C# Object Oriented (How It Works For Developers)

Classes and Objects: The Building Blocks

A class creates individual objects. The class is a blueprint that defines the data and behavior that the objects of the class all share. An object is a manifestation of a class. It embodies real values rather than abstract placeholders defined in the class blueprint.

public class Car // A class declared as 'Car' defines its structure and behavior.
{
    public string Name;
    public string Color;

    public void DisplayInfo()
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Name: {Name}, Color: {Color}");
    }
}

class Program // This is the program class, serving as the entry point of a C# program.
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Car myCar = new Car();
        myCar.Name = "Toyota";
        myCar.Color = "Red";
        myCar.DisplayInfo();
    }
}

public class Car // A class declared as 'Car' defines its structure and behavior.
{
    public string Name;
    public string Color;

    public void DisplayInfo()
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Name: {Name}, Color: {Color}");
    }
}

class Program // This is the program class, serving as the entry point of a C# program.
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Car myCar = new Car();
        myCar.Name = "Toyota";
        myCar.Color = "Red";
        myCar.DisplayInfo();
    }
}

In this example, the Car class has two data members (Name and Color) and one method (DisplayInfo). The Main method, which serves as the entry point of the application, creates an instance of the Car class and assigns values to its fields before calling its method to display these values.

Inheritance: Extending Existing Classes

Inheritance allows a class to inherit the properties and methods of an existing class. The class whose properties are inherited is called the base class, and the class that inherits those properties is called the derived class.

public class Vehicle
{
    public string LicensePlate;

    public void Honk()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Honking");
    }
}

public class Truck : Vehicle // Truck is a child class derived from the Vehicle base class.
{
    public int CargoCapacity;
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Truck myTruck = new Truck();
        myTruck.LicensePlate = "ABC123";
        myTruck.CargoCapacity = 5000;
        myTruck.Honk();
    }
}

public class Vehicle
{
    public string LicensePlate;

    public void Honk()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Honking");
    }
}

public class Truck : Vehicle // Truck is a child class derived from the Vehicle base class.
{
    public int CargoCapacity;
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Truck myTruck = new Truck();
        myTruck.LicensePlate = "ABC123";
        myTruck.CargoCapacity = 5000;
        myTruck.Honk();
    }
}

In this example, Truck is a derived class that extends the Vehicle base class, inheriting its LicensePlate field and Honk method while adding a new field, CargoCapacity.

Polymorphism and Abstraction: Interfaces and Abstract Classes

public abstract class Shape
{
    public abstract void Draw();
}

public class Circle : Shape
{
    public override void Draw()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Drawing a circle");
    }
}

public abstract class Shape
{
    public abstract void Draw();
}

public class Circle : Shape
{
    public override void Draw()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Drawing a circle");
    }
}

public interface IDrawable
{
    void Draw();
}

public interface IColorable
{
    void Color();
}

public class CustomShape : IDrawable, IColorable // Defining a new class CustomShape that implements IDrawable and IColorable.
{
    public void Draw()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Custom shape drawn");
    }

    public void Color()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Custom shape colored");
    }
}

public interface IDrawable
{
    void Draw();
}

public interface IColorable
{
    void Color();
}

public class CustomShape : IDrawable, IColorable // Defining a new class CustomShape that implements IDrawable and IColorable.
{
    public void Draw()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Custom shape drawn");
    }

    public void Color()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Custom shape colored");
    }
}

Encapsulation: Safeguarding Data

Encapsulation is the mechanism of restricting access to certain components of an object and preventing external parties from seeing the internal representation. This is accomplished through the usage of access modifiers.

public class Person
{
    private string name; // Private variable, inaccessible outside the class
    public string Name   // Public property to access the private variable
    {
        get { return name; }
        set { name = value; }
    }
}

// Example showing a simple customer class with encapsulated data
public class Customer
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Address { get; set; }
}

public class Person
{
    private string name; // Private variable, inaccessible outside the class
    public string Name   // Public property to access the private variable
    {
        get { return name; }
        set { name = value; }
    }
}

// Example showing a simple customer class with encapsulated data
public class Customer
{
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Address { get; set; }
}

In this example, the name field is private, making it inaccessible outside the Person class. Access to this field is provided through the public Name property, which includes get and set methods.

