DEV Community: Ynoa Pedro

Little drops on C# Interview questions - Intermediate Language

Ynoa Pedro — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 19:33:12 +0000

Little drops on C# Interview Questions series
The intention behind this series is to answer with a little bit of context or examples of some of the most common C# interview questions.

Today we briefly explain what is Intermediate Language

So .NET != C#? How it works then?

Precisely, I have seen many people getting this mistakenly, .NET is a platform for CLR languages to be compiled(Common runtime language), with this in mind to compile anything we have to think it into 3 steps:

So IL is the half compiled code that is interpreted by JIT into machine code.

Why do I need to know it

If you are to specialize in something do it right and know how it works, not only for interviews, knowing one or two levels of abstractions besides your favourite language enables you to solve more complex issues in the future.

Ok, can I see the IL code?

For sure, the are many great tools to visualize and interact with IL, like:

ILSpy
LinqPad
dotnetfiddle
Feel more suggestions received by feedback
- DnSpy
- SharpLab where you can go even further analysing IL and even ASM both kindly suggested by Alberto Monteiro
Also, IDEs usually have nice integrations, like Visual Studio or Jetbrains Rider my personal choice:

Docs kindly suggested by Marcus Vinicius

To go deeper

This is of course just a brief introduction on the topic, for further reading I recommend:

Little drops on C# Interview questions - Structs x Classes

Ynoa Pedro — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 13:18:00 +0000

Little drops on C# Interview Questions series
The intention behind this series is to answer with a little bit of context or examples of some of the most common C# interview questions.

Hey friends long time no see but continuing our series on class x structs

Structs

Struts are value-type variables stored on the stack as we talked about in Part 1 of this series and by consequence having faster retrieval, structs cannot be inherited.

Classes

Classes are as we say the blueprint of an object(which is a class instantiated) storing it on the heap, we can use a default constructor and we can use inheritance.

When to use each

Classes are an overall blueprint for objects to be used and manipulated throughout the application, like domain objects.
Structs are data structures best suited for small primary data that is not intended to be modified after being created, like coordinates or other fixed data that you might need.

Disclaimer

As @daviholandas said the structs can be allocated on the heap if its referenced by a reference type.

Wrapping up

struct and classes can have constructors, constants, fields, methods, properties, indexers, operators, events and nested types.
struct and classes can implement interfaces.
struct does not support destructor or default constructor(parameterless).
Structs that does not support inheritance
members of structs cannot be specified as abstract, sealed, virtual, or protected.

References

Entenda finalmente a diferença entre struct e class — C#
Docs

Why i moved from visual studio and code to JetBrain's Rider

Ynoa Pedro — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 13:05:46 +0000

Why i moved from visual studio and code to JetBrain's Rider

Disclaimer

This is not a flame war kinda of post, its just a haring of my personal point of view on how i like to code and how i like my tools work better for me 😉. Hope it helps someone.

The history

Well years ago, i was struggling on what tool to use, and then i was stuck with vs code, which was awesome attending my most desired things in a tool: generality, performance and OS compatibility.

I was happy but always looking for ways to improve, at the time i even write a post asking developers which they use and their personal reasons why:

Webstorm or Vscode need some help here.

and this comment catch my attention:

But not until this year i became a heavy Rider user and now ill tell you why.

My personal sweet spot

Lightweight compared to visual studio

When i started working with C# i stumbled upon Visual studio and Resharper and it blew my mind code was great but this is really awesome out of the box, but sluggish on my machine so i stuck with it for while and came back to code until rider came up, i mean its way heavier than code but in my experience way lighter than VS.

Works flawlessly on any OS

Speaks for itself, i kinda have to use windows and Linux or mac daily, having the same experience on all of them has been really cool for me.

Right out of the box(Killing many other products for me)

And the things that i think that is really awesome about Rider(or any Jetbrains tool):

Resharper integration

This is another point that speaks for itself, many c# developers i know love Resharper and it is in Rider.

Great JavaScript support with debugger

This was a really selling point for me, Rider provides full IDE support for JavaScript and working with it everyday too for Front end os lambda functions its really great not having to switch to code like i did when using VS.

