Interview questions for C# developers

Useful for preparation, but too specific to be used in the interview.

1. Is it possible to inline assembly or IL in C# code? - No.

2. Is it possible to have different access modifiers on the get/set

methods of a property? - No. The access modifier on a property applies to
both its get and set accessors. What you need to do if you want them to be
different is make the property read-only (by only providing a get accessor)
and create a private/internal set method that is separate from the property.
3. Is it possible to have a static indexer in C#? - No. Static indexers are not
allowed in C#.

4. If I return out of a try/finally in C#, does the code in the finally-

clause run? - Yes. The code in the finally always runs. If you return out of
the try block, or even if you do a “goto” out of the try, the finally block always
runs:

using System;

class main

public static void Main()

try

Console.WriteLine("In Try block");

return;

finally

Console.WriteLine("In Finally block");

}
 }

Both “In Try block” and “In Finally block” will be displayed. Whether the
return is in the try block or after the try-finally block, performance is not
affected either way. The compiler treats it as if the return were outside the try
block anyway. If it’s a return without an expression (as it is above), the IL
emitted is identical whether the return is inside or outside of the try. If the
return has an expression, there’s an extra store/load of the value of the
expression (since it has to be computed within the try block).

5. I was trying to use an “out int” parameter in one of my functions.

How should I declare the variable that I am passing to it? - You should
declare the variable as an int, but when you pass it in you must specify it as
‘out’, like the following: int i; foo(out i); where foo is declared as follows:
[return-type] foo(out int o) { }

6. How does one compare strings in C#? - In the past, you had to call
.ToString() on the strings when using the == or != operators to compare the
strings’ values. That will still work, but the C# compiler now automatically
compares the values instead of the references when the == or != operators
are used on string types. If you actually do want to compare references, it
can be done as follows: if ((object) str1 == (object) str2) { … } Here’s an
example showing how string compares work:
7. using System;
8. public class StringTest
9. {
10. public static void Main(string[] args)
11. {
12. Object nullObj = null; Object realObj = new
StringTest();
13. int i = 10;
14. Console.WriteLine("Null Object is [" + nullObj +
"]n"
15. + "Real Object is [" + realObj + "]n"
16. + "i is [" + i + "]n");
17. // Show string equality operators
18. string str1 = "foo";
19. string str2 = "bar";
20. string str3 = "bar";
21. Console.WriteLine("{0} == {1} ? {2}", str1, str2,
str1 == str2 );
22. Console.WriteLine("{0} == {1} ? {2}", str2, str3,
str2 == str3 );
23. }
24. }

Output:

Null Object is []
Real Object is [StringTest]
 i is [10]
foo == bar ? False
bar == bar ? True

25. How do you specify a custom attribute for the entire assembly (rather
than for a class)? - Global attributes must appear after any top-level using
clauses and before the first type or namespace declarations. An example of
this is as follows:
26. using System;
27. [assembly : MyAttributeClass] class X {}

Note that in an IDE-created project, by convention, these attributes are

placed in AssemblyInfo.cs.

28. How do you mark a method obsolete? -

[Obsolete] public int Foo() {...}

or

[Obsolete("This is a message describing why this method is

obsolete")] public int Foo() {...}

Note: The O in Obsolete is always capitalized.

29. How do you implement thread synchronization (Object.Wait,

Notify,and CriticalSection) in C#? - You want the lock statement, which is
the same as Monitor Enter/Exit:
30. lock(obj) { // code }

translates to

try {
CriticalSection.Enter(obj);
// code
}
finally
{
CriticalSection.Exit(obj);
}

31. How do you directly call a native function exported from a DLL? -
Here’s a quick example of the DllImport attribute in action:
32. using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
33. class C
34. {
35. [DllImport("user32.dll")]
 36. public static extern int MessageBoxA(int h, string m,
string c, int type);
37. public static int Main()
38. {
39. return MessageBoxA(0, "Hello World!", "Caption",
0);
40. }
41. }

This example shows the minimum requirements for declaring a C# method

that is implemented in a native DLL. The method C.MessageBoxA() is
declared with the static and external modifiers, and has the DllImport
attribute, which tells the compiler that the implementation comes from the
user32.dll, using the default name of MessageBoxA. For more information,
look at the Platform Invoke tutorial in the documentation.

42. How do I simulate optional parameters to COM calls? - You must use
the Missing class and pass Missing.Value (in System.Reflection) for any values
that have optional parameters.

