DEV Community: Kyle Martin

Elaborating on Strings

Kyle Martin — Fri, 12 May 2023 00:07:00 +0000

Introduction
Hello anyone who reads this. I am aiming to make short read posts on dev.to to teach members about the C sharp programming language. I have recently started a blog on Wordpress to record my learnings and thoughts on computer programming. This has caused me to write summarized posts on dev in order to hopefully teach someone out there something and if they are interested in learning more they can read the more detailed post on my blog.

Table of Contents:

The String Type
The string type is a variable that contains zero or more unicode characters. Just like other variables it must be declared, can be initialized, and assigned. Strings are immutable data which means it cannot be changed once created. Any operation that attempts to modify the assignment will end up creating a new string object

string definition = "This is a string";

In the example above I declared a string variable using the string alias and named the variable definition. Then I assigned a series of characters.

string definition = null; // initializing as null

string definition = ""; // initializing with zero characters

Both of the examples above are other ways to initialize a string variable in C#.

Earlier I mentioned 'alias'. Essentially, what I meant is when you declare a string using the lowercase version instead of uppercase version, you are calling the System.String class using an alias.

String Methods
There are many properties or methods you can use with string variables to manipulate the data within your application.

Retrieve characters in a string using indexing
String Interpolation
String Variable Lengths
String Comparison
String Concatenation
String Formatting & Modification (not mentioned in blog post)

String Length

string greeting = "Hello!";
int stringLength = greeting.Length; // Output: 6

Above is the example on how to use the length property of the string class. It returns an integer that describes the length of the string. This uses a zero-based counting system (0, 1, 2, etc...).

String Concatenation
Sometimes, you would like to combine two strings together to formulate a new string.

string firstName = "Kyle";
string lastName = "Martin";
string fullName = firstName + " " + lastName;
// Or
string fullName = string.Concat(firstName, " ", lastName);

This will output my full name when calling the fullName variable. I encourage you to create a new console application and give this a shot. See what small applications you can create with String Concatenation.

To see the other methods please head on over to my blog post as it is a much longer read and contains additional resources to help you learn more about the String Class in C#.

Thank you for your time. Again, I am trying to keep these dev.to posts small in order to garner what little precious time I can. If this intrigues you, please visit my blog.

https://kylemartin0819.wordpress.com/2023/05/11/reference-types-and-string-variables-in-c/

Also, please consider leaving a post emoji, comment, or follow. I also have a link to my GitHub where I will be improving overtime to contain my programming language learnings and applications that I build.

Kyle

Let’s convert that variable in C#

Kyle Martin — Tue, 09 May 2023 21:47:46 +0000

Learn C#: Conversions

Table of Contents:

Learn C#: Variables
This post

Introduction:

My name is Kyle, I am aiming to write small, short read articles on Dev.to to help people learn C#. This is the second post in many where I write a summarized post of my recent blog posts on my blog. Let's get into it!

Conversions in C#:
In the previous post I wrote about simple types (value types) in the C# language. For this post, I will be writing about converting variables in the C# language. Most importantly I will be explaining two conversions: Implicit Conversions and Explicit Conversions.

Implicit Conversions:
In C# you can convert simple types into other types without having to cast (I will get into this soon). For example, you can change a int variable into a long, float, double, or decimal. The conversion will be done automatically by the compiler when certain expectations are met. To find out more about the demands, read my blog post to learn more in depth about conversions.

int number = 123456789;
long biggerNumber = number;

Essentially, a variable defined and assigned earlier in code can be converted to another variable type as long as those language specifications are met.

Explicit Conversions:
In C# you can convert variables by explicitly telling the compiler to convert the variable. Explicit Conversions is also known as casting. For example, a double can be explicitly converted to a byte, short, int, long, char, float, or decimal by defining the type of the assignment. With casting, it can result in precision loss. If the double value is 1337.12 and you cast, it into an int it will become 1337.

double x = 1337.12;
int y = (int)x; // Output: 1337

On my blog I also dive deeper into explaining Explicit Conversions, like I said earlier - my goal is to create summarized or condensed guides on dev.

Convert Class
In C# the System namespace provides a class named Convert that contains many methods for converting objects or variables as well. For example, you can use Convert.ToBoolean() to convert a string variable into a bool.

string doorOpenText = "True";
bool doorOpen = Convert.ToBoolean(doorOpenText);

Again, I am aiming to consistently write condensed dev posts to summarize my lengthier blog posts. I have recently created a blog to capture the knowledge I have gained over the past five years of learning computer science and programming. Currently, I am fixated on C#. I know Dev.to really isn't a website where there are a lot of C# developers or learners, and it is more Javascript / front-end centric. I still am hoping to help some learners.

If you are interested in reading a lengthier post. Check out my blog:
https://kylemartin0819.wordpress.com/2023/05/09/conversions-in-c/

Don't forget to leave an emoji interaction, comment, or follow! My profile also has links to my GitHub where I post small applications, programming challenges, or learnings from online courses or books. I plan on doing programming book reviews as well someday.

Thanks for reading!

Kyle

The built in types of C#

Kyle Martin — Sun, 07 May 2023 15:16:36 +0000

Variables are an essential part of any programming language. Variables allow you to store and manipulate data during the execution of your code.

