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C Sharp (programming language)

multi-paradigm (object-oriented) programming language

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ2370 ↗
Source-derived summary

C# ( see SHARP) is a general-purpose high-level programming language supporting multiple paradigms. C# encompasses static typing, strong typing, lexically scoped, imperative, declarative, functional, generic, object-oriented (class-based), and component-oriented programming disciplines.

The principal designers of the C# programming language were Anders Hejlsberg, Scott Wiltamuth, and Peter Golde from Microsoft. It was first widely distributed in July 2000 and was later approved as an international standard by Ecma (ECMA-334) in 2002 and ISO/IEC (ISO/IEC 23270 and 20619) in 2003. Microsoft introduced C# along with .NET Framework and Microsoft Visual Studio, both of which are, technically speaking, closed-source. At the time, Microsoft had no open-source products. Four years later, in 2004, a free and open-source project called Mono began, providing a cross-platform compiler and runtime environment for the C# programming language. A decade later, Microsoft released Visual Studio Code (code editor), Roslyn (compiler), and the unified .NET platform (software framework), all of which support C# and are free, open-source, and cross-platform. Mono also joined Microsoft, but was not merged into .NET.

As of November 2025, the most recent stable version of the language is C# 14.

Design goals

The Ecma standard lists these design goals for C#:

The language is intended to be a simple, modern, general-purpose, object-oriented programming language.

Editorial summary

“C Sharp (programming language)” enters the record as multi-paradigm (object-oriented) programming language. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Sharp, programming and language can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2000, 2002, 2003, 2004—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2001. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Sharp, programming and language.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“C Sharp (programming language)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Sharp, programming and language provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2370. The Library of Congress control number is sh2001001705. None of the 7 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “C Sharp (programming language)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow C Sharp (programming language) primary sources, C Sharp (programming language) archive and Sharp research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “C Sharp (programming language)”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “C Sharp (programming language)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.