C# .NET interview questions

Good for preparation and general self-testing, but too specific for the actual job
interview. This was sent in by a job applicant getting ready to step into the .NET field
in India.

1. Are private class-level variables inherited? - Yes, but they are not
accessible, so looking at it you can honestly say that they are not inherited.
But they are.

2. Why does DllImport not work for me? - All methods marked with the
DllImport attribute must be marked as public static extern.
3. Why does my Windows application pop up a console window every
time I run it? - Make sure that the target type set in the project properties
setting is set to Windows Application, and not Console Application. If you’re
using the command line, compile with /target:winexe, not /target:exe.

4. Why do I get an error (CS1006) when trying to declare a method

without specifying a return type? - If you leave off the return type on a
method declaration, the compiler thinks you are trying to declare a
constructor. So if you are trying to declare a method that returns nothing, use
void. The following is an example: // This results in a CS1006 error public
static staticMethod (mainStatic obj) // This will work as wanted public static
void staticMethod (mainStatic obj)

5. Why do I get a syntax error when trying to declare a variable called

checked? - The word checked is a keyword in C#.

6. Why do I get a security exception when I try to run my C# app? -

Some security exceptions are thrown if you are working on a network share.
 There are some parts of the frameworks that will not run if being run off a
share (roaming profile, mapped drives, etc.). To see if this is what’s
happening, just move the executable over to your local drive and see if it runs
without the exceptions. One of the common exceptions thrown under these
conditions is System.Security.SecurityException. To get around this, you can
change your security policy for the intranet zone, code group 1.2, (the zone
that running off shared folders falls into) by using the caspol.exe tool.

7. Why do I get a CS5001: does not have an entry point defined error
when compiling? - The most common problem is that you used a lowercase
‘m’ when defining the Main method. The correct way to implement the entry
point is as follows: class test { static void Main(string[] args) {} }

8. What optimizations does the C# compiler perform when you use

the /optimize+ compiler option? - The following is a response from a
developer on the C# compiler team: We get rid of unused locals (i.e., locals
that are never read, even if assigned). We get rid of unreachable code. We
get rid of try-catch with an empty try. We get rid of try-finally with an empty
try. We get rid of try-finally with an empty finally. We optimize branches over
branches: gotoif A, lab1 goto lab2: lab1: turns into: gotoif !A, lab2 lab1: We
optimize branches to ret, branches to next instruction, and branches to
branches.

9. What is the syntax for calling an overloaded constructor within a

constructor (this() and constructorname() does not compile)? - The
syntax for calling another constructor is as follows: class B { B(int i) { } }
class C : B { C() : base(5) // call base constructor B(5) { } C(int i) : this() //
call C() { } public static void Main() {} }

10. What is the equivalent to regsvr32 and regsvr32 /u a file in .NET

development? - Try using RegAsm.exe. Search MSDN on Assembly
Registration Tool.

11. What is the difference between a struct and a class in C#? - From
language spec: The list of similarities between classes and structs is as
follows. Longstructs can implement interfaces and can have the same kinds of
members as classes. Structs differ from classes in several important ways;
however, structs are value types rather than reference types, and inheritance
is not supported for structs. Struct values are stored on the stack or in-line.
Careful programmers can sometimes enhance performance through judicious
use of structs. For example, the use of a struct rather than a class for a Point
can make a large difference in the number of memory allocations performed
at runtime. The program below creates and initializes an array of 100 points.
With Point implemented as a class, 101 separate objects are instantiated-one
for the array and one each for the 100 elements.

12. My switch statement works differently than in C++! Why? - C# does

not support an explicit fall through for case blocks. The following code is not
legal and will not compile in C#:
13. switch(x)
14. {
15. case 0: // do something
16. case 1: // do something as continuation of case 0
17. default: // do something in common with
18. //0, 1 and everything else
19. break;
20. }

To achieve the same effect in C#, the code must be modified as shown below
(notice how the control flows are explicit):

class Test
{
public static void Main() {
int x = 3;
switch(x)
{
case 0: // do something
goto case 1;
case 1: // do something in common with 0
goto default;
default: // do something in common with 0, 1, and
anything else
break;
}
}
}

21. Is there regular expression (regex) support available to C#

developers? - Yes. The .NET class libraries provide support for regular
expressions. Look at the System.Text.RegularExpressions namespace.

