Readers should have a basic knowledge of C#. They should also have a basic knowledge of using Visual Studio, installing packages using NuGet, and referencing libraries within projects from other projects.

The code files for this chapter can be found on GitHub:
https://github.com/PacktPublishing/DotNET-Standard-2-Cookbook/tree/master/Chapter02

Check out the following video to see the code in action:
https://goo.gl/BiXiAM

When you look at C# as a language, there are things we need to look at first: what C# can do, how it supports our day-to-day programming requirements, and how it helps us to solve a problem. In this chapter, we will be mainly looking at primitive data types, collections, and LINQ features supported in C#. In the full .NET Framework, using these features is not a problem, but when it comes to cross-platform and code shared across flavors of the .NET Framework, it does becomes a concern. 

Each recipe will go through building a .NET Standard 2.0 library and how to use it with an application that uses a flavor of the .NET Framework. 

In this recipe, we will have a look at C# primitives and their usage in a .NET Standard 2.0 library. Primitives are one of the core parts of the framework. These types are defined in the .NET Framework itself and not in the C# language specification.

We will be building a .NET Standard 2.0 library that uses primitives in the .NET Framework and use it in the next recipe. 

As mentioned, primitive data types are defined under .NET Framework itself and it's not language specific. It means you can use these data types across all languages supported under .NET Framework. It doesn't mean you can use these primitives under different flavors...

In this recipe we are going to do two things. First, we will be opening Visual Studio and doing a quick build of the previously built solution for the .NET Standard 2.0 library. Finally, we will be adding a .NET console application to use the library. This console application will be using .NET Framework 4.6.1 as the base framework under Windows. 

Make sure you have completed the previous recipe that builds the .NET Standard 2.0 library. We will be using it in this recipe. Open Visual Studio 2017 and prepare for the project. Click Build | Build Solution, or press Ctrl + Shift + B, and the solution should build successfully...

There are three kind of collections supported inside the .NET Framework. In this recipe, we will be focusing on using these collections inside a .NET Standard 2.0 library. In general, collections are used to manage groups of related objects. Creating arrays of objects is a way of grouping related objects. But our focus is on using these collections, which is the second method of grouping related objects.

These are the three kinds of collections we have in .NET Framework: 

• System.Collections.Generic Classes
• System.Collections.Concurrent Classes
• System.Collections Classes

Let's have a look at these and their usage inside a .NET Standard 2.0 library. 

In this recipe, we will be creating a Windows Presentation Foundation application to use the .NET Standard 2.0 library we created in the previous recipe. We will be continuing to build the application from the previous solution we created. Windows Presentation Foundation is a UI framework that works under .NET Framework and runs in a Windows OS. 

Open Visual Studio 2017 and prepare for the project. Make sure you have completed building the .NET Standard 2.0 library in the preview build. Open that project if it's not already open and click Build | Build Solution, or press Ctrl + Shift + B, and the solution should build successfully. Everything...

In this recipe, we will be building a class object that will have two public methods. After using a console application, we will be describing this class object using Reflections. A Reflection gives you the ability to read its own metadata of finding assemblies, type, and module information at runtime. 

Make sure we have Visual Studio 2017 and all the updates installed. We will be starting with a blank solution. A blank solution is a very good starting point for any scale of project. Let's build our .NET Standard 2.0 library. 

Let's have a look at using Reflections in this recipe. We have built a small .NET Standard 2.0 library in the last recipe. Now we will be creating a .NET Core-based console application and use reflections to describe our library. We will be using the System.Reflection namespace and a few of its classes 

Let's make sure you have completed the previous recipe and, if not, complete it and come back to this one. Open Visual Studio 2017 and locate and open the previously built .NET Standard library.