C# is an object-oriented programming language introduced by Microsoft to work with the .NET platform. A compiler converts programs written in a particular language into machine language. It takes the programming language instructions as input, processes them, and converts them to machine language. A simple C# program is shown that uses the Console class to write output. It demonstrates including the System namespace, defining a class, and using the Main method. Data types in C# include int, string, char, float, double, and boolean. Variables can be declared and values accepted from the user.