Reading text files in C Sharp (C#) - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Reading text files

📖 Scenario: You are working on a simple program that reads a list of names from a text file and processes them.

🎯 Goal: Build a C# program that reads all lines from a text file called names.txt and prints each name to the console.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a string array variable to hold the lines read from the file

Use a string variable to store the file path names.txt

Use System.IO.File.ReadAllLines to read the file

Use a foreach loop to print each name

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Reading text files is common when working with data stored in files, like lists, logs, or configuration settings.

💼 Career

Many programming jobs require reading and processing files to handle data input, reports, or user information.

1

Create the file path variable

Create a string variable called filePath and set it to the exact value "names.txt".

C Sharp (C#)

string filePath = "names.txt";  // Your code here

Need a hint?

Use double quotes around the file name to create a string.

2

Read all lines from the file

Add a string array variable called names and set it to System.IO.File.ReadAllLines(filePath).

C Sharp (C#)

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        string filePath = "names.txt";
        string[] names = System.IO.File.ReadAllLines(filePath);  // Your code here
    }
}

Need a hint?

Use System.IO.File.ReadAllLines with the filePath variable to read all lines.

3

Print each name using a foreach loop

Use a foreach loop with the variable name to iterate over names and print each name using Console.WriteLine(name).

C Sharp (C#)

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        string filePath = "names.txt";
        string[] names = System.IO.File.ReadAllLines(filePath);
        foreach (string name in names)
        {
            // Your code here
        }
    }
}

Need a hint?

Use Console.WriteLine(name); inside the loop to print each name.

4

Run the program to display the names

Write Console.WriteLine statements inside the foreach loop to print each name from the names array. Run the program to see the output.

C Sharp (C#)

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        string filePath = "names.txt";
        string[] names = System.IO.File.ReadAllLines(filePath);
        foreach (string name in names)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(name);  // Your code here
        }
    }
}

Need a hint?

Make sure the names.txt file contains these exact names, each on its own line:

Alice
Bob
Charlie
Diana
Ethan