In this post I will be writing about the built-in types in the C# language. These are known as integral numeric, floating point numeric, bool, and char. The aspects to these variables are declarations, initialization, scope, assignment, and modification.

char firstLetter = 'a';
int age = 33;
double cost = 1337.00;
bool isOpen = false;

In the example above I have declared and initialized the four simple type variables in C#. It starts with first defining the type the variable will be, naming the variable, and assigning a value to the variable. You don't always need to assign a value to the variable upon declaring the variable.

char firstLetter;
int age;
double cost;
bool isOpen;

In the examples above I have described how to define, initialize, and assign variables in C#. I have recently started a blog to help jot down my programming education / learnings that I have picked up over the last five years. I go more in depth on modification and scope of variables in C# in the latest post published today. If you are interested check it out.

My blog: https://kylemartin0819.wordpress.com/

I plan on creating concise, short read, lessons here on Dev.to that summarize my blog posts as well so consider giving me a like and follow. Check out my GitHub where I have been storing C# code from online courses / books I have been digesting recently.

Thanks for reading!

Kyle

How I chose a programming language and beat bad habits

Kyle Martin — Sun, 21 Jun 2020 15:37:20 +0000

TLDR: Sit down. Reflect on what you truly want out of learning to program. Make a list. Tally it up. Commit to the one that has the most tally marks until you are comfortable with it enough to branch out to others. If you never get past step 1 you won't make it to the top of the staircase.

Backstory - I have been interested in learning a programming language since about 2007 but really started learning or pursuing languages in late 2018 early 2019 and never really got past the basics of the basics. In the last two years I struggled with this hardcore because I would "choose" a language and then randomly a week or two later YouTube would recommend a video titled "why this language is bad... and what you should focus on..." or "top language to learn in 2018, 2019, 2020..." and I would lose focus and change plans. Because of this, I am sure I have 100+ courses on my Udemy account but none are more than 20% complete... Till now.

After watching one of those typical "why this language is dying..." videos I scrolled down to read some of the comments and I came across a thought-provoking comment. It essentially said "Stop falling for this endless loop of being influenced by these shitty YouTube videos. If you want to truly become a software engineer or a developer you need to pick a language and stick with it.". How have I not come to this conclusion in the last few years? How have I been too blind to this bad habit loop I was stuck in? I decided to make a change. That change was to follow the advice of that comment. I wish I remember who made the comment and which video it was on (I watch way too much YouTube every day... /sigh) so I could give them credit. Whoever you were I would just like to say THANK YOU!

I hope this post helps you just as much as that comment helped me.

So what did I do? Well, I got out my notebook and at the top of the page I wrote "WHAT PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE?!?". Yes, most of the time I write in caps as I am probably a psycho or some loser who never learned lowercase writing. Anyways, I then wrote, "What do you want to make in the future?". Below that, I made a list that lists out everything I would like to get out of programming or make out of interest and it looks a little something like this:

I want to be able to create Android Apps
I want to be able to create software on Windows
I want to be able to create functional web apps that assist or provide information on games
I want to learn a more simple to learn a language at first and become proficient with it
I would one day like to transition into a programming career
I don't necessarily want to work for FAANG companies as I would have to move
I would like to make software to teach my daughter stuff in the future

Now that is my list, yours may be different as I like to think everyone is unique in certain ways so I encourage you to sit down and reflect what YOU want in your future and make a list if you are stuck like I was.

Then I google searched "Which programming language" and hit images as I knew there would be some kind of tree created to help you navigate which language is good for what and I came across this image that I posted as the cover art. I will also post it below if it doesn't show up that well.

I originally found this image on a FreeCodeCamp blog post but it seems to be re-uploaded all over the web. I have no idea who created it originally but thank you to whoever did!

After looking over this image I put which language is good for which goal on my list. Looks a little like this:

I want to be able to create Android Apps (Java/Kotlin)
I want to be able to create software on Windows (C#/Java/Python)
I want to be able to create functional web apps that assist or provide information on games (JavaScript/Python)
I want to learn a more simple to learn a language at first and become proficient with it (Python)
I would one day like to transition into a programming career (Python, C#, C, Java)
I don't necessarily want to work for FAANG companies as I would have to move (Java - I had to look for jobs in my local area and find what was currently the majority language for local companies)
I would like to make software to teach my daughter stuff in the future (Java, Python, C#)

After that, I tallied them up and it was obvious that Java and Python were the majority on this list. Now I already knew some of the basics of Java but all over the web I every blog post I read kept saying "Python is really easy to learn" so I figured since they were both so close and I truly want to stick with one for a while then I will just go with Python. Before this, I was aimlessly following YouTube advice not really seeing a direction. By making a list it helps you see the bigger picture.

But, all of this is pointless if you do not commit. Don't listen to the endless waves of YouTube programming community videos on which language is the best. You will perpetually be stuck like I was. I would like to add the analogy that if you don't get past step one you will never make it to the top of the staircase. You could look at being a developer/engineer/programmer as being in a skyscraper that has many flights of stairs. So just focus on one for now, more will come in the future and you will be great with whatever you choose and stick with for a while. You don't need to live, breathe, and eat that one language till the day you grow old and die. But you do need to get past the basics.

I know this got long, and I rambled on at times. I hope this helps at least one person! If you want to learn Python check out my Github - https://github.com/Thesnowmanndev where I am creating a repository for learning Python. Its essentially just notes so don't get overwhelmed by the number of comments in each file. That shouldn't be normal programming practice.

Take care everyone.

Kyle