What are the correct version numbers for C#?

Question

What are the correct version numbers for C#? What came out when? Why can\'t I find any answers about C# 3.5?

This question is primarily to

Answer 1

Comparing the MSDN articles "What's New in the C# 2.0 Language and Compiler" and "What's New in Visual C# 2005", it is possible to deduce that "C# major_version.minor_version" is coined according to the compiler's version numbering.

There is C# 1.2 corresponding to .NET 1.1 and VS 2003 and also named as Visual C# .NET 2003.

But further on Microsoft stopped to increment the minor version (after the dot) numbers or to have them other than zero, 0. Though it should be noted that C# corresponding to .NET 3.5 is named in msdn.microsoft.com as "Visual C# 2008 Service Pack 1".

There are two parallel namings: By major .NET/compiler version numbering and by Visual Studio numbering.

C# 2.0 is a synonym for Visual C# 2005

C# 3.0 corresponds (or, more correctly, can target) to:

• .NET 2.0 <==> Visual C# 2005
• .NET3.0 <==> Visual C# 2008
• .NET 3.5 <==> Visual C# 2008 Service Pack 1