher salaries than those who
use Visual Basic
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“Developers who program primarily in C#
earn 26 percent more than those who
develop primarily in Visual Basic .NET”
http://www.ftponline.com/vsm/2003_06/mag
azine/features/salarysurvey/
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
Language used
C#
Average salary
$98,813
Visual Basic .NET
Visual Basic 4.0, 5.0, or 6.0
Visual C++ 6.0
$72,959
$72,461
$75,500
“C# Gets the Big Bucks. Last year, C# developers earned
around $5,000 more than Visual Basic .NET developers.
This year that gap has widened to an astounding $26,000.
It literally pays to know C#—whereas salaries for
developers who program primarily in Visual C++ remain
flat with last year's numbers.”
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
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C# uses C-like language syntax
making it easier for students to
learn Java and/or C++ in postrequisite courses
Why we use C# in our
introductory programming course
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C# is available for non-Microsoft platforms
– “Mono is a comprehensive open source development
platform based on the .NET framework that allows
developers to build Linux and cross-platform
applications with unprecedented productivity. Mono's
.NET implementation is based on the ECMA standards
for C# and the Common Language Infrastructure.”
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www.mono-project.com
Our experiences using C# in our
introductory programming course
Jack Purdum, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Technology
Purdue University
Columbus, Indiana
Our experiences using C# in our
introductory programming course
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Fall 2004 and Spring 2005: >125 students
Course assumed no prior programming
experience
Pace of material covered was fast
Basic terminology: objects, classes, properties,
methods, variables, constants
Programming concepts: data types, math
operators and methods, relational operators,
logical operators, decisions, loops, arrays, lists,
files, classes
Our experiences using C# in our
introductory programming course
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Daily quizzes served as incentive to keep up
with reading
Weekly programming assignments gave regular
practice applying course topics
Participation/attitude
Four exams
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two objective (multiple choice)
two coding exams in a lab setting
Team programming project
Our experiences using C# in our
introductory programming course
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Team programming project
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Create a C# application for a high school athletic
director to manage the athletic event schedules and
related information of all high school sports
Assigned teams had 3-4 students (one had 5)
Flexibility given to teams to refine problem statement
and customize their program for the target user
Bonus points given for creativity, resourcefulness,
addition of value-added features
Our experiences using C# in our
introductory programming course
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Team programming project
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Attempt to balance skill-level of teams as
evenly as possible
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All teams had at least one strong student and one
student who was experiencing some difficulty
Where possible, teams had students from different
background
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few female students on different teams
few minority students on different teams
Our experiences using C# in our
introductory programming course
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Student seem more excited learning C#.
Especially those who have used Visual
Basic because they feel they are learning
something new
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Former CS students tell us how nice it is
to develop with Visual Studio .NET rather
than command-line tools
Our experiences using C# in our
introductory programming course
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When we used Visual Basic .NET,
students who knew VB 6 assumed VB
.NET was the same. Required some
“unlearning”
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With Visual Basic, many student
assumed that because they saw the word
class in their code they were doing
object-oriented programming. More
“unlearning” was necessary
Our experiences using C# in our
introductory programming course
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We don’t have to spend weeks teaching
the IDE instead of programming concepts
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We believe the reduced keyword count
found in C# compared to Visual Basic is
a plus
Our experiences using C# in our
introductory programming course
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Transition between the intro course and
subsequent courses appears easier
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What they learn in C# is valuable in the
web and Java courses
Our experiences using C# in our
introductory programming course
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Because there are fewer preconceived
notions about the language by students,
we feel it’s been easier to teach the
course
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Crisp syntax helps, too
Our experiences using C# in our
introductory programming course
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C# syntax makes the movement from
design to implementation fairly easy
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The students seem more willing to actual
think about a lab assignment before they
start writing the solution to it!
Our experiences using C# in our
introductory programming course
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Non-traditional students believe there is
value added using C#
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(It appears that most felt they would
never use VB in “real life”…not so with
C#)
Recommended Textbook
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An Information Systems Approach to
Object-Oriented Programming using
Microsoft Visual C# .NET
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Kyle Lutes, Alka Harriger, Jack Purdum
Available March 2005!
Recommended Textbook
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Highlights:
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Teaches computer programming from an application
developer perspective
Object-oriented programming integrated throughout
Teaches object-oriented programming with no prior
programming experience assumed
Use C# as the programming language
Uses Windows forms-based applications (rather than
console applications)
Each chapter divided into Essentials and Bonus
sections
Summary
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We believe C# and Visual Studio .NET
provide many advantages over Visual
Basic .NET and Java for teaching
introductory computer programming
Summary
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True Object-Oriented Language
Easy to create GUI applications like students are used to
using
Can be used to create many other types of applications
Visual Studio .NET makes programming enjoyable
Easy for educational institutions to get Visual Studio
.NET
C# not seen as a "toy" language like VB
VB gets more complex with each new version
More coding examples for C#
C# software developers earn more than Java developers
C-like language syntax aids transition to Java and C++
Questions and Answers
Kyle Lutes, kdlutes@purdue.edu
Jack Purdum, jpurdum@purdue.edu