22. Is there any sample C# code for simple threading? - Yes:

23. using System;
24. using System.Threading;
25. class ThreadTest
26. {
27. public void runme()
28. {
29. Console.WriteLine("Runme Called");
30. }
31. public static void Main(String[] args)
32. {
33. ThreadTest b = new ThreadTest();
34. Thread t = new Thread(new ThreadStart(b.runme));
35. t.Start();
36. }
}

37. Is there an equivalent of exit() for quitting a C# .NET application? -

Yes, you can use System.Environment.Exit(int exitCode) to exit the
application or Application.Exit() if it’s a Windows Forms app.
 38. Is there a way to force garbage collection? - Yes. Set all references to
null and then call System.GC.Collect(). If you need to have some objects
destructed, and System.GC.Collect() doesn’t seem to be doing it for you, you
can force finalizers to be run by setting all the references to the object to null
and then calling System.GC.RunFinalizers().

39. Is there a way of specifying which block or loop to break out of when
working with nested loops? - The easiest way is to use goto:
40. using System;
41. class BreakExample
42. {
43. public static void Main(String[] args) {
44. for(int i=0; i<3; i++)
45. {
46. Console.WriteLine("Pass {0}: ", i);
47. for( int j=0 ; j<100 ; j++ )
48. {
49. if ( j == 10)
50. goto done;
51. Console.WriteLine("{0} ", j);
52. }
53. Console.WriteLine("This will not print");
54. }
55. done:
56. Console.WriteLine("Loops complete.");
57. }
58. }

59. Is it possible to restrict the scope of a field/method of a class to the

classes in the same namespace? - There is no way to restrict to a
namespace. Namespaces are never units of protection. But if you’re using
assemblies, you can use the ‘internal’ access modifier to restrict access to
only within the assembly.

C# developer interview questions

A representative of a high-tech company in United Kingdom sent this in today noting

that the list was used for interviewing a C# .NET developer. Any corrections and
suggestions would be forwarded to the author. I won’t disclose the name of the
company, since as far as I know they might still be using this test for prospective
employees. Correct answers are in green color.

1) The C# keyword ‘int’ maps to which .NET type?

1. System.Int16
2. System.Int32
3. System.Int64
4. System.Int128
2) Which of these string definitions will prevent escaping on backslashes in
C#?

1. string s = #”n Test string”;

2. string s = “’n Test string”;
3. string s = @”n Test string”;
4. string s = “n Test string”;

3) Which of these statements correctly declares a two-dimensional array in

C#?

1. int[,] myArray;
2. int[][] myArray;
3. int[2] myArray;
4. System.Array[2] myArray;

4) If a method is marked as protected internal who can access it?

1. Classes that are both in the same assembly and derived from the declaring
class.
2. Only methods that are in the same class as the method in question.
3. Internal methods can be only be called using reflection.
4. Classes within the same assembly, and classes derived from the
declaring class.

5) What is boxing?

a) Encapsulating an object in a value type.

b) Encapsulating a copy of an object in a value type.

c) Encapsulating a value type in an object.

d) Encapsulating a copy of a value type in an object.

6) What compiler switch creates an xml file from the xml comments in the
files in an assembly?

1. /text
2. /doc
3. /xml
4. /help

7) What is a satellite Assembly?

1. A peripheral assembly designed to monitor permissions requests from an

application.
2. Any DLL file used by an EXE file.
 3. An assembly containing localized resources for another assembly.
4. An assembly designed to alter the appearance or ‘skin’ of an application.

8) What is a delegate?

1. A strongly typed function pointer.

2. A light weight thread or process that can call a single method.
3. A reference to an object in a different process.
4. An inter-process message channel.

9) How does assembly versioning in .NET prevent DLL Hell?

1. The runtime checks to see that only one version of an assembly is on the
machine at any one time.
2. .NET allows assemblies to specify the name AND the version of any
assemblies they need to run.
3. The compiler offers compile time checking for backward compatibility.
4. It doesn’t.

10) Which “Gang of Four” design pattern is shown below?

public class A {

private A instance;

private A() {

public
static A Instance {

get

if ( A == null )

A = new A();

return instance;

1. Factory
2. Abstract Factory
 3. Singleton
4. Builder

11) In the NUnit test framework, which attribute must adorn a test class in
order for it to be picked up by the NUnit GUI?

1. TestAttribute
2. TestClassAttribute
3. TestFixtureAttribute
4. NUnitTestClassAttribute

12) Which of the following operations can you NOT perform on an ADO.NET
DataSet?

1. A DataSet can be synchronised with the database.

2. A DataSet can be synchronised with a RecordSet.
3. A DataSet can be converted to XML.
4. You can infer the schema from a DataSet.