Example of IronPDF with OOP

Here's a simplified example demonstrating the use of IronPDF within a C# application, incorporating the virtual keyword to illustrate how one might extend IronPDF functionality through inheritance, a core concept in OOP. Suppose we have a base class that generates a basic PDF report and a derived class that extends this functionality to include a custom header:

using IronPdf;

public class BasicReportGenerator
{
    public virtual PdfDocument GenerateReport(string htmlContent)
    {
        var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
        var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent);
        return pdf;
    }
}

public class CustomReportGenerator : BasicReportGenerator
{
    public override PdfDocument GenerateReport(string htmlContent)
    {
        var pdf = base.GenerateReport(htmlContent);
        AddCustomHeader(pdf, "Custom Report Header");
        return pdf;
    }

    private void AddCustomHeader(PdfDocument document, string headerContent)
    {
        // Create text header
        TextHeaderFooter textHeader = new TextHeaderFooter
        {
            CenterText = headerContent,
        };
        document.AddTextHeaders(textHeader);
    }
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        License.LicenseKey = "License-Key";
        // HTML content for the report
        string htmlContent = "<html><body><h1>Sample Report</h1><p>This is a sample report content.</p></body></html>";

        // Using BasicReportGenerator
        BasicReportGenerator basicReportGenerator = new BasicReportGenerator();
        var basicPdf = basicReportGenerator.GenerateReport(htmlContent);
        basicPdf.SaveAs("basic_report.pdf");

        // Using CustomReportGenerator
        CustomReportGenerator customReportGenerator = new CustomReportGenerator();
        var customPdf = customReportGenerator.GenerateReport(htmlContent);
        customPdf.SaveAs("custom_report.pdf");

        Console.WriteLine("PDF reports generated successfully.");
    }
}

using IronPdf;

public class BasicReportGenerator
{
    public virtual PdfDocument GenerateReport(string htmlContent)
    {
        var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
        var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent);
        return pdf;
    }
}

public class CustomReportGenerator : BasicReportGenerator
{
    public override PdfDocument GenerateReport(string htmlContent)
    {
        var pdf = base.GenerateReport(htmlContent);
        AddCustomHeader(pdf, "Custom Report Header");
        return pdf;
    }

    private void AddCustomHeader(PdfDocument document, string headerContent)
    {
        // Create text header
        TextHeaderFooter textHeader = new TextHeaderFooter
        {
            CenterText = headerContent,
        };
        document.AddTextHeaders(textHeader);
    }
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        License.LicenseKey = "License-Key";
        // HTML content for the report
        string htmlContent = "<html><body><h1>Sample Report</h1><p>This is a sample report content.</p></body></html>";

        // Using BasicReportGenerator
        BasicReportGenerator basicReportGenerator = new BasicReportGenerator();
        var basicPdf = basicReportGenerator.GenerateReport(htmlContent);
        basicPdf.SaveAs("basic_report.pdf");

        // Using CustomReportGenerator
        CustomReportGenerator customReportGenerator = new CustomReportGenerator();
        var customPdf = customReportGenerator.GenerateReport(htmlContent);
        customPdf.SaveAs("custom_report.pdf");

        Console.WriteLine("PDF reports generated successfully.");
    }
}

In this example, BasicReportGenerator has a method GenerateReport that takes HTML content and generates a PDF document using IronPDF. The CustomReportGenerator class, which inherits from BasicReportGenerator, overrides the GenerateReport method to add a custom header to the PDF after it's been generated by the base method. Here is the custom report generated by the code: