Modern C# Features to Enhance Your Coding Habits
Dotnet presents a walkthrough of the latest C# language features from versions 12 to 14, designed to improve coding habits and productivity for developers.
Modern C# Features to Enhance Your Coding Habits
Overview
This session by Dotnet takes you through a range of new and practical features included in C# 12, C# 13, and C# 14—each part of recent LTS (Long-Term Support) releases of the language. These often overlooked features, while small in scope, address real-world developer needs and frequently become favorites due to their impact on day-to-day coding.
Why Focus on Recent C# Features?
- Continuous Productivity: Small language enhancements can significantly improve coding speed and reliability.
- Refresher for All Developers: Whether you regularly work in C# or are returning after some time away, these updates can modernize your development habits.
Key Highlights from C# 12 - C# 14
- Pattern Matching Improvements: More expressive ways to write conditionals and switch statements, leading to cleaner and safer code.
- Primary Constructors for Classes: Simplifies object creation and enhances clarity, especially in immutable types.
- Collection Expressions: Smoother initialization and manipulation of collections, making code more concise.
- Interpolated String Handlers: Advanced string formatting techniques that optimize performance and readability.
- Required Properties: Ensures objects are always properly initialized, helping to catch errors at compile time.
- Extended ‘with’ Expressions: Enables easier and safer object copying and modification, supporting better functional programming patterns.
- Enhanced Type Aliases and Using Declarations: Organize code for greater maintainability and clarity.
Adopting Better Habits
- Review your usage of older constructs and refactor where new features can simplify logic.
- Encourage team adoption of these features for improved consistency and maintainability.
- Use LTS releases to ensure access to language stability and support for enterprise environments.
Additional Resources
- Watch more .NET Conf 2025 content: YouTube Playlist
- Check official docs for each C# version to dig deeper into specific features.
Summary
Adopting the latest C# features pays off in cleaner code, fewer bugs, and greater day-to-day enjoyment of the language. This session provides both a refresher and an invitation to experiment with changes that can elevate your development experience.