13) In Object Oriented Programming, how would you describe

encapsulation?

1. The conversion of one type of object to another.

2. The runtime resolution of method calls.
3. The exposition of data.
4. The separation of interface and implementation.

ASP.NET DataGrid questions

1. What is datagrid? The DataGrid Web server control is a powerful tool for
displaying information from a data source. It is easy to use; you can display
editable data in a professional-looking grid by setting only a few properties.
At the same time, the grid has a sophisticated object model that provides you
with great flexibility in how you display the data.
2. What’s the difference between the System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataGrid
and and System.Windows.Forms.DataGrid? The Web UI control does not
inherently support master-detail data structures. As with other Web server
controls, it does not support two-way data binding. If you want to update
data, you must write code to do this yourself. You can only edit one row at a
time. It does not inherently support sorting, although it raises events you can
handle in order to sort the grid contents. You can bind the Web Forms
DataGrid to any object that supports the IEnumerable interface. The Web
Forms DataGrid control supports paging. It is easy to customize the
appearance and layout of the Web Forms DataGrid control as compared to the
Windows Forms one.

3. How do you customize the column content inside the datagrid? If you
want to customize the content of a column, make the column a template
 column. Template columns work like item templates in the DataList or
Repeater control, except that you are defining the layout of a column rather
than a row.

4. How do you apply specific formatting to the data inside the cells? You
cannot specify formatting for columns generated when the grid’s
AutoGenerateColumns property is set to true, only for bound or template
columns. To format, set the column’s DataFormatString property to a string-
formatting expression suitable for the data type of the data you are
formatting.

5. How do you hide the columns? One way to have columns appear
dynamically is to create them at design time, and then to hide or show them
as needed. You can do this by setting a column’s Visible property.

6. How do you display an editable drop-down list? Displaying a drop-down

list requires a template column in the grid. Typically, the ItemTemplate
contains a control such as a data-bound Label control to show the current
value of a field in the record. You then add a drop-down list to the
EditItemTemplate. In Visual Studio, you can add a template column in the
Property builder for the grid, and then use standard template editing to
remove the default TextBox control from the EditItemTemplate and drag a
DropDownList control into it instead. Alternatively, you can add the template
column in HTML view. After you have created the template column with the
drop-down list in it, there are two tasks. The first is to populate the list. The
second is to preselect the appropriate item in the list — for example, if a
book’s genre is set to “fiction,” when the drop-down list displays, you often
want “fiction” to be preselected.

7. How do you check whether the row data has been changed? The
definitive way to determine whether a row has been dirtied is to handle the
changed event for the controls in a row. For example, if your grid row
contains a TextBox control, you can respond to the control’s TextChanged
event. Similarly, for check boxes, you can respond to a CheckedChanged
event. In the handler for these events, you maintain a list of the rows to be
updated. Generally, the best strategy is to track the primary keys of the
affected rows. For example, you can maintain an ArrayList object that
contains the primary keys of the rows to update.

This is just a brief on dealing with ASP.NET DataGrid control. The full version of the
document and the sample code is available on MSDN.

Windows code security questions

1. What’s the difference between code-based security and role-based

security? Which one is better? Code security is the approach of using
permissions and permission sets for a given code to run. The admin, for
example, can disable running executables off the Internet or restrict access to
corporate database to only few applications. Role-based security most of the
time involves the code running with the privileges of the current user. This
way the code cannot supposedly do more harm than mess up a single user
 account. There’s no better, or 100% thumbs-up approach, depending on the
nature of deployment, both code-based and role-based security could be
implemented to an extent.
2. How can you work with permissions from your .NET application? You
can request permission to do something and you can demand certain
permissions from other apps. You can also refuse permissions so that your
app is not inadvertently used to destroy some data.

3. How can C# app request minimum permissions?

using System.Security.Permissions;
[assembly:FileDialogPermissionAttribute(SecurityAction.RequestMinimum,
Unrestricted=true)]

4. What’s a code group? A code group is a set of assemblies that share a

security context.

5. What’s the difference between authentication and authorization?

Authentication happens first. You verify user’s identity based on credentials.
Authorization is making sure the user only gets access to the resources he
has credentials for.

6. What are the authentication modes in ASP.NET? None, Windows, Forms

and Passport.

7. Are the actual permissions for the application defined at run-time or

compile-time? The CLR computes actual permissions at runtime based on
code group membership and the calling chain of the code.