Released to the public as a beta in June 2000 and officially released in the
spring of 2002, C#—pronounced “see sharp”—has not been around for very
long.

C# is a language that was created by Microsoft and submitted to ECMA for standardization.
Its creators were a team of people at Microsoft that included the guidance of Anders
Hejlsberg. Interestingly, Hejlsberg is a Microsoft Distinguished Engineer who has created
other products and languages, including Borland Turbo C++ and Borland Delphi.
With C#, he and the team at Microsoft focused on using what was right about existing
languages and adding improvements to make something better.
Although C# was created by Microsoft, it is not limited to just Microsoft platforms. C#
compilers exist for FreeBSD, Linux, the Macintosh, and several of the Microsoft platforms.
C# is a powerful and flexible programming language. Like all programming languages, it
can be used to create a variety of applications. The C# language does not place constraints
on what you can do; therefore, your potential with it is limited only by your
imagination. C# has already been used for projects as diverse as dynamic Web sites,
development tools, and even compilers.