Great docker tooling

Awesome Docker debugger and integration right in the IDE also

Amazing Git integration

I'm not very fond of git GUIS but for merges and conflict dealing i kinda prefer using something like git Kraken. But as not surprising Rider gave awesome git support killing another tool that i used

Great unit tests and code coverage tooling

This has surprised me and its even better when using with dotCover allowing me to have first class testing support and not worrying on anything else for generating code coverage

Great database tooling

Really really good its like Datagrip integrated on the os on this image i have two databases one Oracle and other SQL server connected on my solution and i can query and modify them as i will. Needless to say it make me uninstall the other tools i had to manipulate my database needs.

The bumps on the road

Its Paid

Its a downside we cant deny even having many ways to use and test it for free currently there's no community version of Rider

Its still and IDE so it can be heavy

Yeah as i said its still heavier than code at least the code with my extensions, but in my opinion the productivity gain its a nice trade-off and its still lighter than VS.

.Net new stuff comes a little late

And this is expected Microsoft is able to bring support to new features way faster, but the delay is very little

No Code with me yet

This will hopefully end soon, but code with me its really awesome and i miss it sometimes

Wrapping up

As a stated this only a personal view of my usage of the tool, sharing it i hope that someone with needs like mine can find an awesome tool to work as i did. Rider provides an awesome competition to Visual Studio and us developers are the beneficiaries on this like the code completion VS 22 and its many other incredible new features. Needles to say Visual Studio and Visual studio code are not only dominant but awesome and also really great tools, use whatever makes you fell better and most productive. Feel free to share your experiences working with these tools

References

https://ankitvijay.net/2020/09/22/visual-studio-to-rider/#:~:text=Faster build time%3A Rider can,performance booster for large solutions.

Little drops on C# Interview questions- Value Types x Reference Types

Ynoa Pedro — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 21:40:34 +0000

Little drops on C# Interview Questions series
The intention behind this series is to answer with a little bit of context or examples of some of most commons C# interview questions.

Types on .NET

The values on C# are treated in two different types, value types or reference types.

Value types

On value types, the data is stored within its memory allocation on the stack(More on this on the first post of the series). This means that if you assign this to another variable the value is copied and both will work independently.

Some examples of value types are basically primitive types, structures, or enums.

Reference types

On the other hand, reference types held only a pointer to another memory location that holds the data.
Reference types are stored on the Heap which means that the value is available at runtime so when you copy a reference type it only creates another variable which knows the memory address of the actual data allowing it to be targeted by the Garbage collector(more on this later)

Disclaimer

Some Value types can be boxed, or written on top level new C# syntax, this will make value types be stored on Heap. Some more info on this you can find on this amazing video by Nick Chapsas -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jONSIhMST9E&t=185s, also on my next learning post will talk more about boxing and unboxing operations

Some examples of reference types can be arrays, objects, classes.

Wrapping up

Value types are passed by copy and reference types are by? Duh reference. It's like when I copy a value type I'll have two variables holding ice creams and reference types its one ice cream but two variables know where the ice cream is.

Little drops on C# Interview questions- .NET Framework, Core and Standard!

Ynoa Pedro — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 20:09:52 +0000

Little drops on C# Interview Questions series

The intentions behind this series are to answer with a little bit of context or examples some of most commons C# interview questions.

.NET Core x Framework

Both are implementations of .NET runtime, the framework is the older one and core is the new cross-platform one, both share many components but not all.
This is a quick drop so I'll try to write about one or two more questions

.NET Framework

This is the older implementation that is supported only on Windows machines, you should use it on apps that already use .NET Framework, some .NET technologies that aren't available in .NET Core like Reporting services or platforms that currently aren't supporting .NET Core like some parts of Azure (This is a transitional situation).
Currently .NET Framework is at the version 4.8.

.NET Core

The core is the new implementation of the runtime, cross-platform(And in 2020 you'll mainly use this).
The choice of the core can focus when your app needs to be cross-platform, you target microservices, using Docker, needs high-performance and scalable systems and you need side-by-side .NET versions per application.

Currently .NET Core is at the version 3.1.

.NET Standard

Currently, in this transitional situation, there's no way of using a shared code library written in .NET Framework on a .NET Core application. To resolve issues like this .NET Standard arrived, which is a specification of set APIs compatible with both .NET runtimes.

Currently .NET Standard is at the version 2.1.

Wrapping up

The framework is the grandpa, Core is the new cool guy and Standard helps them to communicate.
Like this:

You can go deeper on the subject @:
https://docs.microsoft.com/pt-br/dotnet/standard/choosing-core-framework-server http://www.mukeshkumar.net/articles/dotnetcore/dotnet-framework-vs-dotnet-core-vs-dotnet-standard

Little drops on C# Interview questions- Abstracts classes x Interfaces!

Ynoa Pedro — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 20:07:09 +0000

Little drops on C# Interview Questions series

This is the first drop, the intentions behind this series are to answer with a little bit of context or examples some of most commons C# interview questions.

Abstract classes x Interfaces

In order to resume you can say that an interface allows you to define functionality and abstract class allows you to create some behavior that the subclass will implement or override.

But there's more than that of course.

Abstract classes

According to the documentation: "The abstract modifier indicates that the thing being modified has a missing or incomplete implementation."

Okay, so what this means.

Basically means that an abstract class can be partially implemented or not implemented at all, its purpose is to act as a base for other classes.

Interfaces

According to the documentation: "An interface contains definitions for a group of related functionalities that a non-abstract class or a struct must implement."

You can see an interface as a contract that you must implement and cannot contain methods definitions or constructors, the methods declared here have to be implemented on the classes that implement the interface and the interface cannot be instantiated.

When to use on or other?

Abstract classes for having some concretes methods are great to create common code shared between classes acting as a base class.

On the other hand, interfaces are easy to define contracts and behaviors that the classes will have to implement like in dependency injection, also you can add as many interfaces as you wish to the hierarchy which cant be done with abstract classes.

Quick demo

I this little showdown we have 3 classes and an interface

First, the base class has two properties that will be shared between Rick and Morty and two methods that both can use!

public abstract class Base
    {
        public string Name {get; set;}
        public string Gun {get; set;}

        public static bool wantsToStartNewAdventure()
        {
            return true;
        }

        public static bool thinksMortyIsStupid()
        {
            return true;
        }
    }

The interface obligates both to implement usage for the portal gun.

public interface IPortalGun

{

        public bool UsesPortalGun();

}

Rick takes the properties and from the base, he thinksMortyIsStupid, also implements the interface bragging to Morty and using the portal gun!

public class Rick : Base, IPortalGun
    {
        public Rick() : base(){ }        
        bool ThinksMortyIsStupid = thinksMortyIsStupid();

        public bool UsesPortalGun()
        {
            if(ThinksMortyIsStupid)
                Console.WriteLine("Look at me Mortyyy im a demo c# class!!");
            return true;
        }
    }

And finally, Morty takes from the base the properties and the wantsToStartNewAdventure method also implements the gun portal usage telling rick he can't use it!

public class Morty : Base, IPortalGun
    {
        public Morty() : base() { }

        bool isReadyForAdventure = wantsToStartNewAdventure();
        public bool UsesPortalGun()
        {
            if(isReadyForAdventure)
                Console.WriteLine("Ooh geez Rick i cant use this, but lets go for and adventure");
            return false;
        }
    }

This is it, guys! Hope it helps feel free to reach out to me with comments and feedback.

See you in the next one.

Little drops on C# Interview questions- Stack x Heap.

Ynoa Pedro — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 20:52:17 +0000

Little drops on C# Interview Questions series

This is the first drop, the intentions behind this series are to answer with a little bit of context or examples some of most commons C# interview questions.

So Stack and Heap

First of all, both are inside the computer's RAM. The key difference is the stack is used for static memory allocation and Heap for dynamic memory.

And then you say "Ok Pedro, but this means nothing to me"

I'll answer "Calm down we're starting"

Stack

Variables allocated at the stack are available when your program is compiled hence the static allocation, the access to this memory is very fast. This memory area allows us to have stored function or methods calls in LIFO order allowing us to preserve our local variables on standby until a return occurs.

The web site that does most of the developer job Exception

More known as StackOverflow exception, this occurs because we have a limited memory region that is going to be used for the stack if a certain quantity of methods exhausts the quantity of memory available this will cause a StackOverflow exception. (This means that you F** up).

Heap

The heap is memory set aside for dynamic allocation which means everything stored here will be stored at runtime making the access a little bit slower, but the size limitations are equals to the size of the virtual memory. The elements here are independent of one another and can be accessed at any time. The allocation block can be also freed up anytime.

When to use each

The heap will be used for everything that you need to be stored at runtime and you don't know exactly how much data you'll allocate on the memory, on the other hand, the stack can be used for data that you'll know exactly how much data it takes and it will be stored at compile time.

Multi-thread situations

The stack is thread-specific and Heap application-specific.

The funny thing about situations like this, you can find each thread having its complexity and independent stacks but at the same time, they'll share the Heap.

References

If you know portuguese an awesome article going a little deeper on the stack can be found at:

https://www.eximiaco.tech/pt/2019/05/30/entendendo-a-stack-e-a-stackoverflowexception/

What i've learned from blowing my first remote interview

Ynoa Pedro — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 04:20:20 +0000

Hi you all, last week I had the opportunity of been interviewed for a front end job and i blew it but i did learn a thing on another and i'd like to share this with you.

My mistakes

Not preparing for a code test.

So, that's basic i know but i was hoping for a hey man what you do on your free time interview and then came the test which was pretty simple but due to the nervousness and lack of training i wasn't able to finish it in time.

Lack of confidence

Even so, i'm currently a junior developer, i study everyday and have a base but at the interview i let this fear take over and skip answering a lot of questions only because i didn't think i knew the exactly answer.

Weak language knowledge

Yeah that's also basic but its a fact this interview showed me that i never should stop learning the vanilla and keep updating myself with language concepts especially functional ones.

Not asking questions

This is not new for me at least, you have to ask a lot of questions, in this particular case i was nervous and let it pass.

What i've learned from it

It's all about controlling emotions

Hey i know it might be your dream job but keep it together bro.

Train train train

We have to really train our a**es off coding interview challenges, will help not only on interviews but on problem resolution as well.

Never skip the basic

For work i had to learn react alongside JS i felt at this interview the tech debt i had to cut and study the basic was really big. build the strongest foundation you can.

The interviewer is not your enemy

He'll know you're under a lot of pressure and that's not your regular performance so we have to try and chill a bit.

Some of Ricardo's(my interviewer) tips

Books

Basic books he told me to read.
Head first JavaScript (Awesome book and its illustrated)
Clean code (Reading this one, heavy but worth it)
You Don't Know JS (Available free here)

Train

Use sites like LeetCode and Code Wars to practice interview algorithms.

Focus on only one Lib/Framework

As beginners it's really hard to try and learn everything so focusing on one lib like react for example should be the path to go with the career begin.

Final thoughts

Of course, it's frustrating to fail an interview but the feedback helps us to move to next more and more prepared, i'm thankful for having the opportunity to experience this and will work on the tips received to get better to the next, i really hoping by sharing this i can help someone get better results. I also would like to thank Ricardo Luz to give me this feedback and letting me share this with you, don't forget to check out his Linkedin it has awesome content. Leave a comment if you have some tips to share with me too and that's it.

Happy coding

Hey, let's share our career begin stories.

Ynoa Pedro — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 23:49:49 +0000

Here's mine.
Everything started back in 2015 when I got to college, by then the only thing I knew is that I love tech and wanted to work with it. 2015 was pretty rough cause by the end of it my mom left the house and I was with my old grandma unemployed and having to support both of us. Luckily I got a day job in a parking lot which
saved us and I had a lot of fun, the downside was that I haven't code as much as I should at college and learned pretty much anything. In 2016 I got an internship in a tech company but for a support role, I began there hoping to get a dev job but I wasn't prepared and the whole internship was frustrating, and so another lost year. But there was a plus side there I got to meet Caio a friend of mine who referred me to one sales company who need a systems analyst that's when the things started to get right for me. At this company I would do pretty much anything with SQL all features were based on procedures or queries, it was not the ideal or the job I was dreaming about but I gave my 100% so that could bring me a useful exp, and that concludes 2018. Since I was writing SQL and having more contact with programming, I also earned more money and got more time to study and contribute with GitHub projects which gave me the trust to apply for jr dev spots, and finally in 2019 I got a chance to really prove myself as a developer by getting a jr spot in a huge Brazilian company.

The first 7 months have been a crazy and intense study period for me at this new job have been intense but amazing I'm having so many cool projects to work with and opportunities to learn, practice and present what I learn by talking to people and sharing what I'm learning
This pic was taken in a git talk that I had earlier this year.

And that's it. Thanks who took the time to read this I hope this discussion helps someone getting into coding :).